Day Two

Everything was quiet overnight, but bright and early this morning, Juliet gave birth to beautiful twin ewe lambs.  The first weighed 8 lbs and the second 8 lbs 8 ozs.  This moment has been anxiously anticipated.  Juliet was our dream lamb and the first bottle baby that we have bred.  She is three years old but was not bred last year because she was still so small.  We worried throughout the gestation period whether things would go well for her.  Well this morning about 5 a.m. she gave birth without any problems.  We had to clean the twins up for her, but she has been very gentle and has now settled in with them.  She is doing a wonderful job.  We’re just a little worried whether she will produce enough milk.  We’ll keep an eye on that.

Sweet Pea was considerate enough to wait until after breakfast before also having beautiful twin ewe lambs.  Being the veteran mama she is, she was also smart enough to have hers in the barn out of the fog and rain.  Her first lamb entered the world in what could only be described as a swirling swingshot.  The second little one came into the world much more quietly.  They are large girls the first weighing 11 lbs 1 oz and the second weighed 10 lbs 3 ozs. They are doing great.
Shortly after getting Sweet Pea and her girls into a lambing jug, we were treated to a wonderful surprise all the way at the bottom of the hill.  We left the barn to do a field check and could hear a lamb, there was Sweet Pea’s first daughter, Daisy with her lambs.  We literally could not believe our eyes.  What a wonderful surprise… it was..triplets!  They weighed 7 lbs 7 ozs, 7 lbs 10 ozs and 8 lbs 1 oz.  Little did we know that there was a very good reason that she was producing such a huge udder.  The triplets have already become known as ‘My Three Sons’ – Mike, Robbie and Chip, and of course, are the darlings of the barn. 

Finally!

Well, lambing has finally begun here at the farm!  Miss Lucy kicked things off at about 8 a.m. with a wonderful set of twins – a ewe born first at 9 lbs 5 ozs and a ram weighing 11 lbs 8 ozs.  They are out of Aragorn.

Around 2 p.m. Hermione gave birth to a big, beautiful black ewe weighing 12 lbs 9 ozs out of Aragorn.  She is a first time mama and did a great job except for a little confusion getting out of the pasture and into the barn.  She is usually pretty flighty so we are very proud of how attentive she is to her little one.

We barely had time to catch our breath, before Maibh gave birth to a white ram… a big fellow weighing a whopping 12 lbs 12 ozs, also out of Aragorn.  Although she is a two-year-old, this is her second lamb.  You may remember her from last year.  She did a great job and behaved like a veteran.
It’s been quiet in the pasture for several hours, and we are socked in with heavy fog.  We certainly hope that any of the ewes that may give birth tonight will do so in the barn.

Just like Sam Sheepdog

Samson is in with the ewe lambs for the winter, and just like Sam Sheepdog he spends much of his day in a very business-like manner – sititng at the top of the hill by his dog house on the lookout for the bad guys or patrolling the perimeter fencing.

Hmmmm…. there seems to be one very tall lamb at the pile of hay…

Oh, it looks like our Sam has decided to employ the art of camouflage and disguise

or maybe he is just looking for a really warm spot in the sun.

Good dog, Sam.

Musical Pastures

In our never ending quest for better flock health, we’ve been busy playing musical pastures.  The ewes have finally made it to the hayfield by the old barn.  This involves putting up more than 1/2 mile of temporary net fencing, which will be moved several times in the coming weeks.  They are brought back in to the permanent pine grove pasture in the evening to protect them from predators.  This has worked out very well.  The ewes are on new pasture in preparation for breeding season, and the hayfield is being weeded and fertilized.

In an effort to avoid another scandal like the one last year involving the young Maebh, we decided to separate the ram lambs from the ewe lambs following FAMACHA scoring on Saturday.  The ram lambs are now in the granddaddy green pasture, and the ewe lambs were moved back to the graveyard pasture.  We were really excited to score 19 ‘ones’ and 0 ‘fours’ this time.  We did have to treat about a dozen ‘threes’, but that is less than 25%.  The cooler weather is probably helping.  All the lambs are out of the barn and out on pasture.  Time to start planning for fall shearing.

Good Morning, Sunshine

We were treated to a beautiful tropical sunrise yesterday morning, and unfortunately the heat, haze and humidity that went with it.  It was FAMACHA day so we headed to the barn at daybreak in an attempt to beat the worst of the heat.  The lambs scored pretty well, and two of the three being treated in the barn were sent back to the field with the others.  The lambs were so calm and well behaved that we were finished before the sun had a chance to burn off the morning fog.

Lamb Scoring

Saturday was FAMACHA scoring day again for the lambs.  It was foggy and wet, but they came in to the barn like troopers.  They are slowly beginning to understand the routine.  Scores were not quite as good as the last time, but we have had a lot of hot and wet weather which can make parasite loads spike.  We kept three lambs in the barn for some extra care as they scored 4’s making them a little anemic.  We will give them vitamin shots and an iron shot to give them a little boost to get back on the right track.