eyeing ewes and new calves

We two weeks ago we got the sheep eyed.  Sheared the wool away from the eyes.  This helps the sheep see so they can eat and watch for predators.  Before they are sheared they walk around with their heads and noses close to ground, smelling and sniffing the ground trying to find something to eat. Once they are sheared they have their heads up and look all around.  Here is one ewe that is particularly wool blind.

We have a squeeze chute at the end of the alley.  We just squeeze them by pushing against the side of the chute.  Ryan and I take turns with one squeezing and the other shearing.

We end up with a pile of wool in front of the chute.  We put this wool in a wool sack to be shipped to the wool warehouse with the rest of wool when we shear the whole sheep.  Brooke like to help put wool in the sack.

Tammy tried to do a video with her flip phone.  I will try and insert it in to this blog and see if anyone can see it.

We have been going over and helping Ryan calve first calf heifers.  They have been slow till the last couple of days.  Tammy took a couple of pictures of calves today.  It was quite windy.

I have had about four black heifers have calves and they all have a red calf at side.  If you have black cows it is good when they have a red calf.

We tattoo a number in the ear of heifer calves so they have a permanent individual identification.  We have an unusual situation this year.  Out of the first eight heifers that have calved they have been all bull calves except one.  The heifer calf came today.

Then I took the scale and got a birth weight on the little calf.

After all this process the baby calf got to go back to the safety of her mother.