Dead Lamb, Sheepsplosion

11:20 PM, 27 April 2010
Cool & damp

Today there was a major sheep outage. Although the early part of the day went peacefully enough, with only a lamb escaping from the ram flock and being returned without too much fuss, the afternoon saw the entirety of the ewe flock out. The wet and shifting soil led to two rods, normally tightly cinched together, being bent apart so that many of them were able to squeeze through.

It took over four hours for a single-handed farmer to get them back in. They have discovered by now where we keep the alfalfa, and more than a couple of them kept attempting to return there, going under the tarp to go after the bales. The most successful method of driving them back, if not into their proper pasturage, then into a more confined zone, was to bang two metal dog dishes together while advancing in their general direction.

As a result of the outage, all of the sheep received two to four times their usual amount of feed. They get no love for a while.

In the course of checking out how they escaped, another tiny, underweight, and very dead lamb was found. The scavengers had already gotten to it, and much of its belly was gone.

Nothing else terribly remarkable happened today, although it is worth noting that it looks as if some of the ducks may be nesting in the dead tree stumps.