Claire

 Claire....another special ewe delivered two ewe lambs on Wednesday, April 27th

two katmogets.

The Sire of these lambs is Axel.

Claire was my introduction to sheep.  I bought her when she was 2yrs old with her lamb at her side.

She is now 12 yrs old.  She is one of the "old" girls.  She and her two friends

"old girls" also, will be penned next year so we don't have

any more deliveries from them.  They've done their jobs well

and deserve to take it easy for the rest of their lives.

#35 Sweet Pea

Sweet Pea another favorite ewe was bred to our black ram "Bon1107"

This morning she delivered these beautiful twins; 

a grey ewe in the fore front and a darker grey ram falling asleep next to mom.

 The ram on the left, ewe on the right.

Above ewe lamb is marked very nice.  She does have a dark underbelly, white socks
on back legs, katmoget markings on front legs.  Spotting on face.

I had a share a few more of the ram...he is sweet.
Nice white blaze down his face. 

Three white socks and a white tail

His belly is dark....but he has a white spot on his underbelly.
He also has horn buds.  His sire is horned,  so he will be available....pending good horns.

#15 Eve

 Eve a favorite ewe of ours delivered these two ewe lambs today.  A moorit with a few white hairs on her forehead and a beautiful grey katmoget who looks like she has stripes.

Eve was the first fine fleeced shetland born here on our farm.  What a difference!

Since then we've been selective with our rams and we have a nice

selection of quality fleeces.

Eve was bred to our farm born ram "Bon1107", a fine fleeced horned black ram.

We have a new Event I've updated on our Events page.  We will be participating at on May 7th. 

Come check it out and stop by and say "Hi"!

#64 Emma

 Emma is a first time Mom and delivered this nice set of twins.

She was bred to my Cormo X ram.

The Brown Spotted lamb is a ram, the ewe is white.

#16 Chloe

 This is Chloe.  Late this afternoon when I went out to the barn she had already delivered these two ewe lambs.  I am a bit perplexed as Chloe was bred to my Cormo X ram.  The breeding group was taken apart December 5, 2015.

But these lambs sure look like shetlands.  These will be sold as unregistered.

Anyone interested email me.
***UPDATE ON LAMBS IDENTITY***
These two are from my Cormo X ram.  Upon having more time to take a closer look the next day
you can definitely tell by their tales.  They are longer....as would be expected from the CormoX Ram.
  

#64 LoLa

 LoLa delivered a ram and ewe early this morning.  This is her first delivery and she did very well all by herself.  These are nice size lambs. 

LoLa is a Grand Luxe daughter and a larger shetland so I bred her to my CormoX ram.

The ewe lamb is the darker of the two.

I'm getting low on lamb tags.....don't know if I'll make the season.  I have 11 tags left and six ewes yet to deliver.....it's iffy.  I better order more at ketchummfg.com

#17 Esther

 I was a little late getting out to the barn this a.m.  I arrived at 7am to find Esther already caring for her triplets. Three little ewes and all doing well.

 These lambs will be of a higher fleece micron count, most likely 28 - 30avg.

I have been breeding for finer than this, but Ester is a 28 avg. micron ewe.  I really like Esther's fleece

it's what some would say is a great fleece to learn to  spin with, long staple length and drafts and spins easily.  A beautiful grey color too.  The ram I bred her to has a super fine fleece, Ram #115(black)...but you never know what you're going to get.

These little ladies are cute!

#51 Audrey

Audrey delivered these cute little rams lambs late morning.  These two should be darn nice rams.

Audrey is a Barqs (gulmoget) daughter, along with Duroy (white ram) on her Dam's side.

Audrey was bred to Axel, a very light colored Katmoget ram without the dark underbelly color.

These two lambs do have the full katmoget pattern although the one on the left is very light in color.

Hopefully we will have more deliveries this weekend.

We have 16 lambs on the ground as of today with probably that many more that are due.

#53 Oreo

 I had come home early from work today and I am glad that I did.  Oreo a light colored katmoget ewe delivered twins.  When I got out to the barn the little spotted katmoget ewe was born first and Oreo had moved away when she delivered the second lamb, the white ram.

I has afraid that she might not accept the first lamb, but as you can see in above pic. she had no problems accepting her and they are both doing quite well.  

Oreo was bred to Duroy.

Galaxy

While I was in the barn this morning Galaxy was acting like she was ready to deliver her lambs.

When I checked her late this afternoon she had her little ones by her side a ram and ewe.

Galaxy was bred to my CormoX ram.

