At least I hope so... I had two yearlings lamb today without a hitch. Grettle had a sweet little 6 lb. black ewe this morning. Her wool has grown so much over the winter, I was afraid the lamb couldn't find her udder, but, no problem. Georgia had a seven lb. black ewe lamb this afternoon. That little girl was so vigorous, she was up and running in seconds, wandering around the barn, chewing on hay. After about 20 minutes, she decided it was time for some milk. Neither of these girls were supposed to get bred, but Grady had other ideas, and broke into their pen when they were cycling. Well, I guess all's well that ends well! It's so nice to see how well these young mothers do with their lambs.
We've begun shearing a couple of sheep per day. The Icelandics shed naturally in the spring, so if you wait for the spring break in the wool, shearing is easy. We put them on a stand, and it comes off in just a few short minutes. This is Finn, our two year old ram. He's maturing very nicely. I love his wide horns. He has the silkiest fleece of all of our rams, and the calmest demeanor. He has given us a lot of cute black spotted lambs, and of course plenty of white lambs too.
Drea's twin ewes, by Grady
Esther's twin ewes, by Finn. These girls are so chunky! I'll do this breeding again next year.
Claire's adorable moorit ram
Evra and her pair of black badgers, a ram and a ewe.
Pippi's black grey spotted ewe
Now I have to get everyone named, and my sales list ready, which will probably come out in May. Maybe now I can get some sleep!
5 comments:
Anonymous
said...
I love Esther's lambs - the fleeces are so pretty. Finn is a very handsome boy. Congratulations and good luck on getting some sleep :)
Congratulations on all your lambs! I will be making out my wish list as soon as you post a sales list.:) I already have some ideas! Finn is an outstanding looking ram. I also love those horns!! Get some rest, you deserve it! Marie
Home to a beautiful flock of registered Icelandic Sheep in Northern Illinois. 2011 was is our ninth season of lambing. We’ve worked hard to build a flock that encompasses all the aspects we love about the Icelandic breed--hardiness, exceptional meat conformation, superb maternal instincts, prolificacy and outstanding fleeces. Please look around and feel free to contact me with any questions you might have. We offer quality breeding stock, both mill spun and hand spun yarns, roving, and raw fleeces. Welcome to Red Brick Road Farm!Questions?rbrfarm@centurylink.net
Wondering about the names of our sheep? "Most" of our sheep are named according to the year they were born, especially those born here on our farm. Our first lambs had "A" names, so this being our 6th year, our lambs all have "F" names. It makes it easy for us when looking at our flock to know the age of the sheep. The sheep that we bring in to our flock sometimes have their own names, or I'll rename them according to our flock year. On this blog, I'm trying to post the oldest ewes first, then I'll move on to rams, then lambs.
5 comments:
I love Esther's lambs - the fleeces are so pretty. Finn is a very handsome boy. Congratulations and good luck on getting some sleep :)
Congratulations on all your lambs! I will be making out my wish list as soon as you post a sales list.:) I already have some ideas! Finn is an outstanding looking ram. I also love those horns!! Get some rest, you deserve it!
Marie
You have some great looking lambs!! I love Pippi's ewe, her face is too cute!
I like the little white sock, Icelandic sheep are so beautiful - you are very lucky to be blessed with their company.
Finn is gorgeous. His horns are lovely!
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