Why Should the Birds have All the Fun?

It's that time of year when fields burst into yellow dandelion blooms and balls of fluffy sheep hair. The sheep are in full shed and rubbing against fences.

Birds are swooping down and gathering bits of white, tan, red and black fiber for their nests.

This year, I gathered some for myself and used the sheep hair for container gardening.

I grow herbs in pots near the back porch. While big pots of herbs look impressive, they can be back-breaking to move.

When foam packing peanuts were used in packaging, my mother reused them at the bottom of pots. They were lighter than soil and allowed for drainage.

This year, after seeing a posting on Facebook, I decided to give sheep hair fiber a try.

I put it in the bottom of the pots and then poured potting soil on top.

Last night, frost was predicted. As I was carrying the pots inside, I thought, "Coats! I should have felted the plants some coats."

Photo of hair sheep in various stages of shedding.

Celebrating too Early?

I was patting myself on the back for a successful lambing season: 34 lambs in 16 days, a nearly 200 percent lambing rate, two gentle assists, no dead lambs and only one undersized lamb who is determined to catch up.

Then, as I was moving the ewes and lambs to pasture, I saw it: a ewe with a bald patch on her side.

My flock are mostly Katahdins with a touch of Dorper. Unlike wool sheep, these hair sheep shed their winter coats in the spring and reveal a short, summer coat. But this ewe wasn't revealing a short coat. She had a bald spot.

I had 3 choices:

I could ignore it and hope it magically went away.

I could take a photo and post it to sheep groups on the internet and receive lots of advice on medications and treatments that may or may not work.

I could isolate the ewe and her twin lambs and call my vet.

When you own sheep, you do most of the vet work yourself. A vet call for a ewe is usually about half the price of the ewe. However, if you're worried about a flock issue--and visions of bald sheep were running through my head--then a vet call is worth it.

I called my vet. While his expertise is horses, he grew up with sheep and is familiar with most diseases, parasites, and other problems that affect sheep.

He ruled out mites and lice and other parasites. She was a big, healthy ewe who wasn't scratching, depressed or worried one bit about going bald. Hormones? This was her first pregnancy. Bedding? He wasn't sure. But he was almost definite it wasn't a flock problem. So, we dosed her with ivermectin and vitamins.

To be on the safe side, he recommended isolating her and her ewes from the flock for several weeks. And, unlike humans in this age of Covid-19, she doesn't have to wear a mask.

Update on 4/16/2020: After posting this, three yearling ewes also showed signs of hair loss. So, I contacted Brady Campbell who leads the sheep team at Ohio State University. I provided him with my vet's report, my hay analysis and a detailed description and history.

He reported that hair and wool loss in ewes post parturition isn't uncommon due the huge nutritional stresses on the ewe. While I was supplementing the ewes with corn due to the bad hay year, their diets were a little light in protein. So, I'm adding protein to their diets until the pastures come on in the next few weeks. 

And, on another note, a huge shout out to state extension services. They've always been a great resource for sheep, farming, gardening, etc. 

Muskrat Love

It's day 22 of staying at home during the coronavirus pandemic, and I'm researching muskrats.

My mother informed me, with a sense of urgency, that she'd found muskrat activity around the farm pond.

The USDA has a technical service bulletin on muskrats, and offers lots of practical information and fun facts.

Fun fact #1: "The muskrat belongs to the Family Cricetidae in the Order Rodentia."

Fun fact #2: "The name 'muskrat' is derived from a musky yellowish secretion males use to mark territories and attract mates during the breeding season."

Fun fact #3: Male muskrats can weigh 2.5 pounds.

After learning more than I ever wanted to know about muskrats, I decided to inspect the pond area and look for recent muskrat activity. When I inform my husband of my plans, he gives me encouragement by singing "Muskrat Love," that 70's song made famous by Captain and Tennille.

With "Muskrat Love" playing over and over in my head, and two Border collies on leash, and raining falling, I trek the half mile to the pond. With the recent rains, I thought I'd find muskrat tracks in the mud.

While I found no tracks, I found lots of clam shells. Freshwater clams are a delicacy of both raccoons and muskrats.

 But they are not so much a delicacy of humans, at least according to my brother, who tried them once.

I could not determine who was digging up clams and eating them (best guess, not my brother). I found evidence of muskrat dens, but no fresh activity. The muskrat situation, I determined, needed on-going monitoring.

 As for Muskrat Love, I can't get that song out of my head.