No easy task: coaxing ewes and lambs from pasture
Video by Nancy Powell.
Conrad rancher Lisa Schmidt dances with an elusive ewe and her lamb while coaxing both into the back of a truck to transport them from pasture to barn. The possessive ewe head-butts Lisa during the retrieval. In Lisa’s own words:
“I like the ewes to lamb on clean pasture, but I want them to spend the first couple of days as a new family in jugs (small pens) so they get to know each other. While they are in a jug, I check the ewe’s bag, make sure the lamb stays warm and fed and dock tails. Then I turn them into a corral for another week or two.
But first, I have to get the new family from the pasture to the barn, about a mile away. So I catch the lamb(s) and hope the ewe follows me into the horse trailer. Last night, we loaded six new families into the trailer for a ride to the barn.”
-Renata Birkenbuel
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