The Taste of Crow
Published: Friday, April 20, 2018
It looks like my prediction for an early spring, which I gushed over about a month and a half ago, was wrong. I'm here to publicly eat crow, weathered style.
March was supposed to come in like a lion; unfortunately, the lion was just a kitten. Conversely, she was supposed to go out like a lamb. Instead, the lamb was a full-grown ram in the middle of breeding season with a take-no-prisoners and stay-away-from-my-flock attitude. And just for good measure, I'll knock you down, dance on your chest, head-butt until you roll away in the fetal position and must consume over-the-counter pain relief for the next week and a half. (Note: DO NOT go in the pen with the ram during breeding season.)
My early birds must have made me overly optimistic about spring's arrival. However, they have survived and been singing joyful music, no matter what the atmospheric condition is on any given day.
It looks like you've got plenty more shop time if you need it, although I'm guessing many of you are long past that stage and are ready to hit the fields running.
We bumped up lambing a month from last year's trial run in May. It was a lovely month to lamb—warm days, cool nights, a couple of them quite cold, but ah, the warmth of a barn on a cold night, right? April is a decent month—we thought. The weather should be ok and a little warmer by then—we thought. At least it's not January—we laughed—because who wants to lamb in January when winter is full on?
Bah-ha he-he-ho-ho. That's my "you can't predict the weather" laugh. April's first week brought a bitter east wind, snow and ice. Almost half of the ewes lambed that week. Nature certainly is a little prankster, isn't she?
Oh well. Maybe it wasn't so comfy for us to be pull on winter clothes and drag sleepy bodies to the barn on cold nights, only to return to the house and a warm bed wide awake from overly-fresh air. But the barn was snug, and we didn't lose anyone to hypothermia—including humans.
So, bundle up, keep the fire lit and don't put away those winter boots and jackets just yet. The calendar may say spring, but it looks like we won't be enjoying true spring for awhile yet.
Bev Berens is a mom to 4-H and FFA members in Michigan. Do you have a story to share? Email her at uphillfarm494@yahoo.com.
Return to Top of Page