a few photos

Some of the lambs. Since these were taken i've had 6 more sets of twins and 4 more singles. *sigh*(!!!) of to work i go! Can't wait to see what I find when I get home! Oh yea, my first Leicester Longwool cross was born today English blue ram. NOW THAT IS CUTE! :)

This lamb below is a Shetland Mule. Mom is mioget, dad English blue.

The spotted badgerface below is also a Shetland Mule.

As is this spotted Engligh Blue ewe lamb.

A little mioget Shetland ewe lamb!

One week later......

I've had 33 ewes lamb now. I think. Delirious. Exhausted. Also very excited and happy!

I'm loving the Shetland Mules. I have 14 of them so far (only 6 ewes dang it!) Most of the 21 Shetland lambs are as expected. fine crimpy fleeces. lots of spots. still katmogets but lots of solids and modified lambs too. My BFL twins are growing and leaping (literally) by huge strides. IF only April was always this nice for lambing (last year we had blizzards and lots of snow and below zero temps.)

photos will come soon. Most of the photos are on facebook farm page (which is public) Just search Ramsay Farms and you'll find them. Not all the lambs are photographed. Too many to take!

Musical lambing jugs, musical nursery pens and moving lambed ewes to the jugs, jugged ewes to the nursery pens, nursery pens to the lamb/momma pen and then moving close up ewes to the 'expecting pen' versus the holding pen for those still a ways a away. Chaos in the best sense :)

I love it.

But 25+ ewes have all lambed in the past 3 days. Pandemonium out in the barn with ewes trying to steal lambs because they are in labor, or lambs getting lost in the crowd if don't witness the birth. Even with so many jugs this year I'm still finding need for more. Better to get them all done with at once than waiting for months like I did last year!

Lambing Update

Lambing started March 13th and has been sporadic. Since Shetlands are known to be seasonal lambers, they do not start cycling in the fall until it gets cooler and the days get shorter. It seems that even though I try to put them in together early, flush them, and keep them on grass, they still don't seem to start lambing for me until the last week of March and first few weeks of April. *sigh* Patience is not a virtue of mine!

So far we've had the following:

Finn ram x Shetland ewe - twins ram and ewe
Finn ram x Shetland ewe - single ram
Finn ram x Shetland-Cheviot ewe - single ram
Finn ram x BFL Mule - single ewe
BFL ram x Shetland ewe -twins ram and ewe (badgerfaces!!)
BFL ram x Shetland ewe - single ram
BFL ram x BFL ewe - twin ram and ewe
BFL ram x Shetland Mule - single ewe
Shetland ram x Shetland ewe - single ewe
Shetland ram x Shetland ewe - twins ram and ewe
Shetland ram x Shetland ewe - single ewe

I flushed the girls last fall with beet pulp and mineral and rolled oats and roasted soybeans. They were in amazing condition, with green pastures and wonderful green 2nd cutting clover/grass hay. The singles born above were quite large (8# pounds for shetlands 12# for other crosses) so they were well fed, just huge.

The last two weekends have been spent with sheepie friends. First Kelly and her husband Mike came up for a short visit (they are always short visits it seems!) and then last weekend I was down at Corinne's farm and got to see my ram M&M and the rest of her flock. Always fun to see her sheep! I couldn't believe it had been 18 months since I'd last visited her!

The next few weeks look to be like pandemonium for lambing. Naturally I have my best friend Briony's wedding this weekend I cannot miss and hope that the ewes hold off until I return. I'll be gone only about 30 hours so hope they can lamb before of after. My dad will be in charge while I'm away and I hope no mothers to be try to steal newborn lambs away from other moms like what happened to me on Monday. I swear those Shetlands are SUCH fantastic moms, that they want every baby that is born before their own.

That's the update for now. More soon (and photos too!)

Any day

Any day will start lambing! The first that looks ready to lamb based on tightness of udder is WhitePine Eiffel 65 (Jazz x Sommarang Emerald) who is a smirslet flecket sokket gray katmoget. This is her first lambing as a 2 year old and she is bred to Crosswinds Apollo (mioget flecket smirslet) so spots should be the rave from this pairing. Others that look eminent are one of my BFL ewes, ShelteringPines Catalonia and a black Shetland ewe ShelteringPines Tresor who I am hoping is bred to Stephen's ram Grand Luxe!

