Rocking Oak Ranch

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Setting Up a Farm for Sheep (Farm Consultation) A farm consultation for adding sheep to a small farm in Alabama. How to set up a farm for raising sheep. Including tips for raising sheep.If you need a farm ...

Guess what day it is?

Lice, fly & worm day; and for a couple girls : hair cut day!

I promised to get photos of our setup, so here’s a few.

Most did good in the head catch , but silly 5 month old lambs would rather throw a tantrum first. 😂

Everyone got a snack after a short break to let the wormer absorb.

Next time we will try to do the feet.

They had to run back through the chute to get the snacks - so they don’t remember it as a torture chamber! 😉

Sheep & Goat Market Report 4.27.26

Not sure about goats, but the sheep sales have been very good to us.
Thank you HLC!

Sheep & Goat Market Report 3.30.26

He’s worked himself out of a job. 😒

I will be looking for a replacement ram this summer. He’s fairly gentle for a ram as rams go.

Broke to hotwire and pasture kept.

Putting feelers out there, take a look at his pedigree to see how he can work for you.

Will be getting better photos soon. (I dont clip so he lives in his working clothes).

Well “red roan” and I have down sized the flock by 2 (of 14 head). God has been very generous .
I am not going to lie, having a simple sheep handling system from “7Peaks fence and barn”, and a “Lakeland” head-catch acting as a sorting chute made it so easy to load up the critter with a ticket to ride.
The rear sliding gate let them go in by themselves. Every other one bypassed to the snacks.
Took longer to line up to the chute than to run the sheep’s through - having a snack waiting inside was instumental. 😉
No photos because I was working alone.
There’s 1 more ewe that might get a ride.
I will try to document if that happens. 🙂

Sheep & Goat Market Report 2.16.26

When I first saw the trailer from my last post, I knew the outside would look like a red roan dapple gelding. 😊

I arrived ahead of the seller by a few minutes.

But with a storm approaching, I backed up to the coupler to see if the lights worked.

The plug would not reach. 😖 Besides the actual plug needs ror.

So I went around the trailer and wigged the wheels, 1 seemed to have a slight wobble. Not a deal breaker.

I popped the escape door and went inside.

I saw the usual rust on the nose where the gravel guard is on the outside, and the floor showing its age but still solid.

There is one trouble spot back near the loading gate, which someone somewhere patched with old license plates!

Creative!

But there is a hole a foot can get caught in so that is first thing to fix.

Then the seller shows up. Luckily no rain yet but it’s coming.

I told them the plug needed to work because I have to have brake lights.

The next 30 minutes they were scrambling to extend the wires - as the rain and wind started ramping up. They got it at least to have brake lights but the plug is number 2 on the list.

Because the spare had a bent wheel, they gave me a discount. A hour later I’m on my way home.

Got on the highway about 70 miles from home .

Then the clouds opened up!

Every one going 35mph or less on the highway.

No accidents. I was praying for no flats.

It cleared as I was on the homestretch.

That’s God making my way straight. He delivered me safe and sound.

New to the ranch, happy Valentine’s Day sheep!
It’s a hot mess, but hey, it gets the job done!

So I’m getting the chickens and the ChickShaw ready to move back outside tonight and out of the corner of my eye I see a juvenile possum!

Aren’t you supposed to be hibernating? 😡

So I go get “SweetPea”( wi******er .22) and catch him eating chicken feed.

I used the gate to steady my aim and he is oblivious to my presence, took a shot. It went past him in the dirt sending him away.
(Note to self: aim lower because apparently the site is of)

I go back in the house to wait until dark. Come back and the chickens are comfy in bed. Pull up the ramp and start up the tractor, scoop up the chickshaw and head outside to the chicken yard.

After setting up the chickens in the pen, I head back an see the turd going across the barn doorway nonchalantly.

He was blinded by the headlights and I dropped the pallet forks but alas, he lives another day.

I hate these over-grown rodents.
Traps get set in the morning.

To be continued…