The lack of rain this summer has been rough on the pastures. July was a very dry month. The beginning of August saw nearly daily rain for about two weeks and the pastures nearly recovered, but now it's been quite a while without rain and the pastures are starting to suffer again. Add to the lack of rain the high temperatures we have been having and I feel very sorry for the pastures and the sheep. We've had to feed more hay than I ever wanted to, but the sheep are happy.
I have been roping off sections of the yard for the sheep to graze and they had been very well behaved, until today.
I had them in area bordered by the stream and the raspberries. After they had been out for about an hour I looked out the window and saw them wandering around the blueberry bushes, definitely not in their little paddock. When I went out to try to get them back inside I saw all the rope down on the ground and the sheep had other ideas rather than going back into their pasture.
As I kept calling them to come back to the barn, they were exploring around the house, towards the road. By the time I got a scoop of feed (as a bribe) they were very close to the road along side the driveway. As I was moving up to them I heard a car coming and I was imagining the worst. Luckily, the driver had spotted the sheep and was going very slowly. The sheep saw the car and freaked and came running towards me so we all sprinted to the barn. The sheep were happy because they got a midday snack and I was happy they were all okay and back behind sturdy fencing.
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