In memory of Mudpie 1987 - 2010

We had to put one of our old Tunis ewes down this past week. We sure do miss her. When I spoke to her breeder back in the summer she told me that Mudpie got her name because when she was born the ground was so muddy she ended up being covered in mud.

Muddy had a funny personality, and we think she was smarter than the average sheep. Until we brought her sisters home last summer she was the oldest on the place and she always got special treatment. She needed extra groceries and would wait until we called her name to come into the barn aisle to eat her extra ration.

We will miss the old girl, we have kept two of her daughters, Raquel and Toy and a son, Urlich. Urlich may stay on the farm as our second ram. 

Thanks, to Tunis buyer, Julie

We appreciate Julie Amendola visiting our farm after Thanksgiving and purchasing two of our Tunis ewes. One was a homebred, Tessa, and the other a nice ewe we purchased back in May. We hope that Julie has a nice crop of lambs, since we believe both ewes are pregnant to our new ram, Troy.

Animals Rescued from Flooding in North Texas

I found a post on a blog describing one of the Humane Society of North Texas rescues. Hermine wreaked even more havoc north of us in the Dallas area last week and rescuers had their hands full.

http://challenge.aspcapro.org/profiles/blog/show?id=5376260%3ABlogPost%3A13110

Check out this great photo showing a group of the Tunis sheep being saved. What fantastic temperaments, that's why I love them!

Happy sheep

We finally decided to try giving the Tunis free choice hay. We used 4 cattle panels to contain the hay and will be able to push them closer together as the bale gets eaten.

Smarter than the average ... sheep?

We are enjoying our new sheep we added to the Tunis flock. We named the new ram "Troy". He's good natured and can be very resourceful when it comes to getting choice leaves from the trees around the yard. I can see now that the few rose bushes we have left are doomed.

The new ewes have made theirselves at home, we were able to shear them soon after we brought them home. Since we are already having days with 100+ degree heat index I am sure that they appreciate their haircuts.

As we drove through Missouri, narrowly side passing a big thunderstorm, we made great time. And the clouds kept the temperature down, a blessing for a trailer of nine sheep.

As we got into Kansas, we knew we were nearing the end of our "treasure" hunt... look at this neat rainbow up in the clouds.

We picked up our last Tunis lamb at the home of Ted and Amy Ferm. And headed for home. We actually made it by midnight and unloaded our new sheep during a much needed rain.

I will post more photos soon of the sheep.

Next stop... Illinois...add 5 more

After getting the truck we went by the fairgrounds, empty now of all but our lonely sheep trailer. Hitched up and headed to Darling Farm near Zanesfield to pick up our first four Tunis. What a gorgeous farm, beautiful grounds, a lake, nice barns and house and fabulous Tunis! Wish we could have enjoyed the Dunham's hospitality longer but we loaded the sheep and headed for Illinois to pickup some more.

We made arrangements with Kevin Schultz to meet in Champaign so we could hit the interstate south. We transfered five new ewes into the trailer on a Lowe's parking lot about 9 p.m.  I think that our new ram thought he was in heaven. ;-)

Bob wanted to continue driving as long as he could. So we made it as far as St. Louis that night. Watered the sheep and said good night and got a quick night's sleep at the Red Roof Inn.  Up early so we could keep moving and keep the sheep cool.  We had one more stop planned... Independence, Kansas.

Tunis Sale - a Treasure

Now we know what the worst part of the trip was, but it's hard to say what was the best part. I was super pleased with my ram, and loved my two lambs, but maybe it was getting to buy this beautiful ewe!

This ewe from Darling Tunis Farm took first in her class and got serious consideration for championship.

When the auction came around Sunday I was pretty down in the dumps. I had hoped to buy that ewe but knew she would be one of the highest priced and we were facing a repair bill at the Chevy dealership. I had picked out some others that were lower placed in the show if I couldn't get this one. Bob was taking photos for the Tunis website and sitting next to me. When they brought her in the bidding went crazy, finally tapering off when Bob asked me if I wanted to bid on her. I asked if he thought we could afford it and he said sure, we have the tax refund. Guess that's what I should name her, because I ended up with her!

