Mar 21st, 10
/
Lambing is officially over for the year with Marge’s contribution this weekend. She gave us these adorable twin ewe lambs.
They are the same color combination as last year’s twins.
So our final count is twenty lambs with 10 ram lambs and 10 ewe lambs. I’ve put new pictures of a lot of them on the photos page and my web site. I would have liked more ewes but the rams will be wethered and used as working sheep. Some of them will stay. Some will become freezer lambs. Yes, that’s the hard, cold truth of raising livestock for meat. One of Gazelle’s boys was purchased by Renea Desorcy of Indigo Hills to use for future breeding. Thanks, Renea! Anyone else interested in purchasing a ram lamb should contact me before the end of the month.
Overall this lambing season went much smoother and quicker than last year. No prolapses and only one vet call to have Mother’s twins pulled. We’ve set up a nice, covered creep feeder for the lambs, well stocked with their own supply of hay and grain. Some of the older lambs have figured out what it’s all about so I’m sure soon they will all be making use of it. Some of them have also met their first dog as it was necessary to bring Rowan in to help us corner the ewe with mastitis to give her a last round of penicillin. The mastitis cleared up nicely within a few days of treatment and milking her out once a day. The milk finally cleared and the lambs began making use of that udder again. At this point there is no longer a difference in her udders.
Mar 2nd, 10
/
Another day home sick. The head cold/flu/yuk that I’ve been fighting since last week has turned into one of those headaches where everytime you open your eyes Zeus himself is launching lightning bolts through your head. So what does dear hubby do at slightly after seven this morning, before heading off to work? Drags me outside to see the new lambs. Good thing the sun wasn’t out. As it was, I really could have used my sunglasses. Cocoa had lambed the night before, presenting us with an adorable dark chocolate & white lamb which, darn it all, had to be another ram lamb. Okay, he’s cute and all, but I had given everyone the “let’s have ewe lambs” speech and so far we only have two. I know, that’s Reegan’s doing. We’ve still got 10 girls to lamb yet so he has time to get his average up.
- Cocoa’s ram lamb.
Sometime during the night or very early morning two first time mom’s had their lambs. Sticking to the 95 percentile where I prefer to be. No muss, no fuss, no bother. Most importantly, no vet call. Another ram lamb, solid white, and a lovely solid brown/red ewe lamb. I’ve put photos on the Photo page and will add more as I get them.
Mother, Jugs and Speed are all doing well. Speed is always talking, though. Doesn’t surprise me since she’s been talking since the moment we cleaned her nose and mouth off yesterday morning. They met “wee little one” (our first ram lamb) yesterday when all the mom’s went to eat. It’s always fun to watch those first interactions. Jugs and Speed were standing in the middle of nowhere calling for Mother who was blatantly ignoring them, her face buried in the feeder. Wee little one mozied up to them, also being ignored by mom, and they all looked at each other with expressions of “where the heck did you come from” plastered on their faces. No one’s really into playing and romping yet. They’re all still trying to get a good handle on how their legs work. Although wee little one did attempt to take off running then thought better of it when limbs didn’t do what he totally expected.
What I find interesting is that Mother has always preferred to lay outside and her lambs, likewise, seem to have a preference for laying in spots I wouldn’t think were all that comfortable. Last year, for two days in a row, Harry Flash’s favorite spot to lay was a water puddle. I’d scoop him out of it, dry him off, put him back with Mother and back he’d go again. Finally I gave up. Jugs and Speed seem to have the same propensity, finding either the iciest spot or the wettest spot in the snow to bed down, not necessarily caring to snuggle up to Mother. Not to say Mother isn’t an excellent mother. She is. She seems to always know where the twins are, just doesn’t feel the need to have them constantly at her side.
They are the same color combination as last year’s twins.