Hungry Ewes

These are the faces that meet me every day and say, "Feed me and feed me now!" They have lambs growing inside them and need lots of nourishment. We feed them hay, grain and free choice minerals. At this stage we are not producing our own hay. That takes a tractor, a mower, a baler and a hay wagon that rides along behind and collects the bales. We buy local hay which has not always been easy. It was a terrible year for hay here in the northeast...way too much rain. It takes four dry, sunny days to bale hay. Day 1 - cutting. Day 2 - drying in the sun. Day 3 - fluff up the hay with a rake so the underside can dry. Day 4 - pick it up and bale it, then get it in the barn. There were not too many sets of dry days to do all this. Local people are keeping what they need for their own stock, then selling it to regular customers. We have been fortunate to find some of last year's first cut from a neighbor but that's not good enough for pregnant ewes. A local farmer had a horse hay deal fall through and we are buying beautiful second cut from this year's crop from him. And the grain? For the first time we have bulk grain delivered and blown into the hay room. No more slinging 50 pound sacks over my shoulder and carrying them around to the feeders. I drop it into a wheelbarrel from a chute in the ceiling. It takes about 2 hours every night to give everyone hay, grain and water, not to mention the hour and a half every morning. And that's every day, even on Christmas!