#61 Andrea and Esther

Above, Andrea.  First time mom delivered this very fine wooled ewe lamb and white to boot.

One of my goals has been to produce some fine "white" wooled shetlands and

I think this year I have met my goal.  So excited to have several white ewes

to add to the flock and several white rams to watch grow and determine if 

they are have the qualities I want to keep in my ram flock.

Above, Esther.  She has been consistent with having tripletts each year.

I happened to be up at 2am so I decided to go out and check on her

as I knew she was about ready to deliver her babies...by the way she

was acting yesterday, oh...yeah, she was the lamb snatcher yesterday.

She delivered 2 ewes and 1 ram.  Esther was bred to a new

ram that I got this past summer, a Border Cheviot.

He is not much bigger that my adult rams, he has a longer loin and 

carries a little more muscle, yet has a small head and narrow in the 

front shoulders, this is normal for this breed and actually makes 

for a great crossbreeding with the shetlands.

In this photo it is really hard to see the difference between these lambs 

and the shetlands.  But the Cheviot breed has very distinctive erect ears which 

are not easily seen in this photo.  I have three more ewes bred to the Border

Cheviot that should be delivering soon, so I will try for better pics.

We have approximately 11 more ewes to lamb.  

Approximate because I have a couple that I question being bred due to using

another ram lamb.

Time will tell...

 

#107 Regina and #53 Oreo

 We have so many things going on right now it is crazy!

Add to the mix two ewes that delivered today.

Above Regina, a grey katmoget and first time mom.  

Delivered these gorgeous white ewe lambs this morning.

While she was busy cleaning off her second lamb another ewe

that hasn't delivered yet stole her first lamb and coaxed her out of the barn with her.

That was the view I had from the house first thing this morning.

Rushing outside to reunite mom with babies and hoping that she would take them.

Being the awesome mom that she is, she did accept her baby, but was a little short 

on milk right off the bat, so I had to run off to the farm supply store to 

get some colostrum.  Once the belly had been filled with a few ounces of that 

precious liquid all was good.  A few more servings yet today and hopefully

mom's milk supply will be in full flow.

Oreo delivered these twin ewes today also.  She was bred to Barqs.
Sweet babies and she is such a good mom.  Of course that same ewe
that stole the lamb earlier today is lurking on the other side of the gate. 
She wants babies so bad. Hopefully she will deliver soon and be content.

Galaxy

Galaxy delivered these interesting twin ram lambs this morning.

I bred her to ram #95, Tigard a polled grey katmoget.

Galaxy is an interesting ewe as her pattern changes through the year.

Right now her face has a somewhat katmoget look, as we go into summer her legs

will get lighter, like her face.  Come August her legs and whole head will be black

with grey wooly poll.

Galaxy is also the dam of my white ram Royal.

We will have to watch and see what happens with the patterns on these guys.

#129 Willow

 Willow delivered this white ram lamb Saturday (3/25) morning.

We have had plans for some time to go to the Black Swamp market day 

and fiber fair to pick up and drop off fiber with Zeilinger's woolen mill.

The problem is this event is a three hour drive one way.  Normally it 

wouldn't be an issue because we wouldn't be lambing yet.

I was mostly worried about this particular ewe lambing, hoping she would deliver

when I was home.  You see, Willow is a lamb herself.  When we had the 

breeding groups together in November, my white ram, Royal busted out 

of his breeding group to seek and find who was in heat within the lamb group.

Well, a few weeks ago I would tell Willow was going to deliver and 

was concerned as she won't be a year old until April 4th and 

I've learned that many times a lamb under 13 months old "just 

doesn't get it" to be a mom and care for her babies.

So I was quite happy when I went out to the barn at 5:30am to find

Willow laying down with this sweet little ram lamb at her side.

We didn't get back home until 3pm, but all is well with everyone in the barn.

entertainment value...

First video won't load...too large for blogger...
 it is a short clip of a 2 day old

ram lamb that has the "instinct" to be a ram.

Love his color...but don't know how long he will be here

with this attitude!

Above, a first time mom who wants to protect her

baby from those "other" pesky lambs who want to 

frolic and play.

#49 Lucy

Lucy delivered twins today, a katmoget ram in the front and 

a moorit ewe.  Both doing very well by the time I came home today.

Lucy was bred to Mateo, a scurred katmoget ram.

Had to post a pic. with "Red" our English Shepherd.  He just loves

the babies.  This pen is the closest that he has access to, 

just by design.   He wouldn't hurt those babies for anything, 

he truly loves them and would lick them all over if their 

mother would allow...which wouldn't go over well with her!

It's going to get chilly tonight, down into the teens!  But warmer weather 

is right behind it.

#113 Olivia

Olivia, my mioget ewe delivered her first lamb this morning.

This little moorit ewe was all dried off and lying with her mom 

when I entered the barn this morning.

She was bred to Apollo, I was hoping for more of the modified gene...

hoping for another mioget.  We'll see.

That's all for today....but there are more coming...