Watching and Waiting

After the shearer came I promised myself I would only take pictures once a week until the ewes showed signs that they were very close to lambing. I just can't seem to make it to the seventh day, so here come the three week post-shearing pictures. I realize these don't look that different from last week's, and it may seem like I'm trying to make a flip book of enlarging sheep bellies and udders, but I really am just trying to document for future reference.

Feeding sheep bellies. Here are Crystal, Clover, and Mocha.


And here is Kira.

Poa always likes to hoard one flake to herself. She's not been a social eater like the rest.

Now for your favorite udder shots...

Crystal seems to be progressing, although nothing too large yet. Maybe I'll have lambs by this weekend?

Mocha's been slow and steady. She always seems to be hungry. I can't wait until that meal when she refuses to eat, then I'll know lambs are soon. I did get the stare-at-my-belly-and-space-out look from her today. This could be a sign that things are progressing.

And for comparison, here is Clover today...

and two weeks before she had twins last year. Maybe she's 2 1/2 weeks away? This would be March 26, exactly 5 months from when she was bred.

And now for some non-bellied sheep. Here are the non-breeders, as we here on the farm call them, enjoying dinner this evening. From left to right: Little Maggie, Lwaxanna, Wynona, and Mac.

Gus asks, "Are there any pictures of the chickens?"

"Sorry Gus, no chickens this time."

As for chickens, we did just order two batches of 60 meat birds and 10 New Hampshire Red layers. The first batch of meat birds and layers will arrive the first week of June, and the second batch is scheduled for mid-July. Gus will certainly have his fill of chickens this summer!