Stay tuned....Any day.

In the mean time I will be rooing WhitePine Levi AI (67.5% UK bloodlines) again. He's already rooed most of his neck and belly wool so this should be an easy task :) stay tuned for photos

3 weeks...

....until lambs start to appear. The barn is an overhaul this weekend. cleaned, swept, scrubbed, limed and bedded down. I have all the buckets, heat lamps and clips waiting to be put in the pens this weekend. Feeling good about lambs this year!

Lamb stats so far

So far....

FirthofFifth Nekomis sired the following lambs:

x ShelteringPines Nessebar (gray kat) = gray kat smirslet ram, fawn kat krunet ram

x OwlHill Pranilla (Ag gray) = gray kat ewe, musket ewe

x FirthofFifth Rahu (white illget) = black ram

x WhitePine Terah (black) = gray kat smirslet ewe

x Whistlestop 0916 "Zariah" (shaela) = moorit ewe and fawn kat ewe

x Whistlestop 0934 "Xena" (white) = black ram, black ewe

Wintertime Jazz sired the following lambs:

x FirthofFifth Booto (fawn kat) = gray kat ram and gray kat ewe

x WhitePine Charity (gray kat) = gray kat ram

x RiverOaks Eliza (white) = white ram and gray kat ram

x Sommarang Emerald (black flecket) = black smirslet sokket brandet ewe, gray katmoget bersugget ram

x WhitePine Eve (mioget) = gray katmoget ewe (looks to be modified!)

x Wintertime Galina (black gulmoget) = gray katmoget krunet ram, black gul/kat smirlset ewe

x BlackForest Tamarack (moorit gulmoget) = black gulmoget krunet ewe, black krunet ram

x WSR Alisa (moorit light badgerface) = gray katmoget krunet, black light badgerface ewe

x FirthofFifth Sukhada (black gulmoget) = gray katmoget ram

WhitePine Levi sired the following lambs:

x FirthofFifth Ashanti (mioget smirslet) = black ewe, moorit ewe

x FirthofFifth Koosi (gray katmoget) = gray katmoget (polled) ram

x WhitePine Skor (shaela) = black ewe

WhitePine Roman sired the following lambs:

x WhitePine Festus (black smirslet) = black smirslet ewe

x Justalit'l Chloe (homozyous fawn katmoget) = white ram with tons of phaeo or giant white spot fawn katmoget. I will have to look tomorrow when he's dry!

WhitePine Barnabas sired the following lambs:

x WhitePine Faith (gray katmoget krunet sokket) = fawn katmoget krunet sokket ram

x WhitePine Rush (white) = black ewe

x RiverOaks Lucy (gray katmoget) = fawn katmoget ram (polled) and moorit smirslet (polled) ram

I think that's its for the Shetlands.

Beechtree WyCliffe (purebred white BFL ram) sired the following lambs:

x Beechtree Kearsley (white) = white ewe

x Beechtree Kershope (white) = white ewe, english blue ram

x Cross Wind Clover (white) = white ewe, white ram

x ShelteringPines Catalonia (white) = white ewe, white ram

x Beechtree GlenLuce (english blue) = white ewe

Update

Well the girls are holding out on me!

Aside from WSR Alisa lambing very unexpectedly with twins on wednesday things have been quiet.

I'm always wrong as who will lamb first in the Shetlands. The girls with the 'caution wide load' signs on their bellies and udders are all still just hanging out in the 'close up' pen. The girls in the 'aways a way' pen is the pen Alisa came from.

If you remember Alisa is a light badgerface moorit ewe I traded Wally Rutledge for while I was out in Eugene, OR for the Black Sheep Gathering. Alisa has .78% UK (that's less than ONE percent) in her (Greyling waaaaay back) and still has the breed character fleece that is hallmark of the breed in the UK and Canada.

Alisa was bred to Jazz. I knew I'd only get black but I was hoping for a light badgerface black based ewe lamb. And I got one. But she was chilled when I found her with her mom. The gray katmoget ram lamb was off with one of the Shetland-Cheviot ewes who swore it was hers, even though I know she isn't due for another month. Got Alisa in with her twins in a jug but the little girl wasn't getting up. So off to the house for a lambing warmer. Five hours later she's up and eating colostrum from a bottle (Thanks again Shel!) and by morning she's jumping out of the laundry basket.

