Independence Day

(If you have your sound on, you will hear the lambs baa-ing back and forth, but none of them ever lift their heads or stop eating! I guess the grass tasted really good after a few days of being confined to the barn!)

Yes, I know, it has already come and gone, but we are still working on gaining independence here on the farm. We decided, rather spur of the moment, to wean the lambs on the 4th of July. I didn't even bother to check the Farmer's Almanac on this one because it didn't seem to help poor Pippi much to be weaned during the "correct" phase of the moon. Actually, the lambs have done quite well. The first afternoon and night there was a bit of baa-ing back and forth between them and their mothers. Unfortunately, we don't have a good way to separate them enough so they can't hear each other. My solution is to turn the big barn fan on high and put the radio on an NPR classical music station, turned up quite loud. I think it helps and it's easier for me to listen to than the country music stations (not my favorite) I used to use at weaning time. Country music 24/7 is a bit much for me! Mid-week I separated the ewe lambs from the ram lambs, so I could begin to halter train the ewe lambs. (At this point in the year, I don't want to become anymore attached to the ram lambs. Their time here is coming to an end.) The little girl lambs went out to graze without their moms for the first time a few days ago. They do have "Grannie" Carmen as an adult chaperone and Pippi is still hanging out with them. A few nights ago I was able to turn the radio off, so I think we are through the worst of it.