Summer arrives to find the bobolinks have fledged from our neighbor’s hayfield. Three streaky brown birds making little plink calls were flitting and bouncing around the pasture I set up for the sheep. I’m grateful for the opportunity to provide habitat to this struggling species.
We are so close to weaning time. I know the ewes are ready to send their lambs off on their own for a while. Some have probably already weaned their babies without my help. For others, it’s adorable yet concerning to see lambs who are nearly the same size as their mothers still nursing. The ewes need pedicures and a spa treatment (or hoof trimming and some Selenium supplementation, depending on your perspective).
We have two especially naughty lambs who have figured out how to slip under the electric fence. They taunt the other lambs by eating the grass I am saving for later meals. Sadly, one is a ewe lamb that I would have considered keeping, but I don’t really need troublemakers. Worse, in the process of slipping out, the lambs have occasionally knocked down the fence and allowed other sheep to escape. We do not want loose sheep in roads and on neighbor’s land.
Our haying efforts have produced 75 round bales so far. We have several more fields waiting for first-cutting, but Matt is struggling with equipment breaking down. First, the round baler wasn’t operating smoothly, so he needed to adjust the tension on the belts that roll the hay into a snowball. Then, one of the bearings on the new mower seized, causing extensive damage to a part that is no longer made. Good thing Matt is a decent welder. He’ll need to replace the gnawed-off metal with in-fill, and then use a lathe to make it smooth and round again. Yeesh.
I have learned how to rake the hay into windrows that the baler then scoops up and rolls. There is a satisfying rhythm to it, like mowing the lawn. Would you like to know more about how hay is made? I’ve been debating whether or not to write a post explaining hay, so let me know if an explainer would be useful for you.
I would love to read about hay making! I live in rural Maine, and see a lot of farming happening. I can usually tell what is happening–e.g. making hay–but not how. =)