Sheep Solutions

 This is Cow. He is big and lazy. Most days we have to wake him up to eat.

 For the rest of the sheep feeding time is not a problem. They are always hungry and fighting through the mob to get to the bottle.  This has been exhausting and so Mark and I have built a few Uber Bottles for the flock.

 I purchased these grey nipples online here and brought them to our local hardware store Jerry's to get the tubs ($5) and the tubing. If you are new at this and are tempted to save money do not buy the black nipples as they will bot fit the tube. The grey have been our favorite because you can pop them on a plastic cola bottle or use them as we have here.

*Note: The black are good for lambs just born but you need to cut a larger hole for the milk.

Measure 6" at least between holes. The lambies get pretty crazy and need there room. Some are so excited they kick the bucket or thrash around while eating- a habit they rarely grow out of. We have a few that still need us to hold their head still while they spaz out. Poor things want it so bad but their ADHD won't let them sit still long enough to drink.

Back to the instructions: Drill holes the size of the nipple, and pop them in from the inside. Cut tube about 24" long. You can either place milk directly into the bucket or use an inner bucket as we do and place the ends of the tubes in it. The milk residue can build up so I like to use an inner bucket that I can take out and clean at the end of the day.

As you can see May and Bobbie Joe are cooperating quite nicely in the center picture but it takes about two days to "teach" them how to use it. Afterwords you are rewarded with a bunch of sleepy babies.

This year of bummers has been pretty dificult for us. There are many causes attributing to our near loss of half of them. The right balance of warmth and ventilation is something we will continue to work on but pneumonia is the leading cause.

Now that they are taken care of so to speak, it is time to turn my attention to the gardens. Already I have been digging up the multitude of gladiola bulbs (with the help of my chickens) in the vegetable garden and plotting my new cut flower area. So far I plan for daffodils, gladiolas and dahlias but can not seem to think of what else is a necessity in a cut garden. Any ideas? What is your favorite flower to bring indoors?

Here's hoping for many more sunny spring days!

Elizabeth