#59 Mia & #46 Amelia

 Above pic: the Dam is Mia, she is a triplett to Zoe who already lambed.  Mia was bred to Barqs, a gulmoget ram.  We were hoping for some gulmogets.  I think this little guy she delivered qualifies.

Mia delivered this lamb Monday evening.  She is a first time mom and was in labor while I was feeding last evening.  I penned her prior to delivery so she wouldn't be harassed by some of my pesky yearlings, who were just curious.

While trying to take some pics. under Mia's watchful eye...He appears to be fawn in color.

 With his head raised you can see his gulmoget stripe.

Above pic. is Amelia, she was bred to my CormoX ram.  She delivered two little ewes early Tuesday Morning.  When I went out at 6am they were well fed and resting.

Ewe #45

This is my other crossbred ewe.  She was bred to Axel, a shetland ram, hoping for a ram lamb to use in future crossbreeding with my shetlands. ...well we didn't get one.

This ewe was due Friday, 4/1/16.  She really showed no signs of labor, just very ready 

with swollen udder and tail raised.  Saturday evening I thought I would take a

look and check her though she appeared ready to deliver she was not dilated.

That evening my thoughts were that she wouldn't dilate and we would be looking a 

a C-section, knowing those odds are not good I was really hoping that she would 

deliver overnight.

This morning I went out the check and she was in her chosen place standing with tail raised and a broken waterbag and head low.  I just knew things weren't right.  Grabbing a halter I went in to see what I would find by checking her.  I immediately found two front legs.....no head.

I've had some experience assisting the ewes in my years of lambing, but there is always something new that trips you up.  I pushed those feet back in and was trying to find it's head, reaching down low I did find a head, but was thinking it was the head of a second lamb and didn't want to pull on it and have the legs of one lamb and the head of another.

Without further thought I made the call to my vet.  I figured she would be here, reach in and

 "poof" pop out a lamb, that I had been searching for and couldn't find.

When all was said and done, my vet, Tricia Pugh of Red Star Veterinary Clinic 

had gotten this really large ewe lamb out which was deceased.

I really appreciate my vet, she is so sharing with her knowledge and always willing to help you understand your situation.  So that next time you may be better able to help yourself in another situation.....by no means is this reason to not call your veterinarian when you need help.  

Tricia explained to me that this was a "tricky one"  the front feet that were presented for delivery did belong to the head that was below the lamb.  The head was wrapped around the side of the leg, then back up between the legs, jaw upwards.....this ewe would have never delivered this lamb.

So to wrap up this story, the ewe is doing fine, the above pic. was taking later in the day.  

She is calling and looking for the baby that she doesn't have.  She has provided me with a stockpile of colostrum milk which I have frozen for any other emergencies I or others may need and I'm sure she will adjust to the circumstances.  Animals are amazing in this way....much better than people.

 

 

Jasmine #58 & Butter Cup #32

This afternoon we had some special deliveries! First off We were on a Mission today to go to a one day fiber festival in Bowling Green Ohio.  About 2 1/2 hours away.  I was up bright (well still dark out) and early at 3:30am to go out and check on everyone and give some hay.  Then into the house and consume some coffee before starting our day.
The purpose of going to the Fiber Event was to deliver 57 pounds of wool to the Woolen Mill for processing.  They said  they would have it done and would bring it back to the Great Lakes Fiber Show! The end of May.  Yeah!  Can't wait.

As soon as I got home I went out to the barn to check the girls, knowing that we would have someone delivering. 

Butter Cup, above a Moorit based Katmoget, Duroy daughter was bred to my young black ram #115, we've not committed to his name yet.  Who has an amazing fleece.

She delivered to beautiful little ram lamb.

If you click on the photo you should be able to make the pic. larger.

You can see he has a very crimpy fleece, he also has some white hairs on his forehead and hornbuds.

Jasmine also had delivered these two beautiful little ewes a little earlier as they were already dry and had nursed.  A grey Katmoget on the right and a Black krunet with some white socks.

Better seen in the picture below.

Jasmine is a GrandLuxe daughter that was bred to an AG Grey ram #26

#60 Zoe

Zoe is a first time Mom and she delivered this cute little ewe.  

When I went to the barn at 6am she was all dried off 

and had already nursed.

Such a good Mom!

 Had to share a close up of her getting a nap.

Zoe is a GrandLuxe daughter, bred to Duroy, a white ram.

Not certain of her color pattern, her underbelly is the same as 

her body color.

Hoping that our other crossbred ewe delivers today.  She is acting like she might.