I can't and Mutton Mondays intro.

Today was supposed to be a day of banding, but I couldn't do it. It's my first I can't on the ranch and I feel like I've let myself down.


What is banding? Banding is a method used to dock (remove the tail of a lamb) and castrate a lamb. A band like the one pictured below is placed on the tail to dock a sheep and just above the lambs scrotum to castrate.

Photo from sheep101.info

J looked at me for help after he caught the first lamb and my eyes filled with tears. I couldn't do it. I know it's only painful for a little while and I know it needs to be done to maintain the health of the lamb, but I just couldn't do it. Most people tend to think cute, little, helpless and fluffy when they think of lambs and well, that is what made it through what I thought was the thick skin of this rancher's wife.


This led me to thinking. There are a lot of things that ranching entails, things that the average person may not know about. While there are the ever so important Ag issues there are terms you may have never heard, practices you didn't know existed, products that may be useful to you, struggles of being in the ranching industry you may not know about and the list goes on and on.

I am learning so much and I want to share with you a little more about the ranching life, more than just my experiences, I want you to know and understand more about ranching therefore Mutton Mondays is introduced! I will post tidbits of ranch life information whether it be facts about sheep, the latest news in agriculture, information on our practices - like banding and so much more. I'm quite excited to get the word out about agriculture as it is a vital part of our society.

Now...to work up the courage to get back out there and help J band some tails.

If you have specific questions or comments please feel free to contact me by clicking on the Contact Me tab at the top! I'm no ranching expert (yet), but I will do my very best to answer any questions you might have. 

A Day in the Life of a Rancher's Wife

Waking up at 6:00 am on a Saturday.

Chores.

Puppies. 

Horses.

Dogs.

Rams. 

A three hour car ride to the winter range.

Falling into sagebrush.

Lassoing and loading 20 pregnant sheep.

Mastitis.

Three stomach feedings. 

Our first set of triplets. Seven babies total born today - our most yet!

Bottle feedings. 

Assisting with a birth.

I'm exhausted. Good night.

Oh sh*! the sheep!

On my days off I like to pretend I know what I am doing and help J with the chores. This entails letting the Ewes and their babies out of the barn, letting the puppies out, feeding the Ewes, horses, and the rams.

Saturday I woke up way too early, dragged myself out of bed, put my muddy jeans on (because we don't wash our "work" clothes daily, or weekly for that matter) a jacket, some gloves and headed out.

To my surprise I was greeted by 3 rams. Um, excuse me but you boys are supposed to be penned up way out in the back. J told me not to worry - they must have found a hole in the fence and meandered up closer to the house. I start walking out to the back where the rams are supposed to be and I was starting to get worried. Each morning the rams meet J at the fence because they know they are going to be fed - they weren't there.

I yelled to J, who was still back near the house letting the Ewes out of their pen and giving them water, "I don't see them." Still, he wasn't worried. I keep walking, hoping they are still bedded down from the night before and nothing. I look back at the house and out on the road I see a large slow moving cloud. "Oh, sh*! the sheep are out on the road!"

J dropped the bucket of water, "Oh crap, they are!" At this point I'm frantic and running in circles not sure of what to do. "I'll run to the other side of the ranch and catch them on that end." J said, "I'm going to get the 4 wheeler. It's okay, you don't need to panic." Umm, okay.

So, I take off running for my life. Not really, but it felt like it. The whole time I'm thinking - wow, I need to do more cardio at the gym. Anyway, I get out on the road and J is already there on the 4 wheeler. So much for beating him to the rams and blocking them off.

The rams turned right around and found their way back to the house and up the driveway. It's as if they knew they had been bad. I've heard from fellow ranchers that right when you think you got it down something happens just to keep you on your toes - I'm starting to believe this is true!

Babies are here!

Houston, we are having babies!

We haven't lost any lambs since this post - thank goodness. We have about 11 lambs on the ground and four mama's still expecting! This is good practice for real lambing season in May when we expect to have hundreds!

Here is a picture of one of the lambs - isn't she beautiful?!

Oh and there are baby goats too! Can't forget the (very loud) baby goats.

Moving Camp

A few weeks ago I helped J move camp. Isn't as easy as it sounds especially when you actually help rather than watch which is what I've been known to do in the past.

We lease Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land for our winter range. The winters are milder there and we can move to different areas on our permit land every week or so to ensure new feed. Our herders are from Peru and are really good at what they do. They stay with the sheep in the sheep camp. They will doctor the sheep when needed, keep them in the right area so that our sheep don't mix with neighboring sheep bunches.

This morning we had to get out there before the sun comes out. If we wait until the snow melts everything is muddy and it's harder to move camp.

Our herder and sheep are already gone. They start to graze over to the new area early in the morning. We hook up the camp (using a ridiculously scary piece of equipment called a Farm Jack), load up all the wood, and anything else that is lying around and head on over to the new spot. Hooking and packing up camp takes about a good hour and a half.

We head over to the new camp which is about a 5 mile drive (but feels like 10 miles since we have to go about 10 miles per hour). We unload and I plow snow out of our way. We use the ridiculously scary piece of equipment again and I find myself closing my eyes. If it breaks and the sheep camp hitch falls to the ground and topples on J I sure as heck don't want to see it happen.

Right as we were taking the last salt block out of the bed of the truck we hear a bell. The sheep are here! We walk over and soon see the dogs Embre, Wito, Skip and Chili and here comes our herder.

We chit chat for a while and give the pups a treat. J and our herder talk about the next camp and when they will move. They have to take into consideration how much feed (or lack thereof) is here at this camp - that will determine how long the sheep can graze this area.

I can say the sheep are lookin healthy, our herder is in good spirits and the 4 dogs are happy! Things are good.

it's a lovely day.

Seven years ago I was living my life - working, living on my own I thought I had it all. Then I met my husband.

That is when I started loving my life and everything about it. I learned what it meant to love with all my heart and to give for the sake of giving.

Since I met J things just keep getting better. Through my husband I have met some awesome people and created everlasting friendships. 

I've also learned how to keep my long distance relationships alive because even though I don't see you everyday I love you with all of my heart and soul.

How lucky are we to live this life surrounded by friendship and love?! Valentine's Day is yes, a Hallmark holiday, but also a day to celebrate love. Today and everyday I am celebrating the love that makes me complete, the love that makes my life so wonderful and beautiful and real. THIS is what life is about - not the car you drive, the house you live in or how much you have in the bank. It's about the stuff you can't REALLY see...the things that fill your heart with joy.

Today I thank my husband, my family and my friends. Thank you for all the love and support you continually show us. You make my heart whole. Each and every one of you.

*it's nearly impossible to post pictures of everyone that I hold close to my heart - but that is a fabulous problem to have.