Baby & Nunzio

About nine months ago my son called me from his cell phone. "Do you want another sheep?" he asked. "For free?"

Without hesitation my first response was, "Is it a girl or a boy? How old is it?"

Never mind that we actually have more animals than the county says we are allowed on our little piece of paradise here in God's country we call "Rosedale". (That's a joke for all you non-Bakersfieldians.)

Wil went on to explain; it was a two year old Suffolk ewe that was owned by his friend Tanner. Tanner lived mostly with his dad and kept the ewe at his mom's two acre place. His mom was moving to Texas and couldn't take "Baby" with her. They were trying to find a good home for her.

I knew I really shouldn't have, but... "Okay, sure, when should we get her?"

Wil made the arrangements and one hot June day we drove the couple miles to Tanner's mom's house to pick up the sheep. I waited out front with the trailer while the boys ran to the back of the house. After just a few minutes they came out with a ginormous ewe at the end of a halter. My eyes were bugging out.

"What is that?!" I asked.

Recent photo of Baby

"This is Baby," was the answer.

Tanner's mom came out and introductions were made.

"Yeah," she said, "we kind of spoil her rotten. We wanted her to go to a good home and Wil says you have other sheep too."

I assured her Baby would be well taken care of. I told her we would make a momma out of her and she needn't worry about us putting Baby in the freezer.

I brought Baby home and decided the first thing she needed was a diet. This sheep was about as big around as she was tall. They should have called her Butterball. I have never seen such a fat sheep in my life!

One way 4-H kids learn to tell condition in a sheep is to feel the ribs. Take your left hand and make a fist. Take the fingers on your right hand and feel over the fingers of the fisted hand. That is how the ribs are supposed to feel. If the ribs feel like when you rub your fingers over the knuckles, that is too thin. And if the ribs feel like when you rub your hands over the flat part between the knuckles and wrist, that is too fat.

When I touched Baby's ribs it was like I was poking my own belly, all soft and pillowy. Apparently Baby spent her time in a knee high pasture and got lots of grain as a treat. She was almost like a dog that would come running in from the back of the yard when you called her name, so she could get her goodies.

First I had to integrate her into my flock. It was obvious that the other ewes didn't like her. I had two adult ewes and had four young sheep that were being weaned. I put her in with the babies so she wouldn't get beat up. During the day I would let them all out and at night I would separate them into their groups. Their pens were side by side so they had a chance to get used to each other slowly.

By the time the babies were totally weaned I was able to keep all the ewes together. I kept the three ewe lambs and sold the ram lamb, so now I had a total of six ewes. The young ewes were actually still too young to breed so once again we put them in separate pens. But this time I added Perry, my new ram, to the mix.

Perry and the girls stayed together night and day for about three months, until I noticed he was getting a bit too bossy. I went ahead and put him back in his own pen. Sheep have a gestation period of about five months, so I knew to start paying close attention towards the end of December.

At the beginning of January Baby started getting an udder. I was very excited to see what the baby would look like. I was also excited that Perry was able to perform as promised to me when I bought him.

On January 13th we found Baby in the barn with a little ram lamb. He was adorable, as all lambs are. I dipped his navel in iodine and made sure he was nursing. I has happy to see that Baby was an excellent mother.

Baby's first baby

My next door neighbor Nancy's birthday is also on January 13, so I started calling the lamb Nunzio.

Nunzio

Nunzio grew fast and I had to admire his stocky frame every time I saw him. My daughter would come over and we would both appreciate the thickness in his rear end. Too bad that's not an admirable trait in humans. I'd be a prize!

When Nunzio was about one and a half months old I was petting Baby and went to check her ribs. I was shocked to discover she had gotten very thin, despite the extra grain I was feeding her. It was time to wean Nunzio, even though it seemed a bit early to me.

Baby took it harder than Nunzio. She cried for him a lot, much to my husband's annoyance, but finally settled down. Nunzio, on the other hand, was fine. He was eating hay and grain and playing with the ewes. He would lay down at night next to his mother with the fence between them and that was good enough for him.

Finally I decided the time was right to sell Nunzio. He was about two and half months old and looking good. I always wish a 4-H kid would buy my lambs, but they often have their own sources. Anyway, I made a flyer with pictures and posted it in a few feed stores.

Nunzio, one month old

I got one call in three weeks, but the person never came by. Hey, I'm only asking $50! When my daughter was in 4-H we paid $250 for her lambs, with no papers. I thought $50 was a real bargain!

Like many papers, our newspaper has an ad section of "$100 or Less" where you can post items at no charge. I tried posting an ad on line but it didn't come out when it was supposed to. Then I called and the lady said they don't do those ads on weekends, I'd have to call on Monday. I called on Monday and a different lady said the "$100 or Less" ads could only be done on-line. I tried two more times and the ad never showed. It did say they wouldn't put cars or pets in that section, but to me Nunzio was neither.

My other option as far as the newspaper was concerned woud be to put the ad in the "Livestock" section. That would cost me about $35 (I had done it once before). If I did that for one $50 lamb I would hardly make enough to cover the cost of the ad! So I took my final option, which was to take him to the local auction yard.

Every Thursday they sell cows, swine, goats, and sheep. I dropped him off and kept my fingers crossed. I would be happy to get $20 for him, so long as I didn't have to pay the newspaper their exorbitant charge. It was the principal of the thing.

Then Saturday I got a call from a man that saw one of the flyers. I apologized to him and told him the lamb was sold. Then I rushed out to remove the flyers. I wondered if I'd gone to the auction too soon. I'd have to wait until I got the check to see.

Nunzio at 2 months

Monday I went out to get the mail and saw an envelope from the auction yard. I ripped it open and there was my check and the receipt for the lamb. He had sold for $90! Minus the yard fees I got $82.90.

Not bad for a "free" sheep!