Category Archives: Weather

December 2022 to April 2023 Updates

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It’s been quite awhile since I have posted on our website.  I tend to post on Facebook more and forget to update the website.  Here are a few photos and happenings that have gone on over the winter.

In December, we were surprised, humbled and happy to be among the finalists in the All Canada GenOvis Recognition Awards 2022 – maternal breed category!
We placed 3rd!

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We added a new pup to our pack in January.  His name is Kozan and he was 4 months old when we brought him home from Manitoba.  He is settling in nicely.

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We had a very mild January this year, which was so nice for lambing about 50 ewes.
We had turned the rams out for 1 week last August and just lambed for 11 days.

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Our next group of ewes lambed from March 14 to April 1.  We were very happy with a drop of 200%.***************************************************************************************************
The January lambs are coming along nicely.  We will be taking their 100 day weights on April 20.  There are some like this one that stand out.

Winter Lambing 2020

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Our December/January lambing group is done!
It has been a busy 25 days with 170 ewes giving birth to 326 lambs for an average drop of 192%. This is our best drop ever with these Dorset ewes in 14 years, so we are really happy about that.

Trying to get comfortable by sitting like a dog!

One of our two sets of quads this year, weighing 9, 9, 10, and 12 pounds. The ewe, McDermit 272Z, is eight years old.

The bucket fed lambs, full and content.

The matriarch of the flock, 11 year old “943″ gave us a beautiful set of twin ram lambs.

The -30C weather didn’t bother the 2 week old lambs. They were quite comfortable, burrowed into the fluffy straw in the lean-to.

March Lambing 2019

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After a record cold February, we are glad to have the weather turn warmer for our March lambing group.  We started on the 1st and are in full swing, with over 125 lambs on the ground so far.  They are strong, healthy lambs.

Pregnant ewes enjoying the warm, sunny day.

The first lamb, that 6 year old grandson, Hunter has seen born. (That he remembers, anyway).

503 and her triplets. This lamb always gets on her back whenever she lies down.
Photo credits: Laurie Genik

 

Shearing 2018

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Yesterday was our annual shearing day and the first time in our new, not quite finished barn.
Big thanks to our shearers: Lorrie Reed, Logan McDermit, Donald Struck, Bonnie McNary and Reba McNeil.
Also, very glad to have help from our son, Carson; grandkids, Taylen and Hunter McDermit; and friends, Heather and Julian Ireland.
The snow storm arrived at 2:30 and we were all done by 7:30. What a good feeling to have all the sheep in the barn, as snug as bugs in a rug with the nasty weather going on outside.  (Click on the photos to enlarge them).

February and March Happenings

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We have been very lucky to have a mild winter with very little snow.  It has been easy on the livestock (and the shepherds).
When I took hay out to the Dorset ewes one morning in February, they were all waiting for me on top of the hill – along with the three Great Pyrenees livestock guardian dogs.
We had very heavy hoar frost on February 25 which made for some neat photos.  It also means we will get rain in 3 months (May 25) and 6 months (August 25).
We are so glad for the livestock guardian dogs alerting us when something isn’t right!
When I went out to feed the dogs and sheep one morning in March, Ben didn’t come for his dog food. I found him standing beside a ewe that was “cast”.
(This happens to sheep and cows sometimes that are heavily pregnant and full of hay and water. When they lay out on their side, the weight over-balances toward their backbone and they inadvertently roll onto their back and can’t get up). If not found in time, they will suffocate.
I helped this ewe up and she walked away, although a bit wobbly at first.

2015 Shearing Day

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Yesterday we sheared the flock. Of course, it had to snow the day before….but thankfully they dried off by shearing time.  It went very well.

We had 6 shearers: Lorrie Reed, Laverne Struck, Charles Struck, Russell Eddy, Ampie Esterhuyse, Logan McDermit;
3 wool handlers: Carter Nameth, Jordan Sveinbjornson, Jelaine;
1 wool packer operator: Daylon Schmidt;
1 sheep pusher: Randy.

