MM Livestock Co

Yesterday was MLK Day and in the spirit of service, an entire pack of Cub Scouts descended on the home farm. 30 boys under 10. We made trash sticks and lined all the boys up at the street fence, each was given a trash bag and told, "Whoever gets to the back fence with the fullest bag wins!" The race was on! Little boys were filling trash bags as fast as they could! After we fed them lunch they played with the new lambs, petted puppies, learned to throw a rope, and how to tie a half hitch to keep th goats from getting away. They had a Blast and so did we. It makes everything worthwhile to see children learning about animals and farming. They all want to come back again to "camp out". I can see it now, little tents all over the pasture and sing alongs around the fire pit. S'mores anyone? Some of the bigger boys got their horsemanship badges and 2 Eagle Projects are up for consideration. Come see what the boys got done. Call first so Gracie is put away though! 951-259-2072 Meg

We're still lambing and the weather has been fierce! we have misters up for the animals but babies can't regulate their body temperature for the first few days of life. Over 80 can be tough on newborns but when it hits 100+ its really dangerous. No laughing but here's what we did. We took a portable swamp cooler and put it in the barn, moved the jug panels inside and voila no stressed lambs! This is working well! The family moves outside after about 5 days and with the misters, trees and shade covers adjust to the heat pretty quickly. Mom teaches the youngsters how to beat the heat. If you go out in the heat of the day you'll find the whole crew napping under the pepper trees or with their faces in front of the misters. I have 1 ewe that thinks she's a hippo and the water tank is a bath tub. It's funny to see but we've had to add 2 more tanks in the field and don't dare leave a float in any of them or we have floods. It means checking tanks more frequently but hey I want to go for a swim in the heat of the day myself. Our girls lamb year round and some of the challenges of out of season lambing are pretty funny, and they definitely keep our visitors entertained. On a more serious note, Gracie the Land shark is really getting the idea of how BC's are supposed to work sheep. She is starting to hold a good pace and not rush her sheep. She is finally getting a solid recall and lie down. She still doesn't get why she has to stay on the sidelines when Tweed moves them through the pens though. It's back to formal training in the next few weeks and we'll see if we have a trial dog in the makin'.