The Ultimate Challenge

For the past six years I have enjoyed all aspects of the joys of raising sheep, I have walked them, fed them, taught them showmanship and even inadvertantly ridden them a couple of times.

My first lamb and I

Through this project I have grown exponentially: Physically: as can be seen that I now weigh more than my market lambs; Mentally: As can be seen by my incredible skills at outsmarting those rascally lambs and getting them onto their halters even when they are at their most persnickety; and even in my ability to haul a sheep around the ring and make it look nearly effortless. But although I will always remember my times with various lambs this year I am graduating, not only from high school, but also from the market lamb project. This year I will take on the Ultimate Challenge. I. Will. Raise. A. Steer.

Now, this is no 120 pound market lamb we're talking about, nor is it a 300 pound breeding ewe. We are talking about at least 1,200 pounds of muscle, energy and equal parts stubbornness and over exuberance. That I am going to raise, walk, feed and teach showmanship too.

Insert Ag Girl Here right beside a steer!

This crazy animal will be here in the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned for the excitement, the tears (0f joy) and the undoubtably hilarious moments that will happen on my 7 month journy. Because this time, Desert Ag Girl really DOESN'T know what she's getting herself into. The only things I'm sure of are that it's going to be a wild ride. And that you will be right there with me.

Name A Herbivore....

For the longest time my sister has wanted a bunny. For years, she has gazed longingly at the cages of "for sale" rabbits at the Junior Livestock Show. Finally, she has her own rabbit. A little dutch we have named Nermal. Now that Brenna has a rabbit, she is constantly thinking about her little Nermal. This caused the following events to occur during biology class. Brenna's retelling of these events left my entire family rolling on the floor at dinner time

"Brenna" The teacher began "Please name a herbivore."

Brenna smiled, being on a first name basis with several herbivores, she had this one down. "Nermal." She replied confidently.

"Excuse me?" asked the teacher, confused "What's a Nermal?"
"My rabbit." said Brenna, a little confused herself. "She's a herbivore, named Nermal."

Nermal

Needless to say, I have come to know that the more herbivores you can name, the more interesting and rewarding your life becomes.

Surprise!

This morning, when Brenna went to feed Begonia one of her favorite delacacies for breakfast (alfalfa hay, nicely flaked), she was in for quite a surprise. Now, where I enjoy rising early enough to take in a sunrise before starting my day, Brenna is quite the night owl. So the following events took place while Brenna was in that dreamlike state of half conciousness that comes from being a night owl, forced by circumstance against her nature.

Brenna peeled off half a flake of hay from the bale, and carried it into Begonia's pen. She then proceeded to do a quick check of her lamb "Ok, I fed Begonia, Begonia's allright, and her lambs are all right, so I'm just going to-wait! Her LAMBS are all right? Those certainly weren't there last night!"

Begonia and Flower

Now, Begonia just came home a few days ago, and while we knew that she had been at Camp Ram, and planned accordingly for her pregnancy, we expected to have about a week before the lambs were actually born. This led to all sorts of fumbling about for straw ( the entire county is cleaned out), and then shavings (I'm sure my mom didn't mind the little 45 minute drive!), iodine (why oh why was last year's bottle int he medicine cabinet?), and musings over whether or not our current weather calls for a heat lamp (well they were all right last night...). But everything worked itself out, and the babies are curled against their momma, sleeping soundly, the way it's supposed to be.

Begonia and Bambi

And that is how our lambing went this season. Begonia had twins, two girls we named Bambi-Pie and Cutie-Flower. (check out my post on the art of naming sheep for more info:) I found the surprise! method of lambing to be very enjoyable, and as neither of the lambs seem to be damaged either physically or emotionally, I will conclude that Begonia is a good mother.

Desert Ag Girl doesn't PLAY video games

Yesterday we finally welcomed our family's breeding ewe, Begonia home after a summer and fall at Camp Ram. When my sister led her up the walkway we greeted her with pets and hugs and her favorite treat-a cookie. However, the events leading up to her homecoming was anything but boring.

Worming Begonia so she could come home

Begonia had come up in the trailer with a passel of other extraordinarily pregnant ewes. All of these ewes belong to my very favorite mentor/Ag teacher/FFA advisor, Mrs. Lacey. Now all of the ewes, including Begonia, were tucked safe and sound into a field, where they were doing their thing. The problem was, ewes that are doing... whatever it is that ewes do when we aren't watching them, don't particularly want to be caught.

The goal was get them in the pen, like this,

What ended up happening reminded me of a giant, real life video game. I'm predicting it would go viral, and attract fans of both Farmville and Angry Birds.

-Four players: Preferably all girls, (and preferably looking like real women, not like the ones found in nerdy video games)
-About 30 VERY pregnant ewes: These could be computer generated and programmed to avoid the four players AT ALL COSTS.
-The object of the game is to get the sheep into a small pen, for some reasonable purpose like separating one ewe out to take her home.
-This is accomplished by moving a variety of semi heavy and cumbersome objects to form blockades and fortresses that direct the sheep in a variety of directions.

-If this cannot be accomplished, there should be a cheat code available that involves super awesome dogs.
-There can be a variety of levels with different sheep moods and available objects.

And after each level, you might see a screen like this, because the Battle of Penning Sheep is never truly won!

I'm telling you, this could totally catch on, and when it does, I will finally be able to say that Desert Ag Girl doesn't PLAY video games, her life IS a video game!

