Thursday, March 25, 2010

My first mule lambs! Both ewes!

I try not to bore you with my day to day personal issues such as money, love (or lack of), religion or stuff like that on here, although at times I feel the need to vent. I have been dating someone for the past few months that lives three hours away. While we've made the effort to see each other as often as we can, it ended last night due to 'lack of spark' on the other person's part, not mine. I had to drive to Minneapolis to discuss all of this and see if there was somewhere to go from there. We decided we are really great friends, and are still going to plan on hanging out, which I think is very adult of us, and something I've always believed in, remaining friends, after a relationship on such a deep level has failed.

I drove home this morning after staying with a different friend and having brunch with them, and came home to find my first mule lambs ever!

FirthofFifth Evidence of Autumn, a mioget 4 year old Shetland, gave birth to twin natural colored MULE EWES! It will be interesting to see if the modifier of the Shetland will alter the English Blue pattern that they are right now. Both were up running around in the barn when I came home. A wonderful sight to see. Especially since their mom likes them :) These two look very BFL in their look, so will be fun to see how they grow on. I do plan on keeping them and putting them to the Texel this fall, along with any other girls I get out of the Mule Ewes.

Photos will be forthcoming

6 comments:

Kim Nikolai said...

I'd like to suggest you rethink your plans to breed these ewe lambs this fall to your Texel. When I look at my yearling mule ewes there is no way they could handle lambing this year. I have several 2 yr olds that are bred and there is a huge size difference. If you feel they should be bred, maybe use a Shetland ram rather than the Texel?

So very sorry for your break up.

Cynthia said...

Well, I am damned sorry to hear about the relationship but tremendously pleased that you are finally having some success with your sheep!

Yeah for mules, right? I just had Gail V's shearer here today and he was talking about his experience with the mules during his trips to Ireland. All positive, all very encouraging.

You go guy....enjoy, be happy, find peace.

Unknown said...

Crongrats again on your new mule babies! I can't wait to see them! :o)
Sorry about the relationship hun, good you guys can stay friends though. *hug*

Becky Utecht said...

Congratulations on your first mule lambs, Garrett. Did you weigh them? Our mule lambs ranged from 5-10 lbs. The Shetland Mules are just beautiful sheep, I'm sure you'll love their fiber too.

Ebonwald Cardigans said...

Hi Kim! The Shetland-Cheviot yearlings and Shetland Mules I got from Theresa are all now 110-120 pounds. They were all over 85 pounds at the Jefferson show last fall. They are the biggest sheep in my Shetland pen :)

If they are 80+ pounds this fall (the new lambs) I will breed them to the Texel, unless these first 5 yearlings have lambing problems.

Potosi Sheep Farm said...

Sorry your relationship has ended but something good will happen for you as a result. Sounds trite when you are hurting but it really is true that things happen for a reason. Better will come.
I love my BFL Shetland lambs. They get the best of both worlds. Don't they just bounce like baby Shetlands? The fleeces are amazing too.

A long time coming!

 It has been a long time. Too long in fact. We lost access to our farm website and ebonwald website when WEBS.COM was closed by VistaPrint. ...