Wool It Be – Part 2
January 16, 2012Last week, I told you some of the cool things Uzzi and I learned about wool and sheep. Here are some more things to know.
Last week, I told you some of the cool things Uzzi and I learned about wool and sheep. Here are some more things to know.
Yesterday, the little girl lambs came to visit Uzzi and me. They giggled and nudged one another and then Grace, the spokeslamb asked, “You goats look funny. Why don’t you have wool?”
Mom thinks we animals are acting weird. For instance, Ursula, the fat, black ewe, is in passionate love with me. Yes, really! She strolls past 10 grumbling rams to purr and bat her eyes at me. (That’s where the phrase “making sheep eyes” comes from.)
The global human population reached 7 billion this month, but world food organizations wonder if livestock production can keep up.
When I told Ishtar, our donkey, that I wrote about Feyza and livestock guardian dogs in my blog, she tossed her head and said, “Humph, donkeys guard, too!” Uzzi and I looked at each other. Ishtar hangs out with the horses and sometimes even chases the sheep.
Last week, when I wrote about our livestock guardian dog, Feyza, David from Omaha left a nice comment about general purpose farm dogs. (Thank you, David.) We have one of those, too. His name is Steve.
You know how much we goats love yummy acorns, but did you know oak leaves are us goats’ favorite summer treat? That worried Mom for a long time because many toxic-plant lists say oak is poisonous.
A sad thing happened to one of Mom’s friends this week. Her sweet, orphan bottle lamb was attacked by her neighbor’s dogs and killed. That’s a shepherd’s worst nightmare. And dogs can kill other livestock, too.
Yesterday, Ursula brought little Dixie over to meet us. She’s tiny! We told Ursula what a pretty lamb she is. That made Ursula smile.
Our sheep were supposed to get shorn today, but it rained last night so now they can’t. They’re relieved and upset at the same time. They don’t like to be caught and rolled into all those weird positions, but they say it’s nice to feel the cool breeze on their skins afterward.