Reintroduction to mom was not good. I even waited and smeared poop from her brother on to the girls tail but mom wasn't being fooled. She smelled differently. Alisa doesn't have enough milk to feed twins so supplementing will have to do. I can't believe she twinned either as she wasn't very large, or had a large udder. Some of these Shetland girls surely will have huge twins or maybe triplets based on the size of their bellies and udders. Crazy how different they all can be.

Of all the BFLs that were exposed (10) I have had only 4 lamb, with one due any moment to Wycliffe. There are three that look bred to the back up ram Burma, and three that don't even look bred at this point which is extremely frustrating.

That's it for now. Stay tuned for pandamonium surely to ensue.

lamb count:

2 BFL ram lambs, 4 BFL ewe lambs (lost two)

Shetlands 1 ram lamb, 1 ewe lamb

lambs so far

BFLs are starting to lamb. It looks as though several were bred to the back up ram Burma.

The first four ewes have lambed:

Kershope: white ewe, natural colored ram - great mom - healthy lively lambs

GlenLuce: white ewe - terrible mom, rejected baby, baby died after several days of me trying to feed it and try everything i could think of. Luce is going to a fiber home where she will not be bred.

Kearsley: white ewe - great mom, only one nipple worked. Came home from a weekend at the Fiber Mill and found lamb dead. My dad 'didn't see anything wrong'. This will haunt me for life as I wasn't there. She was healthy and nursing when I left. UGH! Kearsley is very distraught too poor girl.

Catalonia: white ewe, white ram - great mom - she had milk fever but got it under control, ram lamb appears blind. Gave B-complex and thiamine shots, he can sense light and doesn't run in to his sister but its very frustrating.

I need to invest in an E-Z milker as my carpal tunnel sure doesn't seem to help when I'm milking out the BFLs. For all the work of the BFLs I surely love them and want to see them remain here. They are SO docile and loving towards me. Like big 'ol dogs. They come up for scratches and such and follow me around on a lead/halter after only seconds of being on one. They are very trusting.

Shetlands still look a ways away. Udders are not as large as they were last year so that apparently means later lambs this year. Thank goodness I didn't pull the rams out early last year like I do for the time period around the Cardigan Welsh Corgi Nationals. My luck they will all be due around that week!

I'm really getting anxious for easy lambing to commence with the Shetlands.

Lambing Begins

This morning at my morning feeding I heard a very LOUD and adamant lamb noise coming from the BFL pen. I dropped the hay bale and ran to see that Beechtree Kershope had given birth to a large set of twins!

My lambing theme is "Brands of Beer" and thanks to BeerBible.net I was able to find two names that were fairly fitting. I also like to name the lambs starting with the first letter of the ewe's name. This helps me follow ewe lines in my flock (I started this with my Simmental herd 20 years ago, and its amazing how the make up of your herd favors certain lines). The lambs are out of Beechtree Wycliffe (F2 Rossiebank X003).

This photo was taken with my camera phone so not the clearest but I WAS running behind for work today! The English Blue ram lamb is WhitePine Kent (Australia) and the white ewe lamb is WhitePine Kestrel (Scotland). Both lambs had full tummies when I dipped their navel and gave them a squirt of Nutri-Drench. Weights when I get home from work!

Udderly Amazing BFLs

Several of my BFLs are gearing up for lambing. Their udders are starting to swell up. Their 'back ends' are starting to soften and get bright pink. Their waddling in and out of the barn is just cuter than words. I put the BFL together only a day earlier than the Shetlands. I do think however that the BFL cycle earlier so I'll expect them to lamb earlier. I checked most of them for udders last night at their PM feeding. It appears most of the ones that have lambed before will all lamb together early. It looks as though the F2 Rossiebank ram lamb, Wycliffe, did his job well :)

They shouldn't start lambing until March 9 or thereabouts which is about 2 weeks away so I won't get TOO crazy about checking in the barn yet, but I will have everything done before they come this year. Let's hope they are better moms this time around!

