We started our lambing season about a week earlier than expected, and we haven’t had a break yet. Eleven little Border Leicesters now grace our barn. We have had three sets of twins and two sets of triplets. Sadly, one triplet wasn’t born alive. This happens sometimes, despite our best efforts. Enjoy some photos ofContinue reading “Compendium of Lambs”
Category Archives: Lambs
Checking the Flock
A little over a year ago, assessing the wellbeing of ten sheep was as easy as walking into the paddock with a handful of grain and waiting for everyone to come and say “hi.’ I could touch, FAMACHA and evaluate all of my sheep in a few minutes. Simple! With 60 sheep now present inContinue reading “Checking the Flock”
Pasture and Fear
The grass ripened for grazing this week, and the sheep went on grass on Friday. I have been watching them every moment since then. I have been so anxious about putting the ewes and lambs out on pasture, which makes little since as we are a pasture-based farm focused on rotational grazing! I worried thatContinue reading “Pasture and Fear”
A Sick Lamb, Part Deux
An update on Steven gets…scatological.
A Sick Sheep
I did chores as usual this morning- I fed hay to the rams, bottle fed the two lambs, checked and changed everyone’s water… But then I noticed that everything was too quiet. Our older bottle lamb,Steven was not baaing for the “cookie” he gets each morning . Usually, he would be insisting on my attention. Continue reading “A Sick Sheep”
Getting Through Lambing
Twenty of our thirty-three ewes have lambed so far at Cloverworks Farm. Thirty eight lambs have been born, with thirty six surviving. One loss was a little BFL ewe lamb who failed to nurse overnight with her mother. Another was 1627’s lamb, whom we had indoors and who just faded away, likely from pneumonia. ThoughContinue reading “Getting Through Lambing”
Mismothering
First, I will start with the good news: A year ago, we had a fiasco where several sheep tested as positive or as exposed to CL: Caseous Lymphadenitis. We were never able to determine the source of the disease, but several good sheep went for meat in our effort to eradicate CL in our flock.Continue reading “Mismothering”
Six Inches of Button Thread Saves a Life
Midnight: Matt tells me that Chloe is starting labor – she has a bag protruding and is restlessly shifting. I set an alarm to wake up in 90 minutes. 1:44 – I can see on the Barn Cam that Chloe has birthed one black lamb. Out to the barn I go to find a large,Continue reading “Six Inches of Button Thread Saves a Life”
Fiber and More Lambs
I thought you all might appreciate some bonus photos of the lambs in the barn. Every time I got to do some chores, they are up to something silly: But sheep-raising as a living is more than just cute critters. I’ve been working through pounds and pounds of wool from shearing. We sent 40Continue reading “Fiber and More Lambs”
The Last Four Days
Friday: I was cleaning up the house and buying groceries in anticipation of shearing on Sunday and my mom coming up to celebrate her birthday among the sheep. Saturday: At 8am, Mom calls to say that Grandma is dying. I try to keep personal stuff off this blog so I haven’t talked extensively about this,Continue reading “The Last Four Days”