Spring has sprung! For the fifth or sixth time in 2025. This time for real, though, as the grass is exploding throughout the pasture. There is enough grass growing that the cows won’t touch the hay. The sheep are excited about each of the moves, sometimes jumping a few feet in the air.
I’ve started twice daily rotations. At first I wanted to have the cattle follow the sheep by 1 rotation, but that was just too much work. I’m keeping them together for now. There are two problems with the “flerd” arrangement, grazing sheep and cattle together. One is that cows can be mean to the sheep. I saw a cow throw a sheep a few feet in the air just because it was munching on grass the cow wanted to eat. Two is that I can’t keep the minerals separated. I worry the sheep might lick the cattle minerals and vice-versa.
So I think I might go back to leader-follower, this time with the cattle in front and the sheep behind. Maybe the extra effort is worth the peace and quiet of not having sheep worry about cows throwing them in the air.
I sold one of the lambs from 2024. The buyer wanted half, so we kept the other half. We roasted the leg for Easter, and it was nice. None of the gaminess normally associated with sheep. I remember Jennifer and I bought a leg of lamb years and years ago, roasted it up, and the whole house stunk. We couldn’t eat the thing due to the overwhelming flavor. That said, we decided as a family that lamb curry was better than lamb roast, a testament to how good Jennifer’s curry is.
I bought a cow from my neighbor, probably the last one I will ever buy. This time we ordered a rib roast for Christmas, with the rest of the ribeye being made into my favorite tomahawk steaks. (That’s ribeye with the rib attached, something like a caveman would eat.) We cleaned out the old chest freezer that held the last cow we bought, and I found a leftover tomahawk steak I claim dibs on. But not much else is left, although we could’ve eaten more hamburger meat. (I’ll get right on that.)
I expect calves to drop any day now. I thought I’d see a few by Easter, but I guess my math was wrong or the bull that I bought doesn’t know what he’s doing. Hopefully we’ll see calves soon. Based on my amateur inspection, all the cows seem to be carrying a calf. They are very wide and their right side is filled in. I think I see something moving inside of them as well. I know these cows should be good to go, especially with a smaller bull, so I don’t have any worries.
The rams are doing their job on the ewes. They are doing so well, in fact, that I might pull them off soon. Maybe giving them 3 or 4 cycles is too many. I worry the ram effect went into effect and I wasn’t able to space the ewes out like I hoped. Going forward, I’ll keep the wethers on the ewes full time so that they don’t get the ram effect when I turn the rams on them. They probably need the extra grass anyway, as they don’t have much time before harvest.
I spent a lot of time looking for hoof rot or hoof scald in my sheep. All of the ones showing any signs of lameness have mechanical issues, so I think they are doing just great and it is either under control or completely eliminated. I think the idea that we need antibiotics to eliminate or control diseases is just wrong. Healthy sheep, clean pasture, fresh water are what the doctor should be ordering. If that doesn’t solve it, aggressive culling should. The lambs I bought from Lampasas TX are doing just great with this system, better than I even expected.