Less than 5 weeks until lambing

I need to get my lambing jugs organized, the lamb bucket of goodies prepared, the alleyways swept out and limed, and just stuff put back in place. When Shetlands get out they tend to climb stuff like cats, and everything falls on to the ground. Add in free range chickens (you know who you are....) and there tends to be a lot of my organizational skills put to shame. You would think with my OCD (self diagnosed) that this would drive me bonkers. It does. But it does give me something to do. And the animals look so innocent when I ask them about it.

I'm a bit overwhelmed with the thoughts of lambs coming already. I can't believe its nearly here. My friend Kathy D in PA already had her first lambs and I just can't believe anyone would want to lamb this early! Most of my neighbors with the big meat breeds are already all shorn and lambed out. I can't understand the shearing thing. Its the coldest month of the year and their sheep are slick shorn. It makes no sense.

Its been over 6 weeks since Adam has left. He decided he needed to stay in Milwaukee after the holidays and while we still talk nearly every day, its very dull and boring here in comparison to having his bubbly personality here. He is going back to school and has a job now. We still remain the best of friends and although he is missed greatly here, he is doing what he needs to do and I am happy for him. Unfortunately I am having some health issues related to this change but am working through it and am thankful for all of my friends amazing love and support during this time.

Lambing would have been MUCH easier had he been here, but I've done it alone for many years so what's another year? I believe the lambs will be better than ever and I'm just super excited to see what comes out of these breeding groups. I really have a good group of animals and now its just tweaking what I need in my own personal flock. Proven ewes will be available if they have ewe lambs this year so if you are looking for proven ewes with good lambing history, blood tested negative for 4 diseases, micron tested yearly and proper breed type, then I may have just what you are looking for ;)

Hope everyone is doing well in this cold and snowy time!

A June lamb?!!

Yesterday in the bitter cold my adult ewes thought it would more enjoyable to somehow knock the large aluminum/steel cattle gate over to get in with the 2010 ewe lambs and their more choicy hay/alfalfa blend. Not the entire flock, but I did have to separate them out.

Needless to say I still haven't taken the clean up ram out of the adult ewe flock (WhitePine Caiphas, F1 Holly). Much to my thanks he was NOT in the ewe lamb pen, but there WAS a ewe lamb in with the adult ewes!

One of my F1 Jericho ewe lambs, a bielset, sokket gray katmoget ewe lamb out of ShelteringPines Nirvana was the very IN LOVE girl. *sigh*. I really wasn't going to have any ewe lambs bred. Honest.

It is good to see that most are nearly the same size as the yearlings (now almost 2 year olds).

*sigh*

Let's pray she didn't take. 3 months of lambing is a bit much right? :)

Whirlwind afternoon

I came home at lunch after running last minute errands for my big trip tomorrow. I was about to hop in the work truck to do some afternoon work and tie up all loose ends and I went out to check on the girls. Naturally everyone is way past overdue. Needless to say that today of course, was the day I'd be so busy, that the ewes would decide to lamb for me.

Lunch time: FirthofFifth Taika (Wintertime Black Forrest x FirthofFifth Twiling) gave me a black gulmoget ewe lamb and a moorit krunet ewe lamb! Both were up and nursing and still wet, so mom had her work cut out for her :)

Back around 6pm and started evening chores and Underhill Ulla (Winter Sky Jamison x Justalit'l Ewenique) gave me a moorit krunet ram and a moorit ewe lamb! Both up and nursing and I was only gone maybe 20 minutes to feed the cows. (which by the way we had two new calves born today too......must be something in the water?)

I ran over to the neighbors to look at a fifth wheel stock trailer and some lovely grass hay for the sheep. I came back and Black Forest Tilly (full sister to Taika from a different year) have a gorgeous black gulmoget krunet ram lamb and a moorit ram lamb!

I'm just tickled to know that both gullie girls carry moorit. What I am bummed about is that they were both bred to AI but their due date was April 5th and neither of the rams I put to them seemed to take on these girls.

The father of all of these lambs is WhitePine Ephraim, my F1 Orion mioget yearling ram.

I'd love to say photos will be coming but i don't think I have time tonight!! I leave tomorrow morninga t 5:30am and won't be back until the 3rd. You can wait....right?

