| July is the time to plan the next sheep breeding season! Sheep are almost sold out, chicks are running amok, planted some tomatoes late, and managed one small woods walk. Enjoy! Amy | Table of Contents: Livestock News Garden Report Woodland Adventures Thank You! |
Livestock News
Earlier in July I brought the ewe flock in to check for deworming needs and to sort out what ewes are selling (either to be breeding stock or culls). One ewe, Sugar, is being retired due to mastitis last season and being kept for a companion sheep for the ewe lamb flocks each year. All the ewes getting bred August 9th are being flushed with alfalfa (approx 1lb per sheep give or take). The two flocks are pictured below:
Drew blood on all the adult breeding stock ewes for sale for Biosecurity Testing. The panel includes Johnes Disease, Ovine Progressive Pneumonia, and Caseous lymphadenitis. Good news! All negative across the board!
The St Croix for sale are heading to WA state early August then a few are heading to Ohio to new homes!
As I mentioned, all the St Croix ewes for sale are currently “Sale Pending” or “SOLD”. There’s still a commercial Katahdin ewe available though. To get more info, head on over to the SHOP. I do have a couple ewes not on the sales pages that would be good for people not breeding sheep that don’t care if they are wild. Good for dog trials, eating brush, etc. They just didn’t fit our breeding program for a few reasons. Contact us for more info!
Please check out our 2025 Hair Sheep Price List!
Categories include: Market lambs, Commercial Unpapered St Croix Breeding Stock, Commercial Unpapered Katahdin Breeding Stock, Recorded/Registered Katahdin, & Registered St Croix.
Sadly this old girl decided she was done with life and we were forced to say goodbye to her. She wasn’t the best guard llama but she was a pretty girl (not at all friendly either, but got along well with everything). Last of our rescues. R.I.P. Sasha.
In the background of this photo is Luna. She’s our solo llama now with our old mare Tinky (plus whatever sheep are with them) for company.
We’ve had several chicks hatch, as I mentioned in the last post. Shane and I stopped at Tractor Supply and couldn’t resist some Sapphire Gem chicks and one Americauna (cuz I want us to keep some blue egg layers around). The older chicks from the brooder are now running around free with the rest of the flock. The 2 younger chicks were put with these latest ones and were in a little pen during the day getting used to the main flock until they too will get turned loose. Unfortunately my sheep out in the orchard had other plans and destroyed their pen. The chicks are all out in the orchard and have figured out the coop with only a few herding’s by Shane and I.
Also, on a positive note, we are back to getting 8-10 eggs a day from our hens!
Garden Report
I was a month late planting tomatoes in early July. I wasn’t going to do it, but a friend had some extras she gave away. They are Delicious, Rutgers, Muskovitch, and Martian Giant. They’re small but doing much better having been in the ground for a few weeks now.
Don’t forget!
I’ve compiled a list of planting dates for 2025 based on the moon phases:
2025 Planting Guide – Zones 7/8
Early August is a good time to prune caneberries after harvest, prune cherry trees.
Late Month direct sow arugula, early cabbage, lettuce, spinach, and transplants of kale, mustard greens and spinach.
Woodland Adventures
The creek isn’t flowing this time of year but it makes rockhounding a lot easier!
Found a bright red piece of Jasper!
Nothing much on the trail-cam’s lately of huge interest. Lots of deer and some adorable babies! The opossum tried to take out the log camera too. Nothing YouTube/blog worthy this month though.
Thank You!
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Sabina says she will see you all again September 1st
for the August Homestead Happenings!
Hollow Hills Ranch 