Two New Ewes!!

Felicia was due to lamb over the weekend. She was one of the few breedings I saw, and could somewhat plan for. Two beautiful ebony black ewe lambs! Sire is our black yearling Grady.Sizes were perfect--6 and 7 lb. Ewe lambs rarely have large horn buds, so delivery is so much easier on mom. Delivery was swift and easy. The girls were lively and nursing in no time. I love black lambs, and have way too many black adults. Who knew that black came in so many shades? From charcoal, to ebony, inky, raven, steel, pewter, gun metal, ashen, chocolate, cocoa, grey...the list runs on and on. Felicia is another first time mom, and doing a wonderful job!

Another BIG single!

The baby monitor woke me this morning with the sounds of a ewe in hard labor. I threw on my clothes and ran out to the barn to see who it was. Fern! A two winter ewe, first time mother. From the size of the emerging hooves, I could tell it was going to another big one. I ran back inside to wake my daughter and made a pot of coffee. Back out we went. Fern wasn't making progress, so we helped ease the lamb out, another 9.5 lb. ram with big horn buds. He's white with a black spot on his heel. So, Fern carries spotting. Sire is Finn.
I got them situated in the lambing jug, only to discover someone else had taken up residence. A brown Muscovy duck! She'll have to find another spot to lay her eggs.

Happy Easter!

Holy Week

Holy Week is a busy time for us. Not only are we lambing,
our family is also active in community events and church.
My son Spenser had the honor of playing Jesus
in the Passion Play this year, and Randy was a guard. It was a big time commitment, but well worth it. Just awesome!

Faye's ram

The birth of Faye's ram brought a much needed ray of sunshine to our otherwise dismal week. It wasn't an easy birth. Faye is a two winter ewe, but this was her first lamb. He was a big boy at 9.5 lb., and it was a struggle getting him out, but at least he was facing the right direction! Singles are nice, because they grow out so well, but they can be impossibly large at birth. A pair of 7 lb. lambs is so much easier on the the mother than a 10 lb. ram with large horn buds. This guy is a big chunk, much like his father Finn. He looks to be white with some spotting on his legs. We haven't decided on a name for him yet. Faye is a wonderful, attentive first time momma. Such a sweet sight.

A Rough Week...

If I had a week like this as a beginning shepherd, I think I would have given up on sheep. What a week. Losing our first lamb was bad enough. Today, we lost one of my very favorite ewes (Deidra) to ketosis, or maybe hypocalcemia. In the 8 years of lambing, this is my first experience with it, and poor Deidra was the one to suffer from my lack of knowledge. I still have a lot to learn. Sue Reith has written some article on this, and I plan on studying them further.

She went out to graze with the flock yesterday, but lagged behind, and was first to come back to the barn. I noticed some spotting, and worried that maybe she was having a miscarriage. By evening, she was quite lethargic, and by that time I was figuring it out. I was up with her half the night, dosing her with Keto-Nia drench and dexamethazone. She was off feed and water. I spoke with my vet several times, and read everything I could on the subject. I followed the treatment in the Laura Lawson book "Managing your Ewe" (bible to most sheep owners) . My vet is ready and willing to help, but she is not an expert on ruminants, so I feel that I'm own my own most of the time. The ISBONA yahoo site is a great help and support, and I rely on it often. So, I was at the vet's this morning picking up more meds, and poor Deidra died while I was gone. It's shocking, how quickly it can happen. I loved that girl. She will really be missed.

On a happier note, Faye had a nice big ram lamb this evening. He's mostly white with spotting on his legs. More on that later.

Poor Faith

Her little ram lamb didn't make it. A sad start to the lambing season, but things can only improve from here, right? His breathing was never quite right, very labored. My mom, a retired nurse is visiting, and we tried every trick in the book, but it just wasn't meant to be.
Faith was very sad. This was her first lamb. We have started to milk her now, and she has been the calmest ewe I've ever milked. Her teats are tiny, so it's not easy. She is so relaxed, tolerant and sweet, though.
This may sound gruesome, but I had my husband skin the dead lamb. We put the pelt in the frig. We should have ewes lambing in the next day or two. If one has twins or trips, we will try to graft one onto Faith. She is an eager and accepting mother, and it won't hurt to try!