Nary A Blue Butt in Sight!

Conversations here on the hill might confuse the uninformed, shock the prudish and/or embarrass us if overheard by the “wrong” folks.

      …and there is not a thing we can do about it.

It’s an occupational hazard.

We are in the business of breeding livestock.  This means we talk about S-E-X and anatomical correctness…a LOT.  We are in the business of raising livestock.  This means we talk about animal physiology, digestion, parasites and other “not-so-polite” subjects…a LOT.  We are also in the business of “harvesting” livestock.  That means we talk about cuts of meat, blood and guts…a LOT.

Quite often these conversations come up at mealtime.  I mean, everyone talks about what they did that day over supper, don’t they?  We do try to curtail our more descriptive discussions when we have company, but I know that I have surprised both of our sons-in-law on more than one occasion.  Sorry guys!

Ohhhh...and that might just explain why we NEVER get invited to supper at fancy restaurants! J

Our most recent project to cause some weird and random comments was breeding the ewes.  Actually, this was Waylon’s project.  We’re just keeping score, marking the calendar and projecting dates.

When we turned him in on August 1, we put a yellow marker in the harness.  He wore this for a little over 2 weeks.  Several ewes were marked during this time and the information duly noted in my calendar book.

When we changed markers, we used ORANGE.  There was one re-mark of the “yellow” girls. (since she is just a yearling, that was okay) Within a week, all the other ewes were marked.  Most of them occurred within a two day period. (oh, wow…lambing season is going to be one big explosion this year! …I can’t wait!)

At the end of that cycle, we switched to BLUE.  This color system allows us to easily note any re-marks.  The color cycle isn’t always the same, but it does always go from light to dark.

We generally only go three cycles.  Otherwise lambing season stretches out f-o-r-e-v-e-r. We’ve done that one and it is NOT fun.  I don’t do too well without regular sleep, so things get more than a little stressful if lambing goes on too long. All that nightly checking... (be sure to click for a chuckle)

Many days have passed since the last ORANGE mark.  (far beyond any ewe’s normal estrus cycle)

                             NO blue marks at all.

That means…or should mean…that all the ewes are bred!  WOOT!

I guess that means I can stop telling the Boss every morning at breakfast (and again at supper) that there’s nary a BLUE butt in sight! J 

Which leaves me to wonder….


                                                    what in the world are we gonna talk about now?