This weekend we were able to vaccinate and ear tag the lambs. Only one ewe was wormed since her gums were light in color. Vinnie our ram lamb was banded. Banding is a method of castration where we put a small rubber band at the base of the scrotum to cut off the blood supply. Based on Vinnie's playful antics after the procedure, I am pretty sure we were more distressed than he was. The oldest lambs and ewes also had their hooves trimmed.

Since the flock behaves as a unit, moving through the field together and waiting for the slower lambs, I moved them to a new pasture behind the boat barn. Using the Subaru I pulled the shelter to the field, hammered in fiberglass posts and strung two lines of polywire. The flock was easy to herd through a temporary corridor to the lush field. The sheep share this field with old, wrapped round bales, waiting to be moved to a new composting area at the edge of the woods.