Today was sheep-shuffling day at the farm.  The most pressing motivation was getting the very-pregnant ewes into a group of their own without Bravo.  The last newborn lamb he encountered survived, but I didn’t want to further press anyone’s luck.  It was also time for the barn lambs to get used to life outdoors.  Here’s how the shuffle went:

• Move all the ewes in the field to the handling system. Sort the pregnant ewes from the ewe lambs and open ewes.  Move the pregnant ewes back to the subdivision of the big field.
• Move the ram (kicking and screaming, then doing his best Gandhi impersonation) from the barn to the field with the pregnant ewes.
• Move the non-pregnant ewes from the handling system to the new enclosure in the lower field
• Move the ewes and lambs (except for Wednesday’s surprise ewe-lamb pair) to the lower field.
• Move Bravo to the lower field.
• Breathe

It all went over reasonably smoothly because Bill Fosher was once again here to save me from my inexperience. Cass and Chloe each did what they could to move unwilling sheep to unfamiliar places, and then Bill’s Fern stepped in and got it done.

The lambs in their new paddock seemed a little bewildered, but the rest of the sheep just seemed happy that the grass was finally growing.  Bravo is always happy.