One of the big success stories we have had over the last few months has been the effectiveness of the FootVax vaccine we used in September 2009 for the inevitable hoof rot problems we were to encounter over the winter. In order to ensure there were no serious problems, we vaccinated half the flock in September and kept the other group as a control. All sheep who at the time were known to have had the problem were included in the vaccinated group.During the winter months, when the foot rot bacteria are most prevalent, particularly so in this part of Oregon, we only had 3 sheep displaying problems. All three were jugged and their hooves treated and bandaged. All three were from the control group that were not vaccinated. For the last two hoof trims all of our sheep have been clear. Some feet are still a little scarred from earlier bouts, but all sheep are free and clear of hoof rot problems. For any sheep farmer this is a great victory, but more so for this part of the country where hoof rot is a significant problem with almost every shepherd we speak to experiencing it regularly.
On another good note we have just started our second lambing group. 3 lambs born at the end of last week and several ewes ready to pop. Everything else moves along fairly smoothly. Over the weekend the hay equipment was taken out of the storage shed and moved to the main barn. I'm replacing the blades on the disc mower but converting the old square baler from wire to twine isn't going to happen alas, the cost is just not worth it according to the local New Holland dealership where they do that. Cheaper just to buy a second hand twine one and use mine as a spare parts one. Have to think on that one as acquiring another would likely mean a trip into either Idaho or Washington as they are thin on the ground here in Oregon.
If the old beast can hold up, which there's no reason to believe she can't, then we will be doing our own haying this year. It will likely take us a while, but it's more profit for us. Square bales stack easier than round ones as well and are a lot easier to move around. At the very least I can cut the hay and rake it myself and get someone else in to bale if need be.
Our calf leaves us this week. She's 10 months old now and as big as her mother. We have sold her to the guy we buy our orchard grass/alfalfa from and got what we think is a very reasonable price for her.
On other miscellaneous news, yesterday we had engineers looking over the bridge outside once again. Apparently the design is now out for bid which means that we should have a new bridge going up in the next few months. Interesting times ahead on that.
