I am loving this winter!

Well, the whole family has been a bit concerned about the sheepies...it has been so cold here, I've got my daughter wondering if there is a way to warm up their barn, and my husband wondering if they need clean, dry straw put down in their barn (my son doesn't say a lot, but he checks on them several times a day). Let me address these concerns.

First of all, we can't warm up the barn. I've heard so many horror stories about barn fires because of well-meaning shepherds trying to keep their flocks warm in the winter time. And in their wee barn, one spark and it would be all over. So David has patched as many holes as he can that were letting in wind, and at night, we close the sliding door that allows us to put hay into their feeders from the hay storage portion of the barn. As long as the doors are shut, it's not warm, but it's not unbearable for them.

As far as the straw, yes - I can and did put down clean, dry straw for them. He wondered, though, about removing the old straw first. The reason I don't do that - and the reason people don't clean out their barns in the winter time - is that the excrement and urine, underneath those layers of clean straw, actually helps to keep them warm, much like a compost pile is warm inside. Sounds gross, but they burrow down and make little hollows to sleep in, and I don't want to remove any of that organic heating material if it helps! So today, they got a new bale of fresh barley straw:

And as you can see, their hay feeder is full. I'm learning a lot about how they eat and how they prefer to eat their hay...the design of this particular hay feeder doesn't work as well as I had hoped. For this first year, it's fine - however, I'm hoping to con my dear husband into rebuilding it next summer. It's kind of hard to explain and demonstrate what I mean - but when I get some better pictures taken, I'll try! In the meantime, they get a ration of hay outside their barn everyday, which they really enjoy:

And they munch on the hay in their feeder at night, when they're locked in for bedtime. Which brings me to the most important way of keeping them warm - calories! In addition to their hay, they get veggies and sweet feed everyday, and a loaf of bread at night before bedtime. Sounds like a lot, but when you have to manufacture your own warmth, it's definitely necessary. And they are doing very well! I'm so happy to see that they aren't losing mass - they're still quite round with plenty of fat to keep them warm when we get these freezing fogs!

Even though it's miserable for humans to be outside in this, I still love the winter - and I'm so hopeful that because we don't have a layer of snow insulating the ground, it might mean we get a lessening of the bugs next summer. If it means fewer yellow jackets and ticks, I'm all for freezing fog! Of course, when I see the frozen fog on my sheep, I do ponder knitting sweaters for them:

Okay, maybe the husband and kids aren't the only ones who worry once in awhile!