Mowing the Lawn

Ken got the mower we got last year working finally. At first it was blowing a lot of oil smoke but that soon cleared up. He had to rebuild the engine.


Since the sheep did not finish grazing around the guest house before they had to move to the orchard pasture for lambing there was actually a lawn to mow.

Surprise Lamb, Bull! Wooly Lawnmowers

Today started out rather interesting. We had planned to make a trip to Grand Junction to do the in between batches fo lambs shopping but had to change our plans.

First we had a surprise late lamb. 9 pounds 9 ounces and doing fine. Mom had him up dry and nursed when we found them. I didn't take any pictures because the next bit of excitement was this bull.


He had smashed down the wire fence in the back corner. We got him back out the gate and with the cows and called the owner to tell him about the problem. This is the same owner whose cattle break into the hay field every single year. We explained that he'd be getting a bill for the fence repair and replacement wire as soon as we got it done. Colorado is an open range state but if you have a legal fence in place and an animal breaks it down you can get it repaired by the livestock owner.

Since the shopping trip was kaput we decided to do the Friday scheduled work today instead. Main task was getting the lawnmowers working around the main house lawn.



We have to use jug panels to keep them off the porch or we'd have sheep into the house if they could manage it.

Lamb on a Rock

One of the lambs resting on a rock in the pasture.

Winnie & the Lambs

Winnie has decided she is now the official lambing pasture guard dog along with Kimball.



Winnie seems to take up a station near the youngest lambs and stays there until there are newer ones.

She is being very alert and watchful and doing a great job.

Mother's Day Special!

The ewes are finally lambing. For Mother's Day we had 3 ewes lamb 5 lambs. 4 ewe lambs and a ram lamb. All are doing well although I had to assist 2 of the ewes. One had twins and legs were back the other was a first timer and didn't dilate and then the lamb got elbow locked.



Only 57 more ewes to go.

One Less Coyote and Grazing Ewes

We finally were able to get a clear safe shot on the coyote that's been hanging around. Generally we try to leave the coyotes alone. If they respect the fences and dogs and don't bother us or the sheep we don't bother them. The last time we had to kill one was in the fall of 2000. After that the pack moved on or changed composition and we had a number of years with no problems. We could hear coyotes nearly every night and there is a den on our property. But the coyotes never came in near the sheep, never tried to lure the dogs away from the flock and never caused us any problems. They left us alone and we in turn left them alone.

This coyote was different. I suspect the older animals died and the new ones that moved in were much bolder and more aggressive. This male was ignoring the dogs and being way too bold, coming up and checking out things during the day and looking in at the sheep and ignoring the frenzied dogs just inside the fence. With lambing about to start we cannot afford to have a coyote like this in the area. We've been trying to get a good shot at it but until today they were all unsafe shots. The coyote finally got into a position where we could take the shot. 1 round : 1 less coyote. Hopefully this will be the last of the problem for another decade.


The pregnant ewes are finally out on pasture and ready to lamb.