A life ever changing, a changing life. We are face with challenges and seasons every year, month and day. Strength is gained in challenges. We learn from successes and failures, if we choose to.
Working forty hours per week as posed a challenge to getting other things done. I am glad I participated in Bloganuary again this year. I missed a few daily prompts. I am still trying to read what others wrote in response to the daily Bloganuary prompts. I have lesson time to write, therefore the book I am writing is taking longer, but progress is being made. My goal is to have my first book published this year. I think I will get this goal accomplished.
The You Tube channel my husband and I are starting is still a work in progress. First lesson, it is hard to video with a phone and work the sheep. Second, my phone does not seem to have enough memory for very long videos. Solution, we purchased a video camera we are learning how to operate. There is learning involved in creating an interesting video. We video, watch the video, see our mistakes in recording and video again. My husband and I are having fun working on this project together.
The sheep farm is doing well. Most of our ewes have lambs by their sides. The lambs are growing well. We are close to weaning of the first lambs that were born. The young ewes coming a year old this spring are with a ram. In four to five months there will be some more lambs being born. The two nanny goats we have are getting ready to have their first kids. We sold some older lambs and did well. Hit a day the market was high for selling lambs. We have a few ewes and lambs from this latest group of lambs to be sold in a month. There is a Dorper Sheep show and sale in April we are planning on showing a few of our sheep.
Planting time is around the corner. The garden area is being prepared for plants and seeds. This week I will be starting some plants for future planting. The garden will be larger this year. Part of the reason is there are areas on the farm that needs to have something planted in order to keep the topsoil in place and developing the soil to provide a good grazing area for the sheep. In these grazing areas we will be planting radishes, sugar beets, peas, carrots and other vegetables the sheep enjoy eating. The planting will improve the soil, and provide the sheep with a treat to graze in the summer months.
There are a couple of other projects that we are starting with hopes we can produce an income from these projects. Keep an eye out for the launch of these new projects as well as our You Tube channel.
The month of October has been so busy. It is hard for me to even think the month is over, but here I am in November. I have been tired, physically and mentally, and not writing much. I am feeling good about all that has been accomplished.
The first terraces I built are working great. Last week we received rain for five days in a row, not a huge amount about 5 inches total. Thankful for the rain. After the first three days of rain, I had to check my terraces. How did the terraces hold up? Did the terraces slow the water and redirect as planned? I was thrilled to see the terraces do the job I had planned and built them to do. With the rain, the grasses started filling in the area. Satisfaction in having planned and completed a project that did as I had hoped.
Another huge accomplishment in October was getting the pasture seeded in winter wheat. My husband and I were trying to figure out a way of seeding the pasture since we do not own a no till drill or any type of seeder to do a large area. Then, I seen where a neighbor was seeding others’ pastures, pastures he was leasing. I asked if he could seed my pasture as well and the cost. He said yes, but did not give me the cost. He seeded my pasture with my seed for no cost. I was relieved to have the pasture seeded. Now to have rain for the seed to germinate and grow. Thankfully we received the rain, the winter wheat germinated and started growing. Along with the winter wheat growing, the pasture grasses started growing after receiving the much needed moisture.
The first week of November we are able to put the sheep on pasture, and not feed hay.
There was another project scheduled for October, a new water filtration system. Our water is not from a public utility, we have well water. Our filtration system and water softener only did a limited amount of purifying our water, so we did not drink the water or use it for cooking. There was nothing harmful in the water, it was just high in salts. We have our water tested yearly for safety in drinking, and the water tests safe to drink. But we did not like the taste. We purchased a better filtration system, softener and an osmosis system for under the kitchen sink. In order to put this new system in our barn, we had to make some changes of moving things around to create the needed space for the new system. On October 28, they put the new system in place. Now we have cooking and drinking water in the kitchen. This new system is supposed to pull all the iron and calcium elements from the water resulting in no more deposits on faucets and brown toilets.
Meat training in Amarillo was cancelled. The company I work for decided it was too expensive to send and pay for hotel rooms for those wanting to attend the meat training school. Meat cutter training is being done in each store. Two days a week I go in for meat cutter training. I am progressing quite well. I enjoy learning from my supervisor. He is a really good meat cutter and department manager. The store where we work is one of the smallest in the chain of stores, yet this meat department has the highest profit percentage and often out sells the bigger stores in nearby area. I want to learn to be as good and profitable meat cutter as he is.
I work two days a week as the meat department employee on my own. I have been limited in what I can do in putting meat on the shelf for the customer as I was not able to cut meat to replace. My supervisor would work extra on the days before he was off, to have cut meat for the shelf the next day. Not anymore. My training has progressed to the place I am able to cut meat for the shelf on his days off. I still require training on the meat saw. Any meat product that has a bone, I am not able to cut. But everything else, I can cut for the shelf.
