We called her simply “G”.  Iguess it stood for Goldilocks but her registered name was much more impressive…..The Shadows Antonia Ford. Yes, she was named after a female confederate spy.

She was quietly playful with humans and a total roughhouse with her siblings.  Reserved with family and unable to be caught by strangers or veterinarians. (Just ask Dr. B about that last farm call for annual shots…oye!)  In truth,  she never truly forgave us for the spay procedure.  From that point on her bond with us seemed……more like one of those social friendships….you laugh, talk, meet at public gatherings but you never feel like you KNOW the person.  That was G.  You always felt like connecting with her was just out of reach….or  perhaps that she thought you were an idiot.  Yeah. That could have gone either way.

She grew up to be a beautiful dog.  In case you are wondering, she was a Pyrenean Mastiff.    She liked her sheep….especially the old grandmother.   She didn’t mind the horses.  She was wonderfully tolerant of pug dogs running laps around her while she tried to sleep.  Most of all she loved her brother Vern.  Playing aka tormenting him was her true joy.

Unfortunately, our pyrs aren’t from a family line of long lived dogs.  We lost both parents fairly young.  Today, genetics and this insufferable heat caught up with our girl.

We’ll miss her and I can’t help but feel that she left  without our ever really knowing her. …but that’s the way she wanted it.

Freckle was born in 1994.  She passed just two weeks shy of her 15th birthday.  The daughter of an old, crabby and very vocal Eidman ewe, Freckle spent a lot of time trying to sneak sips off the hanging bottle of an orphan ram lamb.  After being caught several times and receiving a couple of sharp pokes with her mother’s nose and some serious vocal abuse, she became more careful.  Pretty sneaky she was too.  Always waiting till her dam was dozing or ruminating before she streaked toward the barn to guzzle milk replacer.    She grew to be a  just like her dam–wonderful fleece, beautiful markings and the ability to grow back toes literally overnight.

Right behind Freckle’s left shoulder in the photo is a white-faced CVM ewe named Clairee.  Born in 1995, Clairee & her sister were the only lambs off a lovely ewe we later lost to a fence line poisoning.  For years she was our “poster girl” for ideal conformation.  She grew up to exhibit a wonderful straight long back and solid square stance–plus an enormous backside.

The lambs that both of these ladies produced reside in several states across the US.  Freckle and Clairee both lived up to their heritage and did their part to shape the future of the CVM breed.

Garlic Barrier is a 99.3% pure garlic product available by the gallon.  They have an interesting page ( garlic deworming of sheep )on different ways to use garlic as a wormer for sheep and goats.   Another great thing is that this company is offering free shipping if you order by phone and identify yourself as a sheep or goat owner.  It seems that quite a few shepherds have switched from blending their own drench to this product simply for the convenience.  Plus, it’s pretty economical….especially if you compare it to the cost of chemical wormers.

Frankly, this has caused us to do a whole lot of thinking about management practices.  Here are our conclusions.

1. We will begin to top dress the pastures with kelp to build the nutrient base in the grass.
2. We will begin to top dress the pastures with diatomaceous earth to reduce ant & grub populations but also, again, to build the soil.
3. We are adding DE to our mineral mix.
4. We will alter our worming practices to routinely use garlic.  We have always selected breeding stock for worm resistance and culled all animals that showed lower resistance.  The use of garlic will help us make better decisions so that we can continue to build the inherent health of the flock.