Mary Had a Little Lamb…and then Another

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.DSC_8949 DSC_8951Others came to investigate.DSC_8950 DSC_8953 I moved Mary and her ewe lamb inside where she had her second lamb, a big ram. DSC_8957It will be a busy few weeks.

First Lamb

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.DSC_8682

This lamb is 8 pounds.DSC_8685DSC_8692It’s obvious who the dad is:Faulkner

Farm Day – help with sheep chores

Our first Farm Day of the year was on Saturday and five Farm Club members helped me get ready for lambing. I forgot to take photos at the beginning but started with vaccinating all the ewes. In the meantime we kept an eye on the two ewes who were supposed to be bred that day so that they will lamb at the fair in July.DSC_8532There was no question about Miller and Donna, but ZZ left me wondering. He seemed more interested in his buddies in the adjacent pen than he was in Clover although she was doing her best to entice him. I decided that I’d better try another ram so Faulkner was the one. He knew just what to do.DSC_8508 While the rams were otherwise occupied and I had plenty of help it was time to clean the ram pen.DSC_8516Rusty usually keeps the rams away while I clean so he took his usual position although the rams weren’t there.  DSC_8523 The ewes watched through the gate while we moved wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow load. Those red marks are just from the marking crayon we used as we vaccinated.DSC_8524 After cleaning the ram pen it was donkey play time! Lisa discovered the bliss of brushing a donkey.IMG_9375Amaryllis had to hold still for me to measure her. She is about as svelte as she ever gets and I wanted to have a baseline measurement for her (670 pounds according to the tape, which is really meant for horses). By the way, I looked up svelte because I wasn’t sure how to spell it. Svelte, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary: thin in an attractive or graceful way; and a. slender, lithe. b : having clean lines : sleek. Hmmm. So maybe svelte isn’t quite the right word to describe a donkey.

 

Lambs Grow Up

Lambs will be here at the end of February and I have been thinking about how fast they grow. Here are some of the 2013 favorite lambs as they grew up.

 008 This is Marilyn with her mom, Hot Lips. 009 2 1/2 weeks old.1st place ewe lamb 3007 First in her class at Black Sheep Gathering, 4 months old. 011 Marilyn at 8 months old. Isn’t she pretty?  012 Santana at 10 days old.  013 About a month old. 014 Not quite two months old.  016 5 1/2 months old with a great horn spread. 017 Santana with his ewes 7 1/2 months old.  020That’s Alex on the right at about 10 days old. Not much color on that side. Fortunately he has more on the other. 019 About 4 months old. 021 About 8 months old. 018Alex after shearing, 9 months. 024This is Cascade at 10 days old. 025Two months old. 022 Here she is at 7 1/2 months. 023 

 

Shearing Day

Sunday was Shearing Day and we sheared 71 sheep (61 ewes and 10 rams and wethers). I said “we”. Not really “we”, but John, my fabulous shearer. The sheep looked great, the fleece looked great and he finished shearing in two and a half hours! Shearing was finished by 11:30.DSC_6831Here are sheep ready to be shorn.DSC_6800Clover.DSC_6805Mary.

Shearing Miller

John started with the rams…DSC_6818…and moved on to ewes.

Farm Club members were the other wonderful helpers who made it all work.DSC_6764 Alison spent the morning at the skirting table explaining skirting and helping buyers skirt their fleeces.DSC_6767 DSC_6812DSC_6958Shelby and Gynna were our sheep wranglers, making sure that there was always another sheep for John to shear.DSC_6773 DSC_6776 Mary and Carol bagged fleeces while Anna swept and Jackie worked the exit gate.DSC_6783 Linda weighed and recorded fleeces.   Other members helped too but I didn’t get photos.DSC_6884What would shearing day be without chili…DSC_6885…and Dona’s brownies (and Lisa’s Jacob sheep cookies, Jackie’s corn biscuits, Mary’s wonderful tangy chicken and fancy rice krispie treats and more).DSC_6902After shearing the sheep look so much thinner. This photo looks as though it was stretched vertically, but it wasn’t.DSC_6826    Lila.DSC_6891 Cascade.DSC_6894 Gynna with fleece

Gynna looks happy with her Farm Club fleece.fleece And look at this gorgeous one!

After shearing we (Farm Club again and other friends) did demos of all kinds of spinning and fiber prep, but that’s another story, especially because it’s too late to write more.

Order Out of Chaos

I made all these buttons this week.DSC_6639 Here are better photos.DSC_6640  DSC_6662 DSC_6664 DSC_6667 DSC_6670 DSC_6673I think I have a new audience for my buttons….DSC_6652…How about using them for sorting practice for little kids? You can sort by shape, color, and size. You can arrange them in order of size. So they’re not just for sweaters anymore! But at $6/button this would be a pricey sorting kit.

Early Morning Sheep Portraits

I usually have my i-phone (camera) with me but was glad I took the real camera to the barn this morning.Celeste 873That is Celeste in the doorway.Alison 11057 AlisonSummer 0899SummerRoxi 964RoxiVentura 11007Ventura and SonataLaura 706Laura is the third oldest ewe here. She is not really that old at almost 7 years.Phyllis 514Phyllis is an 8 year old lilac ewe.EarsThis is Ears, the second BFL-cross that I have kept.FaulknerHere is Faulkner, the BFL ram. He gets to be “clean-up” ram and is out with all the breeding flock now.DSC_6112    I used red the first two weeks of breeding (starting October 1) and green the second two weeks. Almost all the sheep are marked with red and maybe a 6 or 8 with green. Faulkner has been with them for about 5 days and there are 3 yellow marks so far. Marilyn 13007 left   Marilyn is my favorite of the lambs I’m keeping this year.AmaryllisAmaryllis