I am participating in Bloganuary 2023. The daily prompt for day #12 is “What chore do you find the most challenging to do?“.
This is an easy answer, I do not like the expense bookkeeping involved with a sheep farm. I do not mind the income, but I hate to see money spent. Yet, it is important to know if you are making a profit or a loss on the sheep farm.
For some, the challenge might be having to help a ewe delivery lambs, especially if the lamb or lambs need to be pulled. I was nervous and scared of doing something wrong when I pulled my first lamb. I had pulled foals when a mare was delivering, and a calf, but lambs are different. There is not much room, and you can not feel very much when you try.
Another challenge may be cold weather. I am fortunate the climate where I live does not have long cold snowy winters. Our winters are mild, with very little if any snow. I enjoyed the snow and cold temperatures when I was younger. Now, the cold only reminds me of where old injuries are. If I lived where winters were cold, snowy, and icy doing the daily chores of feeding would be a challenge.
Every sheep farmer faces the challenge of caring for sick sheep. The sheep farmer can not treat the illness until they know what illness to treat. Sheep are not real clear in their symptoms to know what to treat for. A horse gets a stomach ache or colic, and there are definante physical signs the horse hurts in the abdomen. A sheep gets an upset stomach and sometimes all you see is a sheep grinding their teeth.
Sheep farmers have their challenges, but so do every farmer. People who choose very different careers face challenges within their careers. We have to learn and face those challenges head on.
Granny
Granny's Homestead 