Tag: lambs

C’mon Sheep

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Usually when we go out to feed the lambs there is a pretty large group waiting at the gate, but there are always others that we need to find.  Starting out over the top of the field, if you look over your shoulder the scene looks like this — much like ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb’, but with many lambs following — we go to find the others.

As many shepherd/ess/s before us, we call the lambs – “C’mon Sheep!”, “Sheeee-eep!”, “C’mon Sheep!”  First one, and then another looks up.  “Baa, baa” the word is passed from one to another and then as if the spirit strikes them all at once… they come.

Weaning Day

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Saturday was weaning day… a day full of lots of noise and confusion.  All the ewes’ body conditions were checked, they were scored using the FAMACHA system, then put out the side door and into the paddock below the barn.  The lambs were weighed, scored with FAMACHA and kept in the barn until, in a grand exodus, we made our way to the graveyard field. 

By Sunday morning, about half the lambs had adjusted well and were moving about the field without a care in the world.  However the other half were doing a whole lot of what really can only be described as pouting.

In a few days the lambs will, once again, become quite frisky.  There will be plenty of cavorting and romping.  They will have developed new friendships and be having a grand time.   Lambs will be… lambs.

4-H Market Lambs

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Great excitement over the weekend as Lena picked out her lambs for her 4-H Market Lamb project. These lovely ladies are making themselves at home in a pen in the barn… getting used to Lena and their surroundings. They sure were noisy for a couple days. So far, their names are Princess and Cinderella, but that is subject to change at any time.
The resident, handspinning shepherdess/s are having a hard time adjusting to the fact that these lambs are 3+ months old and their wool is only about an inch long… very different from our long-wool beauties.
We are trying to convince Lena to be a guest blogger this summer, chronicling her first 4-H lamb experiences. So keep your fingers crossed and stay tuned for her adventures.

The Little Fellas

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We realized sometime this week, that we have neglected to share with you the story of ‘The Little Fellas’. Born on April 24th, these little twin rams weighed 6 lbs 11 ozs and 4 lbs 15 ozs when they hit the ground. We were worried that the smallest one might not make it or might become a ‘bottle baby’, but he was strong and determined. Their mama, Dierdre, was a wonderful, attentive, 1st time mother and seemed to be intent on getting her little fellas up and going.

We moved them into a lambing jug in the barn and went to work. It definitely helped that Dierdre is small and built low to the ground because little Mr. 1034 could just barely reach her udder to nurse. We put a ‘grow light’ on them, and they grew… even thrived.
Look at them now! ‘The Little Fellas’ – Mr. 1030 and Mr. 1034 – out in the pasture going strong. They are still pretty small, but seem determined to catch up to the bigger lambs. It will be fun to follow their progress throughout the summer.

Weekend Babies

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These beautiful, twin ewe lambs were born Saturday morning. Perhaps the most vigorous of all the newborns, they were attempting to get up before mama, Naomi, had even begun to clean them off.

Naomi must have walked a mile during her contractions, up and down, back and forth… ending up, of course, choosing the dirtiest place in the pasture to finally push the wee babes out.