Fall with the Flock

Milking season went well for us, and we ended up finishing at the end of July this year after producing about 16,000 pounds of sheep’s milk! The yield was great, even a little better than what we expected per ewe.

After a successful season we won't necessarily change much when we resume milking next year, although the ewes will be lambing a few weeks earlier so we can try to hit just the right timing for them to be on nice pasture when they're weaned. We'll be adding 20 new ewes to the line next year as well. These are ewes that were born on property last year and are just now reaching the right age to join the milking line. We will eventually get to a milking flock size of about 60 hardy, high-producing ewes, and after that, we'll only add new ewes when we retire older ewes.

Now it’s on to a new season for flock. In the Fall, our sheep mostly rest out in the pasture. During the last week of September, we’ll put the rams in with the ewes, so we'll be expecting lambs at the end of February 2022. With our next lambing, I expect to have around 120 new lambs born!

Neza, our sheep dog, does react differently to the baby lambs than she does to the adults. She is extremely cautious of them and keeps a wide distance if I ask her to help move them. I'm not sure if she knows that they are fragile, or if she's actually afraid of them, but it's pretty funny to watch! Neza really enjoys the growing flock and learning how best to work sheep with different personalities.

To keep all our sheep nourished, we seed some Winter forage this time of year, like barley and wheat, so that they can have more to eat in the pasture. But during January and February, the sheep rely pretty heavily on hay. It depends on how many hard frosts we get, of course, and we keep a close eye on nature to make sure the sheep are full and happy.

– Christen Waddell, Blackberry Farm Livestock Manager