Treating for unknowns. Work on the house. Storms, the good the bad and the spicy. Hen surgery.

We've always noticed that our wethers Prince and Henry have seemed itchy.  Not really that surprising when they are in full fleece, but we started to pay more attention when more of the flock started doing it.  

At shearing time Henry's fleece had a lot of what I assumed was chunks of lanolin, but when I brought it to the Shepherd's Harvest Festival back in May to ask our fiber mill people, they said it was called 'scurf', and it was impossible to wash or card out.  Much of the fleece was very coarse, so even though we have only two moorit sheep and I want that brown yarn, and at least 60% of the fleece was still very fine and lustrous we decided to send it to be felted instead.  It really surprised me that his fleece was almost five pounds! 

The mill contacted me this week and said they are finally getting started, and they were pleased with how clean the fleeces were.  I can't wait! She normally send me a photo or two during the process.

But we still have this itchy sheep problem.  Tick season is over, and they haven't re-emerged yet. During that time I would pick the ticks off them and see the swelling and allergic reaction caused by the bite.  So this behaviour is not tick related.  Most of the information online comes from Australia or New Zealand, and we may not have the same ectoparasites they do.  Nevertheless we have decided to try a treatment and see if it works, even without a real diagnosis.  I spoke to our vet about it and we decided that since I want to stay away from pour-on insecticides that could harm bees and other beneficial insects, we would try injectable invermectin.  So we are going on the assumption that it's sheep mites, since I haven't been able to see any lice on any of them.  Lacey had some redness at the base of the wool on her back in one patch, but for all I know that could be some dermatitis from being out in the rain too much this spring while they were out on rotation with only their field hut for protection.  

Hoping for a resolution on this soon, because when we rounded up the flock on Sunday for their treatments, hoof trims and exams I noticed that Oats and Lacey had some scurf too, and they never have before.  I will be pretty crushed if all of the fleeces are ruined next year.

Beautiful Lacey

Maybe someday we will know what we are doing! Hopefully...

I don't mind a little bit of wool waste.  All my skirtings ended up on my flower beds, and I have to say as mulch wool is fantastic--keeps the soil cool and moist underneath and seriously thwarts weed attempts if layered on thickly enough.

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We are having some siding replaced on the house starting tomorrow, and I'm concerned that after months of work establishing the pollinator/medicinal plant garden that the workers will crush many of the plants.  I really hope not.

G is taking down our deck in preparation for the work, and we will just have to go without a deck until I can book a carpenter to come and build a new one.  I am looking forward to having a nice new deck, but not looking forward to having strangers on the property for a few weeks.  After the siding, comes stripping and chinking and painting, and the deck.  Log homes are pretty high maintenance.

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We have had quite the thunderstorm season here in the midwest.  Our last storm was so violent that it flattened all of our pepper plants, and many others.  Most were recoverable.  We are lucky I guess! Some folks lost hundreds of plants.  Good thing we aren't running a veggie CSA.  It's great when the pond fills, but it drains down a few feet over the next week. Hoping when the ducks start using it more they will help to seal it.

That's it for now.  It's almost noon on Sunday, and I was up at 05:30 to take our Maran hen Jilly Bean in for surgery to remove lash eggs.  Her anesthesia went without a hitch, and technically the surgery was a success but her oviduct may not heal very well, and I will have to watch for signs of peritonitis. Poor Jilly Bean...I hope I can keep her comfortable and she can heal. 

For me, my healing will begin with a nap. Starting now.