The stories she could tell

Posted by kenleighacres on October 20, 2011
Posted in: Farm Life, Jacob Sheep, sheep, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , . 1 Comment

Over the last couple of years, we have added sheep from a good distance away…Georgia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Nebraska, and California – but this girl gets the award for farthest traveled…


Huntsberger Venus.

Her story starts back in 2003 when Jaime Huntsberger contacted Betty Berlenbach to see if she knew someone that could help him roundup his Jacobs and move them off Butter Island.  The sheep had been living there for 7 years with very little human interaction. Royal Unzicker heard about this opportunity and I haven’t known him to turn down an adventure, so I’m not surprised he said ‘yes’.  In the middle of July, they took Jaime’s lobster boat 1 hour off the coast of Maine and set out to capture approximately 80 jacobs that had complete reign of a 300 acre island.  7 people and 1 border collie headed out and by the afternoon they had 65 Jacobs caught.  I can’t imagine what that would have been like and I wish there was video of it 🙂  The escapees were left on the island for another time.  Jaime was moving the sheep because he lost the lease he had for the island.

The sheep were moved to the lobster boat and loaded up for the trip back to the mainland.  They moved them from the boat up the dock to the trucks…that must have been a sight!  From this roundup the sheep went to several different locations and Venus made the trip first to Pennsylvania with Royal and then to Oregon with Ingrid Painter.

While I was visiting Ingrid in August, I saw that Venus was for sale.  She is up there in years and has only had 2 lambs for Ingrid, but I thought she was worth taking a chance on.

Photo by Joan Gross

This is Puddleduck Button, owned by Joan Gross at Mud Ranch Jacobs.  She is a granddaughter of Venus, isn’t she pretty!

Since Venus has been here, I have really enjoyed her personality.

She is a watcher and a thinker.  While the other sheep are grazing away, she is always aware of what is going on.

She isn’t overly flighty, but she always knows where the exit is and stays close to it.  She is last in the barn at feeding time and she prefers to sleep outside, even when the rest of the sheep are inside.

She is never far from Cleora, another ewe from Ingrid, and at night they can be found sleeping next to each other – Cleora inside and Venus outside.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that she has lamb(s) next year.


When I look into her eyes, it is apparent that she would have many stories to share if she could.

Thank you Fall!

Posted by kenleighacres on October 14, 2011
Posted in: Fall, Farm Life, Jacob Sheep, Uncategorized. 4 Comments

I can’t believe how much the pastures can change in just a couple of days.  We left for the weekend on Thursday evening and the pastures were brown, we returned on Sunday evening to a beautiful carpet of green!

As I mentioned in a previous post, I have been holding the sheep off the big pastures to encourage the grass to grow…but the girls have been begging to go out there and the days have been so nice.

So, while I was feeding them, I let them out for a little bit.

The Chicory we planted is really starting to take off…

and the sheep are loving it!

‘I think that is a little too big of a bite for you Petunia.’

‘Yes, Sahara, that makes you look like a walrus…now stop playing with your food.’

Not everybody was focused on the chicory though…Veronica went for the clover.

Chevelle was stuffing her face with dried up dandelions.

While Hyacinch wanted the yellow dandelions.

Mac was going for good ol’ grass.

and Bronwen was eating thistles until she had to pose for the camera.

I’m glad they all have different tastes because there is a lot of variety out there!

Wow!

Posted by kenleighacres on October 6, 2011
Posted in: Farm Life, Jacob Sheep. Tagged: , , . 6 Comments

I received an email that I just have to share!

“My name is Charles and I wanted to let you know that ‘Stories from the Farm’ was selected to our list of Top 50 Farm Blogs based on recommendations from other farm bloggers and because we think your blog provides great content for people interested in farming. You can read our review of your blog and see the list at http://www.seametrics.com/blog/top-farm-blogs/

They write – ‘Jacob sheep endowed with ombre shades of wool and remarkable quadruple horns are arguably the stars of “Stories from the Farm”, rendered even more magnificent by blogger Shannon’s camera skills; snapshots of barn swallows, bees feasting on blooms and scenes from the fair provide a glimpse into the everyday joys of an Oregon farm family.’

