SSS + S = sheep shearing stress + snow :)

Well it certainly has been a challenging winter, and there appears to be no end in sight!
Every week the weather forecast teases us with a double-digit forecast for the next week... but next week comes and goes, and the warmer weather remains elusive. Everyone is grumbling about the groundhog that was certainly mistaken, and my vet suggests the groundhog heard about the death threats and is currently sitting on a beach in Mexico..... lol

Seriously though, our grass in this region starts growing around April 17. My back yard still has 2 feet of snow, and the drifts at the farm are way higher than that. I moved my sheep shearing date up to April 18 from April 1, thinking for SURE the snow would be gone by then.... well.... probably not. More snow in the forecast for this weekend, and cooler temperatures again.

Last year I moved the sheep into the old shop the day before shearing, and we set up the handling alley in there for shearing. They need to be inside the evening before in case it rains (or snows!) to keep them dry. Preferably dry for 24 hours before shearing. Well, the shop still has 4 foot snowdrifts in front of it, and it would not be possible to use it. Unless we spend a day on the tractor to clear it out.

Option 2 would be to use the barn. That has its own challenges. Due to the record number of stormy days and more animals, the barn litter has accumulated dramatically through the winter. I keep adding more bedding and now the 8 foot wall is down to 5'6'' in places... meaning I bump my head on the rafters. The plan is to get a bobcat in the summer to clean the barn, but that is not possible to do now because there is nowhere to put the manure. Hmmm.

Option 3 involves using our stock trailer and rent a couple other trailers, and trailer the sheep down to Larry's farm to shear them in the double car garage or in the quonset. The quonset is full of stuff that will need to be moved, and half my sheep panels are still froze down so making a decent pen and alleyway will not be easy.

I cannot delay shearing much longer. Lambing commences May 1, there are always a few that pop up a couple days before that.
I went through my images from last year - a totally different weather picture!

This was taken March 25, 2012. the snow had gone,

the flood was up and the geese were happy

Shearing day March 27, 2012

April 6, 2012. A little dusting of snow. Notice the corrals in the back - no snow.

Right now (April 11, 2013) there are still 8 foot drifts in the corral, and foot deep snow in most places in the pasture. 

This was April 13, 2012. Where the chickens were in 2011. 

The grass started greening up

First kids were born April 18, 2012. 

My backyard, today. Those are my knee high Muck boots - the snow is up to my knees

April 11, 2013

What the barn looks like now. Notice 8ft drifts to the left in the corrals.