Cute Lambs

Posted on March 30, 2014 by Robin

Lambing is over and I have 76 lambs. Here are some cuties.

Moms and Babies on a Spring Morning

Posted on March 22, 2014 by Robin

Sweetie Alison Mud Ranch’s Ginseng Kreutzer Farms Kyra Lulu with triplets Mary EarsSonata

Some of these ewes are for sale. You can see details on the website.

Photographic Challenges

Posted on March 17, 2014 by Robin

This is the year that I am determined to get those perfect jumping lamb photos. I have posted some others here and in other posts. I welcome any advice from you photographers out there. My lens info is at the end of this post. Too darn many lambs in the way.The lambs are most active in the evening when there is lower light. I am shooting with a larger aperture and therefore more shallow depth of field. Notice the lamb in focus is not the one that is jumping. In addition, those black lambs are hard to photograph in detail.

More lambs in the way. Lambs in the way AND depth of field issues. Same problems. And more lambs in the way. Focal length issues again. Lambs facing the wrong way. Focal length and shutter speed issues. I think I got this one on depth of field. Too bad the lamb is facing the wrong way. Sort of OK but needs a faster shutter speed to really get it. Also the black one lying down is distracting. This photo probably has the fewest issues.The running lamb photos have similar challenges. These photos were all taken with my Nikon 40 mm f 2/8 lens to take advantage of the larger aperture but that gives me the more shallow depth of field. My other lens is the 18-135 mm f/3.5-5.6. Any recommendations?

More Leaping Lambs

Posted on March 14, 2014 by Robin

This is why I get distracted at chore time.

Fifty Lambs So Far

Posted on March 11, 2014 by Robin

I talked to a friend of mine today and she asked what has happened since I wrote about Marilyn’s fleece in the post about a week ago. Hmmm. I guess it’s been about 40 more lambs here for a total of 50. I think there are about a dozen still to lamb. Here are some photos and you can go to YouTube for videos of lambing and lambs playing. Meridian Loretta x Meridian Hendrix Meridian Jane x Meridian Miller Twin to the last one.Meridian Jazz with triplets sired by Meridian Miller.I’m not sure what happened here. This is less than half a lamb at 3.8 pounds. This lamb was up and nursing when I found it and hasn’t needed any help. It’s the smallest lamb I’ve ever had here. These are 5 of the 6 yearlings that I kept from last year’s lamb crop. They sure look different than a year ago.

Marilyn’s Fleece

Posted on March 4, 2014 by Robin

Marilyn is one of seven lambs that I kept from the 2013 lambing season.Here she is with her mom, Hot Lips. 1st place ewe lamb 3007 Marilyn was my choice to take to Black Sheep Gathering last year where she won her class. (Hot Lips was Champion Jacob Ewe at BSG when I took her there!)Here she is at 9 months old last fall. When Farm Club members chose their fleeces “on the hoof” I put my name on Marilyn’s.Shearing Day. Marilyn’s fleece looks brown, but those are sunbleached tips. This is what her fleece looks like from the cut side. Isn’t it gorgeous? Detail of the staples. Last week I carded Marilyn’s fleece on my Clemes & Clemes electric drum carder.

Here are the batts ready to spin. Hopefully there will be a post before too long in which I’ll have photos of finished yarn and a project. To be continued…

Loretta’s lambs

Posted on March 3, 2014 by Robin

This lamb is missing his Jacob facial markings, but I still like these photos. He was on his feet and walking in less than 10 minutes. The twin has all the right spots. You can watch their birth in this video.

Mary Had a Little Lamb…and then Another

Posted on February 25, 2014 by Robin

I have been anxiously awaiting lambs. Athena started us off early by lambing last week, but there has been nothing since. Mary was calling for lambs all morning and she finally got her wish. Others came to investigate. I moved Mary and her ewe lamb inside where she had her second lamb, a big ram. It will be a busy few weeks.

First Lamb

Posted on February 20, 2014 by Robin

Athena lambed ahead of schedule. Unfortunately the biggest twin (12.2 lbs) was dead when I went out this morning. Although it looks as though it was born alive (or at least was full term) there was something wrong with it. It’s belly was full of fluid so I think there was probably a congenital problem with it and it never could have survived.