The following ewes are left to lamb:

Sommarang Eva: She was bred to FirthofFifth Angus, but it looks as though she didn't get bred to him. She is also bred to Eprhaim then.

WhitePine Sedalia: She was also in Angus' group (as was Bethany) but it doesn't look like he settled any of his girls. Sedalia would also be bred to Ephraim. They are both due any moment.

WHitePine Columbine (Jazz x RYL Corlid) is bred to the BFL. She is due any moment as well.

WhitePine Twix (Bourbon x Love-E-Ewe Cleo) was also bred to the BFL. She is due on the 24th.

Justalit'l Shasta is bred, but not due for a while it looks like. She also to the BFL.

WhitePine Candace, didn't cycle with Jazz so is bred to Ephraim...or possibly Levi, as I used Levi as a clean up after Eprhaim went to work at Cynthia's house. She could be off by a week yet or so.

WhitePine Neriah (Wintertime Blues x ShelteringPines Nirvana) was in Roman's pen but didn't cycle that early, so she is bred to Ephraim also. She is due imminently.

I was going to leave late tonight but I must stay at least til morning to see if any more are going to lamb. I can' t make my dad do any more than he already is doing!

phew!

now to finish last minute packing and try and sleep before my alarm goes off!

I'll try and update from the road if I can!

Why mules keep looking better and better!!!

Let's recap the past 48 hours (grab some tea or coffee!):

Sheltering Pines Morovia aka 'Ears' (BFL ewe) gave birth to twin white ram lambs between 7 and 8 am. Both were up nursing and she was being the greatest mom ever! My bad luck lambing BFLs was over! Both lambs were dried off and she was being the most attentive mother, letting them nurse, and laying next to them when they fell asleep. They have the bluest pigment. Having her only be my third BFL to lamb here ever, they were my first white lambs, and my first good mother.
Proud papa of these boys is Beechtree Kirkdale (F2 Titan, F2 Titus) I believe...

I spent the rest of the morning sweeping barn alleys, organizing troughs and buckets I wasn't using, cleaning the feed room, stacking hale bales, liming jugs etc. Around 1pm, Jerry came up to visit and talk sheep. I 'knew' Jerry from years ago when he had pigeons and we corresponded via email for quite a few years. Fast forward now and he has his first Shetlands. He came and reserved six ewes from me that will be going to his place once lambs are weaned, sometime after July 1st.

What was probably closet to two hours spent with Jerry in the barn, going over sheep and such was quite enjoyable. After he left I quickly checked in on the pups in the house and came back outside. Lo and behold, the prolapsed BFL ewe, ShelteringPines Nubia, was in labor, contracting. I had to quickly undo her strings that were tied shut, and upon undoing them, she water bag came flying out and the blood bag. I reached in and found two feet, no head. * le sigh *


I had to let her dilate somewhat longer but she was pushing heavily and contracting every few minutes. I ended up having to push the lamb back and find the head, bring it forward and pulled. A smaller 7 pounds natural colored ram with a 'krunet' came out. I went in to find more feet and a head and out came a 9 pound white ram lamb. Both were ALIVE but Nubia was in shock. Unable to move her hind end (I can't blame her), she called to the babies as I dried them off with clean towels and put them by her head. She sniffed them briefly and proceeded to go into shock further. A call to the vet and explanation, I gave her some electrolytes with a drencher, some penicillin for infection and some oxytocin to have her expel the placenta. Within minutes she was up but was refusing to let the lambs nurse. Realizing that her udder must be swollen and sore, and her back end was extremely tender, I tried to bottle the lambs with some Kolostrum from Premier. They each ate a few ounces but were calling for mom.


"Ears" who was in the next jug was calling to the babies, so I ended up putting a tarp between the jugs so she would stop calling to them. Nubia had to be haltered and stripped out and eventually tied up so the lambs could get something to eat. I cut sleeves out of my hoodie and put them on the babies as jackets. Up until that point I refused to coat any lambs. If they can't make it, they shouldn't. Brutal farm mentality. Hardy animals win.