Happy sheep

The sheep are sporting their new haircuts and loving the green grass.

The fruit trees are doing pretty good this year if the high winds will just die down.

We even have apples on our new apple trees. Apples aren't a fruit that normally grow in central Texas but we are trying. This poor tree is doing great despite the sheep's attempt to kill it by chewing off its bark.

Sheep Shearing Day

For the first time since we bought the Tunis sheep we decided 18 was too many to shear by ourselves. So we hired a very nice man to come and do them for us. Tony travels all over the Southwest shearing sheep. I don't know how he does it so quickly.

The sheep all look happier and so much cleaner and cooler.

Here are some of the first ones snacking on some hay bales for a treat.

Last lamb for 2010

Our senior ewe, Mudpie (13 years old) had her little ram on Friday morning.
This evening they are out enjoying the green grass.

We named him Ulrich as in Sir Ulrich von Lichtenstein from Knight's Tale, one of our favorite movies. Since this was our "U" year, the registered lambs will be: Una, Umber, Umami, Urkel, Umeko, Ursula, and Ula.

Our "bellwether" Rufus

It's official now, Rufus has a job... he is our "bellwether" - from Middle English, leading sheep of a flock, leader, from bell + wether; from the practice of belling the leader of a flock.

Tunis yearling ewes

Here are two of our yearling ewes. It's time for shearing!

Lilly finally lambed...

We have been waiting and waiting for this lamb. It is Lilly's first. A very big ewe lamb that was a bit of a challenge to deliver this morning about 6 a.m. You can barely tell Lilly has had a lamb, maybe we are feeding them too much?

Another fabulous ewe lamb!

We were blessed with another healthy ewe lamb, delivered a little after midnight. "Textbook" delivery and she was up and nursing her mom Ruby only 10 minutes later. Now THAT's what I like to see.

Now I need a name for her that starts with "U"... I had hoped for a gemstone after her mom's name but there don't appear to be any that are easy to say.

LambCam ... EweTube

I am really thrilled with our webcam. This is a screenshot of what I can see from any computer with a good internet connection.

That's Lilly facing the camera, she might be next, Ruby is lying next to the water barrel, and Mudpie is the third in the row. In the background is Raquel and her day old lamb, Ursula. I can also pan the camera to view the outside runs to the right.

If anyone is interested in having temporary guest privileges send me an email (texastunis@yahoo.com). Bob was a wee bit exhuberant about giving out passwords to friends, so NOW I have to be careful about what I wear and do in the barn. ;-)

Glory to God, another girl!

The webcam paid for itself again. About 10 a.m., it was easy to see that Raquel was labor. She is our smallest ewe and I definitely wanted to be there to make sure all was well.

Last year she had her little ewe lamb by herself and did fine, but this year there had been more difficult presentations it seemed.

By the time I made it home, a little nose and one hoof was appearing. Only one hoof.

I have had some ewes that didn't have trouble delivering even with a leg back, but I guess as small as Raquel is, she just couldn't get that shoulder through. So with my buddies at work watching on the webcam, I was down in the hay helping to reposition...wiggle...twist...pray... until she finally slid out.

What a pretty ewe lamb, and she's a good size girl. Just a single this time, but I'm not complaining.

Lambs, lambs, lambs

Wednesday Bob finally received the last piece of equipment needed to get the webcam going. He needed an antenna to mount in the barn so the signal could reach the house network. So Thursday morning I went off to work knowing that I could finally keep an eye on the ewes in the barn. It is wonderful! Wow, what a worthy investment and it cost less then the price of a nice Tunis sheep.

About 11 a.m. I noticed my sweet ewe, Quby was going into labor. So I asked my boss if I could take an early lunch and headed home. We live 30 minutes away, but I came into the barn right after her water broke. It took a bit of pushing but she delivered a ram lamb that unfortunately had a birth defect - a very under-developed lower jaw. He didn't live but a few minutes. Luckily she had another little boy a few minutes later and while she was cleaning him up I removed the poor dead guy. Here is a photo of her and the second born.

