All this lamb stuff is new to us.  We just assumed that when it was time, the little lambs would just belly up to the feeder and nibble and taste new food and enjoy.

We just didn’t factor in the fact that their own mothers would be hogs and push, shove and head butt their own sweet little pumpkins of fuzz love outta the way for anything food related.

Apparently, motherhood builds up a powerful appetite.

And a few brave ones will try and eat from the bucket, only if their crazy moms are busy skarfing down feed at the feeder and two other ranch hands are blocking them from the vittles.

Harley and Pearl have figured out the bucket but no one else really.  It’s got good yummy lamb nibbles in it.  Good stuff.

Well, I did a little reading and found there are these things called creep feeders.  They basically are a cage of sorts that has a little opening for the lambs to get in, but the ewes and others can not.

And of course, the commercial ones are a bit pricy.

Well, I just kind of got to thinking…  I found an old crib in the trash last weekend… and I was going to use it in my garden as a trellis…  (the side do make GREAT climbing supports…)  But I thought, hey, upside down, that is a little cage!  So I put that bad boy together, flipped it and cut one slat out.  Just big enough for a lamb to squeeze in.

And as you can see!  It worked!!   Little Saro Jane is inside nibbling lamb chow and Uncle Fergus is outside, disappointed beyond belief.

Yeah!

Luther has learned that people mean chin rubbies.  And he likes that.  A lot.

Oh, how cute!  Two of them have figured it out!!!   I wired it to the fence to prevent any shoving and other ovine tom-foolery.

Hey, it even works for goats!  Daisy is in there with three of the lambs, chowing down!  Yeah!

And I was so pleased with myself until Momma Noel finished up at the big sheepy feed trough and decided she could help herself to lamb chow dessert. She just pushed her head into the opening and shoved her big body until she collapsed the darn thing and could reach the bowl of feed.  And frightened the little ones until I had to dash in and stop her.

Jessy was taking this all in with her camera.

As you can see, most of the critters are watching as I try and dislodge the sow… er… I mean ewe from the crib.   She was sure acting like a pig.  No wait, pigs act better.  She was being a miscreant.  And look how the other animals know it.  They do.  Even Buttercup is watching and shaking her little goat head with a sort of “tsk, tsk, tsk…  bad bad ewe…”

 

Luther just wanted more chin rubbies.  He’s learning to seek attention from us when his mom does bad things.  Improper things.  I can’t say for sure if he was embarrassed, but gee, none of the other moms behaved so poorly.

 

I finally got her to leave it alone by taking the food out.  Only then did she stop trying to wreck it.  Shesh.  Back to the drawing board.  I thought about adding 2 x 4s and making it stronger and so on and so on, but I decided it was just too flimsy for a real lamb creep feeder and gave up.  It’s going back to the garden.  It will be cuter there anyways.

I think I might get a cattle panel and cut a small opening in it and wrap it around on itself.  So it is like a big circle.  And then attach that to the fence.  That might work.  They are only about nineteen dollars.  And after they get better at it, I can always use it as a fence panel.  Yeah.

Darn it.  Bad sheepies.

 

But on a lighter note, my other project worked just fine!   I put the last dog kennel panel in the big barn, to complete Rana and Rafeka’s stall door.  I used a couple rope climbing clips to fasten it when it’s closed.  Pretty simple.  And they have been content to hang out there at night, just fine.  Thank goodness!  I would have been a bit discouraged if my two projects for the day were both duds!

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