Thursday, April 21, 2011

The Lamb Playground

The lambs' pen was finally expanded today to include the much-loved rock playground. All nine lambs experiment with jumping, climbing, and hopping. Favorite games for the afternoon included Follow the Leader and King of the Mountain.

Below are the seven moorit (brown shaded) lambs. This picture really captures the variety of browns in Shetlands.

Even Kira's little ram wants to be King. Here he's pushing Clover's much larger ram off the rock.

Poa's little ewes are doing quite well. They have perfect little Shetland tails and are quite feminine. Poa is a much more attentive mom this year than she was last year to twin rams. These girls are always within her sight.

Lesson Learned

Two years ago I drove to Massachusetts to pick up our first ram and a ewe. Xavier was the friendliest little ram, and he was super soft - perfect, or so it seemed. During that first summer he would lay down in the grass next to me or just wander over for a scratch. He was gentle and easy to handle.

After giving us our first lambs last year, we decided we'd keep him for a second round of breeding. We did only get one ewe lamb out of three bred ewes, and Maggie has grown into a beautifully correct adult with the human-loving personality of her father. (Her mother is is essential wild!) So year two lambs have arrived, and we did get an additional four ewes!

Over the past several months Xavier grew into an adult. As his hormones kicked in, so did his need to ram things. Since January he's torn down all three sides of the paddock shelter, put a whole in the woven wire fencing, and smashed over five 6-inch ceder posts. He also tried to tare down the barn stalls when we confined him for shearing. What a nightmare! In February we got desperate and tried outfitting him in a ram shield to prevent him from seeing straight ahead. By April he had discovered how to scratch the strap down over his muzzle and expose one eye, thus negating the effects of the shield. And with this discovery the fence posts began to wobble and tilt.

Today it all came to an end. Xavier was humanely executed in his own paddock while nibbling grain.

After talking to his breeder and reading about sheep over the last few years, it seems as if this is part of the sheep breeding business. It is quite common for rams to become aggressive around two years old and be culled. So, while I am not looking forward to culling adult rams in the future, I am very relieved to have peace on the farm.

What's the lesson? Be prepared to eat even the friendliest rams, for they too will grow horns and learn how to use them.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Newest Additions

Today was the perfect day to let the newest lambs out to meet everyone. After combining Poa and Kira and watching them successfully identify and protect their own twins, I felt they were ready to join the larger group of ewes and lambs.

At first Kira had a hard time keeping her eye on her lambs. While the older ram lambs took turns harassing her ram and ewe, Kira cried out to them through mouthfuls of hay. She was much more protective of her lambs than Poa. (Kira approaches here ewe above, while her ram lamb gets harassed by Crystal's lamb.)

Kira's Ram

Kira's Ewe
Kira's ewe is one of the friendliest lambs we've had. She already comes to me for scratches.

Poa's Ewe #1

Poa's Ewe #2
Poa's twins were very exciting - two ewes at once! The lighter one is very feisty and curious. She has exceptionally crimpy fleece, a cute tail, and she's been brave enough to come sniff me. The darker ewe is quiet, timid, and has more of an open fleece. It's amazing what personalities even one-day-old sheep can have!
For comparison, here's a picture of Mocha's ewe. She's growing plump and stronger each day. She was having some limping issues, but she seems to have outgrown them for now. She was bucking and kicking this afternoon, and she loves to follow the ram lambs around!
Final count: 9 lambs out of 5 ewes.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Last Lambing

After a long two weeks both Kira and Poa have finally lambed! Kira had twins last night around 9, and Poa had twins waiting for us when we got home tonight. Unfortunately I left my camera at work tonight, so the pictures will have to wait until tomorrow.

The final tally comes to 5 rams and 4 ewes:
Clover - single ram
Mocha - ram and ewe twins
Crystal - twin rams
Kira - ram and ewe twins
Poa - twin ewes

I'll have to read up on Shetland colors and genetics, because I currently have six lambs of various brown shades with white speckled heads.

Pictures and a color analysis tomorrow!

Friday, April 1, 2011

A bit of bare ground...

Yesterday there was a bit of bare ground showing in the ewes' paddock. Today the ground is covered with four inches of wet snowman snow. The lambs have all been introduced to one another and got a chance to test their fighting skills before the weather drove them indoors.

Mocha's Twins: Ram and Ewe
Ram Lamb Party

Let the Fights Begin

Is this a lamb or a puppy?

Future flock sire?

Mother and Daughter Bonding

Snow?

Two ewes to go. Kira is looking very large around the middle, but she hasn't quite bagged up yet.

Pregnant Poa seems to enjoy the snow.

The boys have been very curious about the new arrivals. Daddy Xavier dons his ram shield. In the back you can see the lovely work he's done on his shed.