I was surprised at my midnight check to find both lambs looking MUCH happier, fuller and dried off under the heat lamp. I released the ewe this morning from her halter and tied position, and she denied the lambs nursing. I then got into the pen, haltered Nubia, but just stood with her, scratching her brisket and she calmly stood for the lambs to get their fill. I did this numerous times and she seemed to give in to the lambs nursing and I took the halter off and stood in the pen with her while she nibble on her hay. I don't expect this to be the end of it, but she is getting better, but still not calling to the lambs.These are also sired by Kirkdale.

More cleaning in the barn in the morning and then took the puppies in for dewclaw removal. When I got home with them and from running errands, it had started to RAIN. Since the shearer is coming on Friday morning, I didn't want sheep to be wet.

So i gathered up the Shetland girls and brought them in. I soon realized that the Shetlands bred to the BFL for mules AND the purebred Shetland ground breedings were due on the 6th of March or after. Whoops! I separated out the Mule ewes and AI Shetland ewes and ewe lambs into one group (they aren't due until April 5th or later) and the early group into another pen closer to the jugs. Once everyone was separated (yes I did this all alone) and fed/watered and mineral tubs refilled, I went to get the yearling rams in from their winter paddock furthest from the barn. What sissies!! They wouldn't walk through the many mini creeks that were in their paddock and I had to take them on a hike around the far pastures to get them into the barn. Buggers.

Then the four mature Shetland rams from their far winter paddock were brought in and reintroduced to the Texel ram and the two BFL rams. The Shetlands, although 1/3 or 1/2 of the size of the three polled boys were molesting and bashing the bigger boys incessantly. I was extremely irritated! Its MARCH boys! No breeding for four months! Get over it! Get over yourselves! After flipping several Shetland rams into submissive stances, I ended up squeezing them all into a corner. Those poor polled boys stared at me like "dad what did WE do!??!!" I truly was sad for them, but I am limited in pens in the barn, especially during lambing and when its raining before shearing.

Thus far, four BFL ewes have lambed here. Three with issues and rejecting lambs initially. I think they need to be bred for better mothering abilities, ease of lambing and parasite resistance. While I can understand if they had lambing problems or lots of pain, but hey let's work on this!

I have had mature Shetland rams and they are always fighting with each other and on buildings, fence posts and feeders.Year round. Bored. Today was a day I could say I hated Shetland rams and BFL ewes.

Mule production keeps sounding better!! I love the docility of BFL rams, their easy going nature, ease of handling, ability to breed smaller ewes with ease and their fleece. I love Shetland ewes for their wonderful fleece, array of colors, smaller size, SPECTACULAR lambing abilities, mothering instincts, milk, and ability to lamb either pure or cross bred lambs.

If only Shetland rams were more like BFLs in their personalities and the BFL ewes could be like Shetland ewes in the mothering department.

Yep. Pretty sure mule production seems more and more my thing.

Then again I've had little sleep (every 2 hour barn checks, leaves for little deep sleep) between lambing and whelping and with the rest of the month supposed to be in the upper 30's and lower 40's for temps, snow removal business is going to SUCK this month. Maybe I'm a bit crabby too....

that can happen with no sleep....

DEEP BREATHS...tomorrow is another day. I can change my mind too.....

BFL Bad Luck already and I haven't even started lambing!

After finishing up with hoof trimming the mature rams today (and rooing the necks on Jazz and Pogo) I walked through the barn and spotted some pink hanging out of one of the BFLs. It wasn't the pink that is part of the placenta that makes your body jump in excitement. It was the kind of a vaginal prolapse that makes your heart race with anxiety and fear.

I've only seen two prolapses in cows when I was REALLY little. One the vet sewed up and we sold her. the other one sewed up and reattached itself and the cow had three more calves after that with no issues.

I didn't even know sheep could have it. But I guess that shows my naivety :)

The vet came out, did a shoe string tie after getting it back in. Since Nubia hasn't lambed yet, he said I MUST be there when she lambs as the string is tied tight enough so she can't push it back in, but she can only urinate through it. If I'm not there when she lambs, the lamb will be unable to come out. Once the lambs are out I'm supposed to retie it tight, into knots, and then 10 days later take the string out completely.

