I am a goal setting type person. I make plans to reach certain number of sheep, when to do specific tasks and for family functions. Labor Day weekend I planned on getting ahead on my sheep schedule as I am going to be busy with family during September and October. My daughter is pregnant with triplets and scheduled to deliver on September 14. I planned on being there to assist her family with the new arrivals and the household.
Labor Day weekend I planned on checking FAMACHA scores on all my sheep and deworming. While doing the deworming, I was going to give all the sheep a toe trim. I have two young rams I needed to dehorn and clip, to have ready to sell October 1 at a replacement sale. I initiated the plan on Friday, when a phone call came.
My daughter called to inform me she was on her way to the hospital. I was needed to meet them there and pick up my granddaughter. I dropped everything and headed to the hospital. The plans for the weekend were changed.
We make plans and try to follow the plan, then something happens or while we are working on the plan, something else needs to be done more urgently. That does not mean we make bad plans, or that plans are bad. Plans help us to achieve our goals with our sheep farms and our lives.
My sheep plans are on hold until after the triplets are born. Currently, I am at my daughter’s home caring for my granddaughter. My granddaughter has school she needs to keep attending, and other activities. Her schedule needs to stay the same and be consistent while her mother is in the hospital. This time will help her to transition to be a big sister to triplets. When the triplets do arrive, there will be a lot of changes for the family.
Will my sheep suffer from me not completing the tasked scheduled for this past Labor Day weekend? No, as I have cared for their needs during the year. A month longer on being dewormed and hoof trimming will not cause problems for my sheep. The previous planning during the year and scheduling the tasks necessary to keep my sheep healthy allows for the late scheduling of the tasks I was planning on doing this weekend.
Planning and scheduling the care of our sheep assists the sheep farmer in having a happy and healthy flock. It also allows for those unplanned events in life to happen, and the sheep not suffer due to a slight change.
In November, I start carrying forward to the new year the schedule of breeding, lambing, deworming checks and hoof trimmings. I keep the schedule rotating as the year moves forward. Scheduling all the sheep tasks makes it easier to not miss a task. It also helps when I am scheduling time with family and holidays. I can plan ahead to have tasks completed before Christmas, or when family arrives, never allowing my sheep to suffer as the sheep are receiving the proper care through out the year. Perhaps a deworming and hoof trim are a little earlier than scheduled, but the task is done and the sheep are healthy. Happy, healthy sheep equals a profit for the sheep farmer.
Granny
Granny's Homestead 