525 ewes/ewe lambs and 19 rams were shorn in 8 hours!
Thanks to everyone for their help and hard work!

Bringing in the flock for shearing.

525 ewes and ewe lambs waiting to be sheared.

The six shearers keeping busy.

Logan and Laverne shearing two of the Scottish Blackface rams.

Randy, going to get the next bunch of sheep.  He kept the shearing chute full all day.

 

Feeding Time

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We are sure glad for this mild weather and lack of snowfall! We are still able to feed the sheep out in the 160 acre field. We shred the hay on the hilltops to add mulch and fertilizer for the next growing season. It will make the hilltops more productive.
Another bonus with the light snow cover is that the ewes can still do some grazing.

Feeding Time!

Shearing Day 2014

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Yesterday was shearing day at McDermit Ranch!
A HUGE THANK YOU to our family for your help and hard work!  Logan, Nolan & Sarah, Carson & Rebecca, and grandkids Brooklyn, Tyrell, Taylen and Hunter made it the most fun, enjoyable shearing day in 29 years!!!  Missed little Cooper – maybe next year.
Also, thanks to the hardworking shearers – Lorrie Reed, Laverne Struck and Dave Hunter.  I don’t know how you guys do it day in and day out!! Between the 4 shearers (including Logan) they did 345 ewes and 9 rams in less than 8 hours!
The weather co-operated with a nice, sunny, calm day.  However, overnight we we got about 1/4″ of snow but it didn’t get colder than -4C so the sheep were fine.
 (Click on the photos to see them fully)

Cold, Cold Weather

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Well, March came in like a lion big time!  This morning, it was -40C and -54C with the windchill.  Yesterday I put out extra hay and bedding in preparation for the cold night and tucked the young lambs and their mothers in the barn.  This morning, everyone was fine.  We are REALLY ready for spring!

Mar 1/14 Temperature and Windchill

Snow Drifts

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We have had a lot of wind lately, which has created some pretty cool drifts as well as a place for some of the ewes to get shelter behind.  The drifts aren’t so handy to have around the bale stack though.

Lambing Time

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We have a new crop of purebred Dorset lambs on the ground!  The ewes started lambing around Christmas time so it has been pretty busy around here.  Some of the weather has been extremely cold ~ like -35C ~ and the wind chill made it feel like -50C!  It makes for lots of trips to the barn to check and bring new lambs into the nursery.

We had our family come for the weekend a couple of weeks ago, and our little grandkids, Brooklyn – 4, Tyrell – 3, and Taylen – 2 enjoyed feeding the bottle lambs.

We are excited to see how this year’s lamb crop turns out.  We used 3 new rams aside from the Shaw ram, who is a proven sire.  There are some very promising lambs again this year.  We will have a pen of top quality ram lambs on offer by May so check back with us later for updates and pictures!

Winter Feeding

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Well, it looks like winter is here to stay.  We got a big snowfall on the Saturday of Agribition – November 16.  The ewes are still grazing out in the alfalfa regrowth and are quite happy out there.  As long as they come in full at night, we will leave them out there.  When the snow gets too deep for them to find the feed, we will start to shred hay for them.

We hitched the bale processor up to the new Kioti tractor and tried it out.  It worked really well for shredding the hay down the fence line feeder for the market lambs.  They figured it out pretty quickly.

 

Building Corrals & Windbreaks

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Lately, we have been building some new corrals and windbreak fences.  We want to at least get the posts in the ground before freeze up.  We can always nail the boards on after the ground is frozen.

Logan Pounding Corral Posts

On Saturday, we completely finished the corral north of the lambing barn.  It has windbreak on the east side and fence line feeder on the west side.  Our worst winds in the winter come from the east/southeast, unlike when we lived in Alberta where the winter winds came from the north/northwest.  The east winds here usually bring storms and precipitation.

Ready For Windbreak Boards

Air-Nailing The Windbreak Boards On

The Completed Corral, Ready For Sheep