First, I have to say thank you to those who recommended my little blog! I don’t know who you are, but it’s greatly appreciated.  Seeing the list of blogs, with many that I follow and love, is humbling!  I look forward to visiting all of them.

Secondly,  this has inspired me to be a better blogger.  Several posts have been floating around in my head and I am going to sit down and do a better job of following through…but posting doesn’t do any good if no one reads it, so thank you to those who do!

Lastly, a thanks to Seametrics – they are a water flow measurement company that helps farmers to reduce water use and save money.
A critical part to agriculture, whether it be crops or livestock…efficient use is so important!

and because I just can’t do a blog post without a picture…

here is a picture of little Emeline (not so little anymore) and her new friend, Izzy – more about her soon.

Here it comes…

Posted by kenleighacres on October 4, 2011
Posted in: Fall, family, Farm Life, Jacob Sheep, sheep. 2 Comments

the rain!

The rain never seemed to stop at the beginning of summer, but once it stopped…it stopped – 3 months of no rain is quite a while for the Northwest.  I am secretly happy to see the rain again.  I am not a lover of the rain and the mud and the never ending sogginess, but I do love what it brings…

green grass!

The pastures have been awfully brown, except for the chicory we planted.  It started growing and turning green with just the little bit of dew we were getting towards the end of summer.  The chicory is new for us and we are hoping it can help choke out the foxtail.

So far, so good – it is starting to pop up everywhere!

I have been holding the sheep off of the bigger pastures and will continue to do so for another week or two.  I am excited to see the fall forage…

but I think these guys are even more excited!

Another reason to be happy for the rain is for the trees we planted this summer.  We got a really good deal on some sugar maples and paper bark birch trees, but the middle of summer is not an ideal time to plant trees in the pasture where there isn’t easy access to water.  I spent a lot of time toting water out to them.

Unfortunately, the rain also means we have to say ‘good-bye’ to the blackberries.

Paisley

and my son, feasted on the last of them.

Hello Fall!

Making it work!

Posted by kenleighacres on October 1, 2011
Posted in: Jacob Sheep, Uncategorized. Tagged: , . 4 Comments

Sometimes you just have to make it work and that is exactly what I am doing with my son’s wagon…

My poor wheelbarrow has a VERY flat tire and I haven’t made it to the store to buy a new one.  I have tried pumping the tire up, but it only makes it halfway to where I need it, before it is flat again!  The tractor is leaking hydraulic fluid and is out of commission until it is fixed and the 4-wheeler’s starter is bad.  That saying ‘when it rains, it pours’ is so true!  So, I have been reduced to using my son’s wagon for the time being.

Luckily, this hungry mob doesn’t really care how I tote their hay around.

Delight would really like it if I stuffed some hay in my pockets 🙂

Good boys!

Posted by kenleighacres on September 18, 2011
Posted in: Jacob Sheep, Uncategorized. Tagged: , . 2 Comments

In my last post, the boys were spending a little time in the small pen to become acquainted again.  The next day we turned them out in the pasture with some alfalfa and crossed our fingers that there wouldn’t be much fighting.

They were so good!  It is always a tense moment when we take their halters off and turn them out together.

Since Wrangler left a few months ago, Reno has been top dog and he wasn’t ready to give up that position.  He was a little on edge and ready to defend it.

He thought Ringo was going to give it a go…

but he was only looking for a scratching post 🙂

Reno thought Ironside was looking at him a little funny.  There were a few stand offs, but they were all half-hearted.

Ironside decided that eating was a much better use of his time.

I thought Ringo and Ironside would fight over the next two spots in the pecking order, but they didn’t seem to care.

Within 10 minutes, they were all eating together.

What good boys!

One big happy family…

Posted by kenleighacres on September 15, 2011
Posted in: Farm Life, Jacob Sheep, sheep, Uncategorized. Tagged: , . 6 Comments

or maybe not so happy!

Breeding season is over and we have consolidated the sheep from 9 pens to 3 pens.