This makes me extremely nervous. They are always lambing between 3-6 am, the hardest time of the day for me to be awake...either staying up, or waking up. Its a known fact. It makes me nervous as Ell is due to whelp this week, and the BFLs start to lame pretty much any time after march 1st, if they would go early. And since most of my BFLs are first time momma's this year, their udders are not all huge and plump, and some i know can bag up hours before lambing, or even afterwards.

Any advice from you more seasoned shepherds? As if I needed one more thing to keep me up at night and worrying about

SO EXCITED!

I was out on this glorious 31 degree day, with snow melting off the roofs, water pooling, and gorgeous blue sky. Its weird that its February. Typically February is the coldest, windiest month of the year for us. NEVER temps above 20 degrees for a HIGH, and our lows are always under 0.

I had just a few moments to stare at the BFL girls in their winter paddock. I don't spend a ton of time out there because its the furthest from the house, but I was PLEASANTLY surprised to see large udders and swollen vulvas on 7 of the 10 ewes! their due dates start March 3rd but I'm sure they'll be sooner. Two of the other ewes were AI'ed and aren't due until April 5th, so haven't started showing yet, and the 10th ewe, is Llandewwi, who doesn't appear to be bred. Again. She may have been caught in the clean up pen, so that wouldn't be until the 3rd week of April, so time will tell!

I don't know what I was thinking but lambing STARTS the same time that Ell is due to whelp her puppies! Egads!!

But its nothing like LAMBS to signal the beginning of spring! Even if we are a balmy 31 and I was doing chores in a t-shirt!

A few flock photos

I had a brief chance today to take new photos of some of the sheep. I moved them into another pasture for a few hours before I brought them in for the night.

Below here you will see Tilly and her BLACK daugther Terah. She has a krunet on her head and super crimpy fleece. Notice how Tilly is now getting side dusting after her first fleece.
Here is a shot for my fellow BFL breeders :) Kacy is really growing up already! To her right is "Ears" aka Sheltering Pines Morovia, and Kacy's mom Beechtree Kershope.

A little big bigger photo of some of the flock before I moved them to their new pasture.

here is part of the flock in their new pasture. Click to biggify!

Below is Winter Sky Layla AI, who is my F1 Orion ewe. She is moving to Michigan in August. Her fleece is the most beautiful mioget color and very single coated. I think she is 67% UK but would have to double check.

WhitePine Lydia is out of Layla (above) and Wintertime Jazz. She is 76% UK.

Here are my F1 Orion Boys out of Rachildas. My early favorite was the one on the left (Rhodes) but Roman is really coming into himself. I can't keep them both, so one will be for sale later, but I'm just not certain which. To reserve the other white boy, do let me know. They are 56.5% UK and carry moorit, modfied and possibly spots (from their mother)Here is my last lamb of the year, a full sister to Sedalia. This girls name is Selah, meaning 'the end'. She isn't as crazy spotted but spotted nontheless. Under that baby hair she has tight crimpy fleece like her sister so I'm cautiously optimistic she will be as soft as Sedalia is.

Below is a photo of my two gray katmoget F1 rams. Wintertime Jazz is F1 Jericho F2 Drum Ram and 87.5% UK. FifthofFifth Barish is an F1 Timothy and is 53% UK. Notice how much darker Barish is (and he has those eye flashes Michelle and Juliann that his daughter has). Jazz's face is spotted so you can see the markings much clearer. Barish carries spots and modifier producing both last year and this year.

All the boys are in a newly constructed movable pasture. I took the idea from Gail Vonbargen and modified it a little. It beats mowing that grass when something could be eating it! They were gorged today...not even cud chewing....just laying there rather full....LOL. Silly boys.
And I couldn't get rid of the Guineas after all. Being such good tick eaters I just had to keep them. That and I think they are very pretty. But man are they LOUD! They never shut up! Thankfully I am away from the barn most of the time now LOL

Above is a normal Pearl guinea. They are all hens. Below is a lavender guinea. So handy around the farm :)

My 'other' babies

I sold two bred ewes to a gal down by Becky Utecht for a petting zoo, along with an unbred ewe. While two are working out, the third, a yuglet sokket moorit yearling ewe will be coming home here as she is not working out for her and will be replaced with something more friendly :)

The owner did tell me that the two did lamb and I am attaching photos she took via her phone. Not the greatest for light but you can get a general idea.

