This is a new Term for me, apparently I’ve been helping our sheep with the process, but I didn’t know that the term for it is Tupping, or that a Ram is called a Tup! Did You? No! Then read on…
When the cooler days of Autumn come upon us, the temperature outside goes down, but the Tups, start Tupping! So, what the heck is Tupping!?
Tupping is when Rams, male sheep, also known as Tups, begin to feel the Call of the Wild!
In the Wild, wild male ruminates, such as those in the deer family, are said to be in Rut. The Rut, when male wild ruminants seek out their mates, is similar to what domestic Rams, or Tups, do as Fall comes up on us, the urge to mate comes upon animals such a Sheep, Rams, known as Tups, enter a season of Tupping!
This Tupping is, of course, in correspondence with the Ewes, female sheep, coming into what is known as Heat! So, when Autumn comes upon us, and the temperatures begin to Fall, wild animals begin their Rut, domesticated male sheep, Tups, begin Tupping, and as the temperatures Fall, things Heat up with the Ewes!
The Weather Forecast was calling for just 0.3 millimetres of rain, per hour, scattered throughout the day! Yeah Right! This Video shows…
It was much more than that!
What the Video doesn’t show You is me, out trying to move Briden and Joe, our now 6 month old, bottle baby lamb (no longer on the bottle) and his Dad. This time of the year, here in woodland pasture, there’s little growth, and I’m moving them about every 2-3 days. Today, with even the rain, and lack of grass and forage, I knew they’d potentially get out if I didn’t move them. I had a spare, electric netting fence sitting beside their pasture, and so I started putting it up for their new pasture. As soon as I did the torrential rain started! Uh huh! I got absolutely soaked!
After I managed to get the fence setup, and Joe and Briden moved, the rain let up! So, I being already soaked through, continued on with our chores… next come feeding our 640 lb Berkshire Sow (Momma) Pig and her daughters, they’re half Red Mangalitsa and each about 350-400 lbs.
Well, Lara, the Big Momma Pig, she likes to put the Loven on to Me! She does that by rubbing herself up against me, kind of like a big ole she Bear scratching herself up against a tree! So, because Lara outweighs me nearly 4 to 1 and because we live and farm in a hillside, I had to brace myself! I mean really brace myself or I would have ended up over the hill and across the Powerline and sitting in Franklin Brook! Ok, maybe not quite! But You get the picture! Right?
So, now, I’m soaked, and also covered in mud from Lara’s lovens (yes, I knows it’s misspelled)
So, I decides it’s no good quitin now! I grab the feed for Sophie and Lucy and head over to Karen’s ole field, where they’re now pastured. Just hoping they’re still there! We just moved the. There yesterday! They usually stay in their fence, unless they get to hungry, bored, or sometimes too wet! Usually they only try to escape when they’re hungry or bored though! Theys good ole gals! Thankfully they were still there, waiting and happy to see me, or their feed at least!
Then we goes and delivers some hemp seed feed, just over the road a bit, Then we runs into this torrent on the way home again! I’m thinking someone in the Weather Office made a mistake and typed 0.3 and hour, when it should have read 3.0.
Of course, truth be known! It’s really my friend, Skip’s fault! He messaged me early this morning, wanting to do a video chat because we like to do that, and because it was raining hard where he lives in New Brunswick, near Salisbury. I told him then that we were only getting showers here today! That why I sent him this video first, along with a few select words! Calling him a S. Oh, You get the idea! Sort of like a female Dog on a hot scent! Lol 😉
Coming from a Family of at least four or five generations of Hunting and Fishing Guides in Nova Scotia and having a Dad and Brothers who were Commercial Lobster and Ground Fishery fishermen, I always have an eye on the Sky!
So, when all the Doomy Weather Reports and Hype of impending doom build up more steam than most storms, I usually take it with a grain of Salt. However, salt can get quickly erode and blown away when exposed to enough wind and rain!
So, I’ve learned to always prepare for the worst and hope (and Pray) for the best!
So, this has been an exhausting week. First rotating fences and moving everyone to new pastures so as not to have the animals overstress the grass, forage, and soil on already worked pastures. We rotate everyone on a regular basis and the Goats and Pigs typically get moved about every 7-10 days depending on the ground they’re working, the time of year, and the vegetative growth and rainfall amounts. Always trying to build up the land, and not destroy it. It can be a delicate balancing act. So, it having been about a week to ten days since the last move, we moved everyone this week. The last move of pasture will be tomorrow morning here at Briden Farm. The others pretty much are at The Barn Property. Those at the Barn Property will all be getting moved inside tomorrow afternoon; about 12-24 hours ahead of the forecasted arrival of Hurricane Lee. Hurricane Lee is expected to hit us as a Tropical Storm, or Post Tropical Storm, with Gusts of 110-120 km (65-70 mph). It is expected to make Landfall near Yarmouth County, where I’m originally from, then track up over us. The worst of the Storm coming Saturday 16 September 2023 and disipating through the day on Sunday September 17, 2023.
So, tomorrow, Friday We’ll be moving nearly everyone inside the Barn. The possible exception are the Muscovy Ducks. Although, time permitting they may find a spot inside also. We’ve already put in 3-4 twelve-hour days this week! Looks like it might be another one tomorrow. It’ll be interesting as it’s going to pack the Barn. Goats, Pigs, Chickens, Rabbits, Pheasants, Sheep, and in all over 100 Critters! Which also means organizing, and reorganizing, the Barn. It’ll all get done tomorrow! We Pray!
It’s definitely been an exhausting week! You might say…
“We’ve been blown away and Hurricane Lee isn’t even here yet!”