Yesterday, my supervisor informed me that my meat cutting abilities were really good. My cuts were beautiful and varied. I am able to see the various meat products that can be cut from a portion of meat. My cutting ability allows for a pleasant presentation of the product. I still need to identify all the different steaks and cuts that I create, and to learn to safely operate the meat saw. My skills are of high level meat cutting, and when training is complete, I will be able to get a job in any store.
It is common knowledge among employees that the company we work for does not pay much. My supervisor makes more than any other department manager as they want to keep him at this store. He could make more and has, but that requires traveling to the metroplex, something he does not want to do. Like me, he works there by choice. But having the option of going somewhere else in a high demand profession is a comfort.
Yes my time has been busy with projects, work and training, not allowing for much time to write. I have missed the writing and will be working on my schedule to create more time to write. There are still many projects that need to be started and completed on the farm. I need to get to riding two horses so they will be ready to sell in March. I am going to be in lambing season in a week or two, as the ewes are getting ready to have their babies. I have some of last lambing ewes being bred, for lambs in five to six months. Since my time is limited, I am starting to decorate for Christmas now, in order to have the decorating done for my son and his family visit this Christmas.
A White Dorper Sheep class at Mid-American Dorper Show April 2022
The past two days I have been attending the American Dorper Sheep Breeders Society Mid-American Show and Sale in Duncan, Oklahoma. This event is fairly close to where I live, meaning travel expenses are lower than if I went to other events.
Why do I attend this event? I am a sheep farmer raising Dorper sheep. Attending this event I have to opportunity to meet with and talk to other Dorper Sheep breeders. I study their animals and their bloodlines. As a sheep farmer I will need to purchase breeding rams for my farm every two to three years. I want to know what other sheep breeders raise that would benefit my breeding plans for my sheep.
It is an event that brings anxiety as I am very nervous in large crowds. This year the event was even more crowded. With the lifting of many of the moretoriams due to Covid-19, people were able to travel, show and sale their sheep from states that previously they had not been able to travel to. The event is also a large learning time for me to study sheep and bloodlines. I also get to connect with sheep farmers whose sheep I like and want to put their bloodlines in my flock. Sheep farmers are able to see what the sheep look like that others are breeding and what bloodlines they are using with their sheep.
Sheep farmers like looking at others sheep. Talk to each other about the influences in the sheep agriculture business. Mostly, they like to show they have the best sheep. Yes, the show is very competitive. When the sale day arrives, there are some sheep who fetch a very high price as there are sheep farmers wanting to improve their sheep, and bring in different bloodlines.
Two years of not being able to buy rams and ewes with different bloodlines, put the breeding plans on a holding pattern of just maintaining the quality of their sheep, without improving their sheep.
When you live in an area, the area gets saturated with certain bloodlines. Breeding only those bloodlines does not improve your sheep, but can cause your sheep to degrease, as the recessive genetics start showing up as dominant traits. With these large show and sales, sheep farmers are offered the opportunity for bloodlines very different than the ones they have.
Several sheep farmers in different states are bringing in bloodlines from Australia to diversify the bloodlines in the United States. Sheep embryos are purchased, shipped to the United States and implanted in a ewe in their flock. The expense of shipping embryos is much less than trying to ship a sheep. This method is too expensive for me at this time. But I have learned at the event, a sheep farmer and friend has done that and the embryo produced a ram. Great news as a ram will put the bloodlines in many lambs, where a ewe will only put the bloodlines in her lambs.
At this event I met and talked with a breeder and we became friends. They were also able to tell me about the new ram I purchased. The information was most helpful. I am looking forward to more visits as they are close to where I live. Although it will be difficult to purchase sheep from them, since the new ram I purchased came from ewe and ram they had sold to the person I purchased the ram from. Sharing knowledge and conversation will be good.
At the sale I purchased three ewes to add to my breeding program. The person I had purchased the ewes from has been most friendly to us. Has wanted to help us in the sheep business. He has definitely encouraged me to on improving my sheep and showing my sheep. Although I did not have a sheep to show this year. I do have a couple to show next year. He was so thrilled we purchased sheep from him.
Some things I left with I need to learn more about artificial insemination and looking into doing embryo transfers. I also need to find a veterinarian who has working knowledge of the procedures and does them with a good success rate. I will be busy for the next year learning more about being a sheep farmer.
Regardless of what you do for income or as a hobby, there is always more to learn. I need to learn to move forward and improve in what I am doing as a sheep farmer, and with the other things I do with my life.
TODAY WAS AUCTION DAY !! I am a sheep farmer. I raise registered Full Blood Dorper sheep and unregistered or commercial Dorper sheep. Today was the second Saturday of the month and auction day.