After I knew he was okay and up and nursing I went back in to work.

Bob gets off work earlier than I do so he was able to get home to check on them. Other than being an over enthusiastic mom, demanding that the poor guy get up to eat more often than he wanted to, Quby and son are doing fine.

Thursday afternoon I received a call from my sweet friend Ruthie, who sold me the first five Tunis ewes back in 2007. She had decided to sell out of sheep for a while and had two elderly ewes she thought she would just keep in retirement on her farm. But Tunis are long lived and great mothers so obviously Fleur didn't realize she was in retirement. She was once again pregnant. Now Fleur is Lily one of my favorite ewe's mother. So when Ruthie asked me if I would like to have her I quickly agreed. But Ruthie warned me she was due any day. I told her I would let her know when I could come.

Quby's daughter, Dot waited until 11 p.m. that night to go into labor. With a little help (it was her first lamb) she delivered a chunky little boy. Here she is cleaning him up. She learned quickly how to be a good mom.

Friday morning came early, but I called Ruthie and asked if I could come. Bob had hooked up the trailer for me so I took my first trip by myself pulling the trailer. It wasn't too bad, I just hoped I wouldn't have to back it. Luckily, Paul, Ruthie's husband was there when I arrived so he turned the truck and trailer around for me. When we loaded Fleur, Ruthie's other old girl, Dink bawled terribly so I offered to take her too. Poor old Dink is 15 years old and has arthritis, but I hope we can keep her comfortable for a few years more.

We put the girls together and bedded down the pen well since it appeared it wouldn't be a long wait for Fleur's lamb. At 1 a.m. this morning I checked the monitor and she appeared to be pushing. So about 1:45 she delivered a darling little ewe lamb! What a blessing, thank you God and Ruthie.

So that catches me up on the blog for the last three lambings. We have at least four maybe five more to go. Hmmm, I think I will go take a nap. ;-)

Waiting for more lambs...

We haven't had any more lambs since the 1st, but next week should be busy. Quby and Dot are due next and were staying close to the house this afternoon while the flock was out to graze in the front pasture.

VERY close to the house as these photos show, they are at the front door wanting in. Tunis sheep are so friendly and curious. The cats were enjoying them through the glass door.

More lambs - praise the Lord!

Friday I spent several hours moving fence panels around in the barn. We found with the new cameras there were some considerations to be made to get better reception in the house. I moved the "mamas in waiting" pen to the front stall in the center row. That meant I had to also move our new stallion, Dragon to another location... and lamb proof the panels next to his run. I didn't want a lamb crawling through the panels to visit him... he might think that was a great toy.

When Bob came home Friday evening he moved the cameras around for me to get the best views. He moved Mimi into the waiting pen just in time. She started lambing about 9 that evening.

He was still in the barn when she started delivering so it was nice to watch an "uneventful" delivery. She had her little ewe lamb first, cleaned it up a bit and then laid down and had a little ram lamb. I helped her dry them off since the temperature was dropping.

She was a great mom, licking and talking to them and urging them to the right place for their first meal. It wasn't long before both had nursed. I hooked up a heat lamp so they could dry the rest of the way. It is amazing how much fluid is involved!

Saturday morning I could hardly get out of bed. Basically I just took some meds for my sore muscles and my now stuffed up nose and moved to the recliner. I hated to miss such a pretty sunny day, but I just couldn't get going. I finally went out at the evening feeding time with Bob and snapped a couple of photos.

Bob worked most of the day on trying to get the new router to connect the cameras to the web so we can watch online. He was able to at least get the laptop and desktop to share our internet service so that will be a great help. He's still working on the web camera, lots of new stuff to learn.

Next in line is one of my favorite ewes, we call her "Quby". She is such a sweet ewe, and quite beautiful. She comes from Louise Dunham's Darling Tunis bloodlines.