Lambs Arrive

We’ve been preparing for lambs over the last few days. Ever-rounder ewes have warned us that it’s time to plan. These are some of our most ostentatiously pregnant ewes: We started by placing our order from Premier 1 Supplies. We bought fresh new bottles and nipples for the inevitable bottle lambs, smore syringes and needles,Continue reading “Lambs Arrive”

Sheep Behaving Badly

I have some entertaining pictures of recent sheep activity. After 45 days in the barn, the ewes express their restlessness with weird stunts. Activity #1 – Fighting BFL 129 Amelia and Border Leicester 1736 go head to head, with our resident ram lamb goading them on. Sheep flocks have a hierarchy, and apparently these girlsContinue reading “Sheep Behaving Badly”

Bottle Lamb Shenanigans

This is a Covid-19-free post, so read and enjoy! We have a whole passel of bottle lambs in 2020. We have the two remaining ewe lambs from the quadruplet situation. We have a BFL ram lamb who never caught on to nursing his mother. We have a Border ram lamb who was rejected due toContinue reading “Bottle Lamb Shenanigans”

Pregnancy Checks and some Updates

With temperatures in the low single digits today, we are surely in the thick of winter.  Last week, we finally received the replacement barn-ends that we ordered after the back of the barn tore in half during the Halloween storm.  Unfortunately, Matt and I concluded that we won’t actually complete the repairs until spring.  NeitherContinue reading “Pregnancy Checks and some Updates”

Summer Arrives

Summer arrives to find the bobolinks have fledged from our neighbor’s hayfield.   Three streaky brown birds making little plink calls were flitting and bouncing around the pasture I set up for the sheep.  I’m grateful for the opportunity to provide habitat to this struggling species. We are so close to weaning time.  I know the ewesContinue reading “Summer Arrives”

Waiting for Spring

It’s almost May. The grass has been taking its time in growing, but the lambs haven’t.  It pains me to see my tired ewes nursing their enormous lambs. We began vaccinating our flock for Clostridium C+D plus Tetanus last week.  Matt and I hauled in the scale he built us and weighed each lamb.   OurContinue reading “Waiting for Spring”

Triumph and Tribulation

We have 73 lambs on the ground and only one ewe left yet to lamb.  Lambing was a constant process of checking, evaluating, assisting, monitoring, feeding and collapsing.  For me, tiredness can be measured in my motivation to do regular daily activities.  Cleaning falls off first, then relaxation, then cooking.  When I didn’t feel likeContinue reading “Triumph and Tribulation”

Lambing Mixup

So my prayers for “not lambing” during our deepest cold last night were not answered. At maybe 2:30am, Matt woke me to say that he needed help in the barn.  It was -15F out and one of our oldest BFL ewes, Kay, was lambing simultaneously with Wild Thing, a Border Leicester. Kay is 9, whichContinue reading “Lambing Mixup”

Lambing Under Duress

Our exposed, West-facing hillside got 63mph winds with 52mph sustained gusts.  Combined with raw, cold snow, the weather is absolutely brutal right now.  We can feel every crack, fissure and draft in our house.  It is cold indoors and worse outdoors.  Much worse. So I was worried about what I’d find in the barn.  Mostly,Continue reading “Lambing Under Duress”