I go to a local auction owned and operated by a young man. I watched him grow up and grow his sheep and goat business to be able to purchase the sale barn. He has watched me develop my herd from the purchase of cheap cull sheep, to selecting and breeding to now produce the highest selling market lambs at his auction. Needless to say, we have history.
The sheep and goat auction is my one social event where I leave the farm for a few hours to talk and mingle with like minded people, other sheep and goat farmers or those who want to raise some sheep and goats. The auction is its own social club, where people know people and do business. I have friends that is the only place we meet, as we live hours apart. We discuss sheep prices, the weather, how to make moonshine and other various topics. It is also the place I make contacts for selling breeding stock.
Today, I was going with a purpose other than social. The owner of the sale barn had posted pictures on face book of some registered Full Blood Dorper rams. These rams looked really nice in the pictures, but there were no pictures of the registration papers. Very seldom at the auction will high quality registered Dorper sheep be consigned for the sale. I decided I would have a look.
I woke up earlier, did chores earlier. It was freezing weather today. I decided to take only the truck, and not bother connecting the trailer as I probably would not need it. I arrived at the sale barn at 8 am, when they open the doors. I went inside to look at the registration papers on the rams posted to face book. I was checking their age and bloodlines. If the bloodlines do not work with my breeding program I do not bother looking at the sheep. Bloodlines would work with my flock, plus three of the rams were from sets triplets lambs. That is a plus.
Brave the freezing wind and look at the rams. I was not the only one looking. Another person who is a sheep broker (He buys sheep for others to purchase, or represent others in a purchase) was also looking, actually he was drooling. I was judging the sheep. To maintain or improve my quality of sheep, I have to be very picky about the purchase of sheep for my breeding program. I judged every ram in the pen, placed them first, second and third.
Next, come up with a plan for the bidding on these rams. In any auction, you need to know what you are looking for. Next, set the highest price you can pay for it and do not change your mind once bidding has started. Have a plan on how you are going to bid before the item comes up for bidding. If you do not have a plan and price, you will get pulled in by the auctioneer’s spell and spend way too much for something. I see it happen the second and fourth Saturday of every month.
My plan on bidding for the ram was to “separate the men from the boys” as they say. I knew what the starting bid would probably bid. I knew what the animal was worth. I was going to start the bidding, and my first bid was going to be higher than normal, but not top dollar for the animal. I had my top bid set in my mind and was not going to higher. Today, was serious business.
By now, others were arriving. I met with friends and exchanged conversation. I drank coffee and waited for the show to start. The show starts when the auctioneer takes his seat, and everyone else gets in place. The front rows are reserved for buyers, people who spend hundreds to thousands each sale. I am not one of those. I chose to stand along the sides until the rams I was going to bid on came into the ring.
The sale started, bottle babies both sheep and goats that have to be bottle fed because they are so young. Then a some sheep and goats. Finally the rams marched in. I left my position along the side, walked up to the front, and stood in the center and stood next my friend Dennis seated on the front row. He asked if they were my sheep. I said no. He laughed and said not yet anyways. Dennis, his wife and my best friend, Connie and I had a short laugh.
Instead of selling them one at a time, like I thought they would. They were going to sell choice, which means a person bids, the one with the highest bid gets to choose which one or several they are going to buy from the group. Choice, I was pleased, would work really well with my plan.
After a brief description stating they were registered full bloods and their age, the auctioneer asked the sale barn owner, what you want to start them at? I looked straight at the auctioneer and loudly replied with my bid 800. The broker who was drooling outside looking at the rams, just dropped his head, he was out bid. The auctioneer looked at me as did the sale barn owner, and the rapid, flurry of bidding started. I kept my eyes locked on the auctioneer, every time someone bid higher than me, the auctioneer looked me eye to eye, and I nodded my new bid. When the gavel hit, I owned a new ram and I did not reach my top bid.
Dennis, Connie and the other professional buyers and brokers on the front and second rows, congratulated me on the purchase of really fine ram. We know each other my name. We laugh and joke at the sale. We have funny stories to share from our Saturdays at the sale barn.
Now, I had to pay for my ram, and go home to get the trailer in order to take the ram home.
Meet “JUMBO”, registered Full Blood Dorper, born March 2021. The new man at the farm. He will cross well with my other ram, “Max”.
“Jumbo”, the new man at the farm.
If you enjoy watching people, an auction is a fun place to go. Look for people’s bidding technique, some nod, some just move a finger, some way wildly in the air, each has their own way of letting the auctioneer know they are wanting to buy.
Hope you enjoyed. I am excited about this new guy, and am looking forward to his lambs.
Me, Myself and I 