Here are the ‘not so happy’ boys.  They are in this small pen to become friends again.

Reintroducing the rams needs to be done with care.  A pecking order has to be reestablished and a lot of head bashing and general unpleasantness can take place.  To cut down on potential injuries, we tie the boys up in a small pen for 24-48 hours and then turn them out together with very enticing food.  We tie them up so they can’t hook each other with their horns.  We have had good success with this method.  When I checked on them this morning, they were relaxed and laying down with each other.

You may be asking, where are the rest of the rams?  Well, the ram lambs are all turned out together…they aren’t big enough or serious enough at this age to be a problem.  There was a little bit of pushing each other around, but they quickly got over it.

and lucky Mac is out with all of the girls.  We are using him as a ‘clean-up’ ram, just in case someone wasn’t bred.

He spent the evening checking out the new ladies…

and whispering sweet nothings to them.

He is a happy boy 🙂  He will be with the girls for another couple of weeks and then he will spend the winter with the ram lambs.

The girls were very happy to be reunited.  Friends were together again and mothers and daughters soon found each other.  I get a kick out of watching them interact with each other, when they have been separated for a while.  My friend Lisa, brought her 4 ewes that she bought from us here to be bred and they quickly found each other and have been stuck like glue ever since.

This group of girls will have to wait to be reunited because I don’t want them bred.  It includes the ewe lambs and the two retired girls – Holly & Dolly.

It also includes our two new girls Puddleduck Cleora and Huntsberger Venus.  They are waiting for our new ram lamb to arrive…

Byeburn Hector is coming from New Jersey and should be here next week.  He will be the 7th ram we are using for breeding this year.  To view all of the rams and ewes that were bred this year you can click on the 2011 Breeding Line-up page.

I am looking forward to the day when all the ewes are in one group and everyone truly is ‘one big happy family’.

Last of the swallow babies

Posted by kenleighacres on September 6, 2011
Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: , , . 4 Comments

With a 330′ barn, we have a LOT of spots for the swallows to nest.  I really enjoy watching the parents feeding their babies and watching the babies grow and eventually leaving the nest.

The babies are a little ‘alien’ looking…

especially when they open their mouths and start screaming for their meal.

The parents are constantly flying in and out feeding the little ones.  I like a lot of things about the swallows, but it is their bug catching abilities that I appreciate the most.

The swallow population is strong here.  I counted almost 100 of them lined up on the telephone line the other day, but Fall is in the air and they will be leaving soon.  I will look forward to their return next year.

Future ladies…

Posted by kenleighacres on September 2, 2011
Posted in: Jacob Sheep. Tagged: , , . 2 Comments

Here are the ewe lambs we are keeping and that we have added this year…the future ladies of Kenleigh Acres.  They are all my favorites for different reasons.

Kenleigh’s Duchess – Kenleigh’s Wrangler x Mud Ranch’s Queenie

Duchess has my favorite fleece of the group.  So consistent and soft.

Kenleigh’s Avalon – Kenleigh’s Reno x Kenleigh’s Aimee

Avalon has my favorite facial marking.

Kenleigh’s Emeline – Kenleigh’s Wrangler x Kenleigh’s Holly

She is my favorite for her inquisitive personality.  I am going to miss having Holly lambs this year, but Mollala and Emeline will carry on for their mom.

bideawee Shana – Sweetgrass Tobin x bideawee Marta

She is a very close runner-up for favorite fleece, but there can only be one…so she is my favorite for her top horns.  Her laterals have both been broken, but are coming in nice and strong.

Ruby Peak Penstemon – Windy Acres Oberon x Ruby Peak Iris

She has my favorite new bloodlines.  Here are pictures of her parents….

Windy Acres Oberon

Ruby Peak Iris and her lambs from 2008.

For once I have more 4-horn ewe lambs than 2-horns!  I had to tell myself several times…no, you can not add another 2-horn ewe – yes, she is very nice, but the answer is NO!

I strive to have a diverse flock of jacob sheep and I think this group of ewes shows a wonderful variety of jacob traits.