spring ahead

this morning before work, i gave a lamb a bath in the laundry room sink. michelle carried her from the shed to the house and we scrubbed her backside in soapy water. she didn't seem to mind it much, though she did run (bleating the whole way) back to her mom afterwards. spring is here, the weather's been warmer and the flies are out, so we have to pay more attention to flystrike. we usually spray the sheep down in the morning and evening with a citronella-laced pyrethrin-based solution. pyrenthrin's an insecticide derived from daisies and chrysanthemums, and is awesome against flies while being animal-friendly. time to install some of those nasty fly traps around the pens, too - those dreaded baggies that you fill with water. they smell awful, but they do work well.

james left town a couple of weeks ago, and we managed to shear the rams the weekend before he went. i had our blades sharpened in advance at east valley feed, and ordered another shearing comb, along with some replacement parts for the shearing head. rather than putting the sheep on a stacion as we've done in past years, james wanted to shear them on the ground. i have newfound respect for professional shearers, who sit the sheep on their rears and shear while holding them vertical - in under two minutes. i was just holding them up, and it felt like the weight of the world was on my thighs. i'll admit that i fell down more than once. guess i need to do some squats and lunges before next spring, as my muscles were sore for a week afterwards. fortunately, it was cool and cloudy, so we finished all four in one day (not as easily done in the heat). mostly finished, i should say - as levi got a lion cut because he wouldn't stand still. i'll shear the ewes once their lambs are weaned, in may or june. they're usually easier to manage. usually. hopefully. good times await!

vaccinations are done for the year. the lambs had their last shots, and the rams had their boosters (hallelujah, no more vet bills every two weeks!). everyone seems healthy, though the rams seem lazier than usual. i'm chalking it up to the rain, wind and cooler weather that was with us for awhile. as i was getting ready to leave for the office, scooter and the rest of the rams ventured to the front of the property for a rare appearance. they've been loitering near the shed all day, every day, munching on alfalfa and bermuda grass, trying to out-nudge each other (and probably playing cards and smoking when i'm not watching). they can't be bothered to graze. by contrast, the ewes are out of the shed like a shot in the mornings, sprinting to the front of the property for fallen oranges and grapefruits, or a treat of scratch grains. sometimes they stand next to the chicken coop and yell loudly for awhile, thinking it'll get them a handful of scratch. usually, it does. when it doesn't, they roam away to graze for the rest of the day.

the compost bins are filling up. if the weather's nice on sunday, i'll dump some of the ripe stuff in the garden. i really need to start some seedlings. the fig trees already have decent-sized fruit on them and the pomegranates are covered with small red buds. looking forward to some consistently warm weather so i can start cleaning up and getting ready for summer.