Below is WhitePine Sheridan. She is out of Wintertime Jazz x Justalit'l Shasta. Sheridan was bred to FifthofFifth Barish and they produced this spunky little gray katmoget ram lamb with horn buds (Barish carries the polled gene). His fleece from this photo looks somewhat promising.
This is Minwawe Sea Breeze and her daughter out of Wintertime Jazz! The baby girl is a gray katmoget smirslet sokket (her eye patch on the left side goes down to far to be yuglet, and only two white sock, but a WHITE TAIL!). They are both coming back here to live as Sea Breeze is too standoffish for the petting zoo. Sea Breeze and her daughter will probably be for sale.

Last lamb last night and lamb stats

Minwawe Sterling had her water bag out last night when I did my evening check at 9pm. I sat and waited and shortly thereafter saw the babe come out. She looked dark but I could tell she was a gray katmoget. Last year Sterling's lamb Sedalia also was dark and had like a green slime on her so I waited for Sterling to clean her off before I made assumptions she wasn't spotted.

When she was cleaner I went in and saw that it was indeed another EWE LAMB! That makes the last five lambs of the season all girls! WOHOO!! And this little girl named WhitePine Selah (meaning "the end") is indeed a spotted girl too! Not as flashy as Sedalia, but nonetheless spotted, katmoget and a girl! Good Job Sterling!! (oh and Jazz too!)

My official lamb stats are now these:

Ewes exposed to Jazz: 13 (I sold the 14th one bred)
Ewes lambing Jazz lambs: 12 (one ewe lamb did not cycle)
Total lambs born: 14 (2 sets of twins, 10 singles, mostly yearlings)
Ram lambs: 7, Ewe lambs: 7
Gray katmogets: 8, black: 6 (all show signs of spotting either krunet or greater)

Lambing percent from thris group 107% (not including ewe sold)

Ewes exposed to Barish: 6 ( I sold the 7th one bred)
Ewes lambing Barish lambs: 5 (one ewe lamb did not cycle)
Total lambs born: 6 (1 set of twins, 5 singles from mostly yearlings)
Ram lambs: 2, Ewe lambs: 4
Gray katmogets: 4, black: 2

Lambing percent from this group: 100%

Ewes exposed to Arapaho: 4 ( one ewe lamb did not cycle)
Ewes lambing Arapaho lambs: 3
Total Lambs born: 3 (all singles)
Ram lambs: 2, Ewe lambs: 1
All three lambs solid black

lambing percent 75%

Wintertime Blues (Jazz's twin brothers) x shelteringpines Nirvana gave me twin girls (both are going to be horned like their mother) and i'm very happy with these girls. Thank you Stephen!

The AI group had 100% conception and we had 17 lambs born with 14 rams. I am keeping all three ewes (two F1 Orion modified moorits and one F1 Holly fawn katmoget smirslet). There will be rams for sale this fall after micron testing.

Total lamb cound is 43 lambs born with 40 surviving giving us 134% lambing percent of lambs born. Average lambing weight was 6.57 pounds with the largest being 11 pounds (BFL lamb) and smallest a preemie baby stillborn at 3 pounds.

I have decided that most likely all ram lambs born from Barish, Arapaho and Jazz will be for sale if they are deemed breeding quality. Some of the AI lambs will also be available later so do let me know if there is one you are looking at. The first deposit down on a lamb will guarantee that it is yours :) That is....if its for sale :) (and makes the breeding cut!)

Photos of the gulmoget ewe's lambs

Ok read the title again..

slower.

they are NOT gulmoget ewe lamb, but lambs of the gulmoget ewes :)

I'm tricky like that!

The first photo is of FirthofFifth Taika (Wintertime Black Forrest x FirthofFifth Twiling) and her daughter WhitePine Talitha (who is out of FirthofFifth Barish AI). I love the dark kat markings on her.
She KNOWS she is a cutie :) Just look at her thinking about what to do NEXT!
Here is Black Forest Tilly (full sister to Taika from a different year) and her daughter WhitePine Terah. she has about 20+ white hairs on her head...but don't think that constitutes spotting?
A nicely put together ewe lamb who I am just going to have to keep and see how she grows ;)