New additions

So after a little fence teasing in my last post, here are some pics of our newest additions

We bought four breeding ewes from a wonderful local breeder called Paula.  She loves her animals and keep them in amazing health and ensures they are easy to handle.  We have two dorper ewes both of whom were bred with a dorper cross damara ram.  The one ewe gave birth to twins before we picked her up so they came as part of the package.  They are growing fast but incredibly cute.  The second dorper is looking quite pregant now, so more lambs on the way.  Then we also have two, year old dorper damara cross ewes who we doubt are pregnant but you never know.  We will get getting a dorper damara cross ram once we locate a good one.  Paula had one but he was a brother to our gorgeous cross ewes, so she has offered to help us find another.

This is Gerry who was hiding in the long grass in the first shot.  She's not shy but just playing hard to get during the photo shoot.  You can see that she has no fleece at all, though her sister has that blanket on her back.  Dorpers don't need shearing and neither do damaras.  The crosses make for the best meat, they often drop twins, they don't need to be docked and they wean their own lambs.  And they only need worming every 3-4 months depending on the weather (more often in the wet).  We are loving having the girls with us (Gerry, Cookie, Shirley and Mama Jugs - we aren't naming the lambs, though I'm thinking about keeping the little girl to have five breeding ewes). They are very friendly, come over for a scratch under the chin or to see what tasty treats we might have.  We move them between paddocks without any fencing, as they will just follow behind you, foraging as they go.

So this is our second paddock, which is to the side of the driveway and up by the road.  The girls are in this paddock now and doing a fantastic job of mowing.  They especially seem to enjoy the sloping areas at the top, which were impossible to mow, so its working well.  These breeds also like to browse so they eat all sorts of weeds too and can clean up a paddock nicely.  We give them a small bucket of extras in the morning to ensure they get their vitamins and minerals and keep in top shape.  We are finding they are a great practical addition to the property but also very calming and great company.  So definitely worth the wait.