(All I need now is a catchy name... Maybe: Woman vs. Sheep, Sheep a Rama, or Cranky Ewes...hmm I'll have to think about that one!)

The Circle of Life

It's funny how certain movies, no matter how silly, just stick with you. My favorite movie of all time is The Lion King. There is just something about the plot that gets me everytime, and those songs aren't just catchy: They have special meanings that relate to my everyday life.

This afternoon Obie's rabbit, Ollie, died. He was eleven years old, which in Rabbit years is exponential. Ollie's rambunctious romps around the garden, nibbling my mom's veggies will be sorely missed. Some other things that I will miss about Ollie include:

Obie and Ollie 2009

-His craftiness: This rabbit would do almost anything to avoid being caught, he came up with some pretty great plans in his time.

-His empathy: Ollie would always listen. All you had to do was snuggle him in your arms and spill your secrets.

-His tolerance: I will be the first to say it, Obie is not the most delicate kid, but that rabbit stuck it out.

Ollie was a great rabbit and a good friend and he will be missed by the whole family. But it's the circle of life and tomorrow. Begonia, our breeding ewe will be coming home-very pregnant. Last year she had her lambs in March, but we are hoping for January lambs this year. Here are some things I look forward to with our own lamby family:

Brenna and Begonia 2009

The lambing: There is just something about seeing newborn lambs opening their eyes and suckling their mother, and knowing that you helped make that happen, that is super magical.

-The walks: Taking lambs for walks becomes a blast with Bugonia in company. All that I need to do is lead Begonia on a halter and the lambs come running behind her.

-Showmanship Practice: Yes I complain about practicing the same routine over and over, but when it comes down to it, I really enjoy the moment when I finally feel I have it down.

Happy New Year Everybody! I wish you Peace, Joy, Happiness and lots and lots of Ag!

"Don't Look Now!

But you have a Posse of Blond Children following you around!" I was at the FFA farm the other day, when I saw my friend feeding her sheep. She quickly came up and alerted me to the situation. I looked behind me... it was true! I had taken my brother Obie, and some family friends on a walk down to see the FFA farm, and when we were walking, it did sort of look like a posse of blond children.

Here they all are. That's Obie posing on the front of the tractor, and then there is JJ, who is two, ready to drive. Lexi, with the sweet little smile and pink dress is four. Will, the explorer in the orange shirt and binoculars is seven, and Percy in the blue sweater and mischievous grin is nine. So that's where I was a couple afternoons ago, at the farm with my very own Posse of wonderful blond children. When my FFA advisor showed up to work on the rabbits, I tried to carefully herd them over the the far field. Apparently, my exciting suggestions "Let's go look at the mini horse in the field over there" were not very convincing. So my Advisor, seeing that we were headed that way, asked if I could feed that pony. Sure! I told her, knowing that this was the perfect moment to enlist some adorable young helpers! "Who wants to climb up and get some hay for the horse?" and "Who wants to push the wheel barrow" were much more appealing, so about five minutes later we were headed, albeit slowly, for the far field. By the time the horse had hay in it's feeder, had been hand fed quite a bit of hay, and had a full water dish, I had five happy kids. We headed back to the barn, (with several wheelbarrow rides along the way), parked the wheelbarrow, took a couple of pictures with the tractor, and raced straight home. All in all it was a fun afternoon, with animals, friends, and sunshine. What more could you need?

(O.K. FINE! Maybe we made one stop at the edge of the farm to jump in some jumbo (around 6 ft) piles of leaves on the way back.... And maybe we skipped part of the way home, but getting there is half the fun right!?!)

The Art of Naming Sheep

Having recently acquired our market lambs for the year, my sister and I now have six sheep that live at the animal pens in our backyard. Now, having six sheep is very fun, and I definitely enjoy working showmanship with them, and walking them is a different, but still enjoyable experience. However, one thing that can get a little bit tricky is keeping their names straight. Once you master that, your golden! Because we have six sheep this year, and have been doing sheep for a while, I have learned a thing or two about naming sheep. It's best if the names are cute and catchy, and, keeping that in mind, there are a few steps that I usually follow:
1. Is the sheep a ewe or a weather?
It is best to keep this in mind when you're considering names that are specific to one gender or the other. My sister wanted to name her ewe's first lamb Orion, but because she was a girl, she tweaked it to Oriana. Now that her ewe has had two lambs, she has both an Oryan and an Oriana.
2. What color is the sheep?
Some names, such as coco puff, Oreo, honey etc. are very cute and can be decided from the color of the sheep's wool. This year I named my market lamb Pooh Bear, because of his honey colored wool.
3. Consider the personality of the sheep.
Does the sheep jump around about? Maybe Tigger or hopper would be a good name. Does the sheep constantly lay down when you try to walk it on a halter? That behavior led my sister to name one lamb London (bridges falling down). This year, because her market lamb is extremely vocal, she named it Enya.
4. Don't forget about flower names.
Although names such as daisy and rose are slightly overused, they are still very cute if they fit the sheep. For something a little more fun and exotic, try unusual flower and plant names. Our breeding ewe's name is Begonia, and my sister also once had a lamb named clover.
5. Think about recent movies.
Last year, half of the sheep at the fair were named Bella or Alice. This year, because the breeding ewe that I chose was marked with a big chalk paint "A" I named her Olive in reference to "Easy A". These names are funny, and can start a conversation about the movie.
Follow these tips and you're sure to come up with something. But if all else fails, just remember that as long as YOU like the name and it sort of fits the sheep, it works!