Waiting 'til April?

The girls are getting big, but udders are still a few days away from lambs. A few of the girls have started bagging up in the last day, and things have progressed more than these photos suggest - they are all from last Friday. There are more grunts and exhausted expressions, slow stand ups and spacey stares. Everyone has an appetite and even the most timid is coming around to nibble grain from my hand. The lambing jugs are prepped, and now it's just time to wait...until April?

The First Four?
Madeleine (x Allante) is clearly going to triplet again. She is enormous, much larger than the rest, and she is our biggest ewe. Based on last year's photos, she's probably a week to 10 days from lambing. It's hard to imagine her waiting that much longer, but her udder is no where near what it should be for lambs this week. Maybe she'll surprise me, but I'm not placing any bets that she'll be first.






Ella (x Allante) is due Wednesday. My guess is she'll wait until closer to the weekend. Today she was looking a little out of sorts and lethargic, but as soon as the grain came out she was practically in my lap. I'm not sure she'll be first, but she may be waiting for April.



Of all the ewes, Cali (x Deane) looks like she's filled to capacity. Her sides just look so stretched and uncomfortable. Her bulges are quite lumpy and she has to have at least two in there. Her udder has come in over the weekend, but it could very well be a few more days. She's always at the hay manger and doesn't seem the least bit bothered by her sides. I rarely see her laying down.




This photo is a bit deceiving of Myra (x Deane). In person she looks very much like she'll twin, although this picture is making me second guess that prediction. She is much larger around the barrel and her udder has also swelled over the weekend. She seems irritated: ears back and glares with each grunt. She's often laying down and seems to be ready to get this stage over with.

The Later Ladies
Mary (x Deane) and Lucy (x Allante) will still be awhile. They are both clearly bred and could each wait another month before lambing. Lucy is still acting like a lamb: bouncing around the paddock and fleeing from the stall when I walk in. Mary is starting to come around and even ate grain from my hand this afternoon. I'm hoping she calms down this year and will be more manageable. She's probably the nicest ewe of the flock and I'm hoping to keep her in our breeding group for several more seasons.

Jeanne and Shelly are still mysteries. I go back and forth on these two every time I step into the paddock. Jeanne does not look bred at all in this photo, yet today I swear I saw very pronounced movement from her side. She is just too shy to get close enough to. She is slowly getting curious and did sniff my hand today, which is a huge step for this girl.

Hopefully the next post will include lambs...

Keeping distracted...

The ten day stretch prior to lambing always passes so slowly. Since Ella's breeding was marked on the calendar, I am completely aware that lambs will be here sooner than mid-April. In prior years it's been anyone's guess as to when the little ones would arrive, but occasionally we are fortunate to have a narrower range for anticipating their arrivals.

In the next ten days I plan on keeping busy. There are still some fleeces left to skirt, a tractor to get out of the mud, a trip to the spinners, and a quick get-away for Easter. Lambs should be here before I know it!

This week's analysis:

Jeanne is still looking slender and has no sign of an udder. I'm still not counting her out, but it will definitely be late April before lambs, if she took.

Lucy is really hard to photograph from the back. She's a bit flighty, which I hope will change has she gets closer to lambing. She has clearly developed an udder this week, but I suspect she'll be another month and will twin.

Shelly is still very small - in every way. Her sides seem to be getting wider, but I think I'll have to wait a few weeks to tell for sure. I can't imagine she'd have any more than one, but time will tell.












Mary (center moorit) also looks like she's got a ways to go. Very small udder and barely rounded sides, but I have no doubts she's bred. Either she'll single in a couple of weeks or twin at the end of the cycle.




That's Myra to Mary's left. She's got a nice udder started, but last year her udder was there weeks before twinning. I'm not sure on timing, but I'm still thinking she'll twin.




Ella, Cali and Madeleine. These three girls are BIG. And with only very small udders. Ella is due in ten days, and I'd be surprised if the other two didn't lamb within a week of her due date. Madeleine has reliably had triplets the last three years, so that's what I'm counting on. The other two twinned last year, but also come from mothers who triplet. Either they'll have big twins or bring on the triplets!

Ella

Cali

Madeleine

Cali and Ella show off their barrels.

Myra, Madeleine and Cali.

Spring is here without any lambs...

It seems strange to have bare ground without any lambs. Fifty-degree days and iris shoots usually mean bouncing lambs hopping around the paddock rocks. We still have two weeks until lambing and at this rate we may have green grass by the time they arrive.

Myra, Shelly and Cali

The ewes are getting friendlier by the day. Even Mary and Lucy have starting walking toward me in the paddock. Shelly is now one of the first to greet me and is really enjoying chin scratches. Myra was such a shadow today that I couldn't even get a picture from the back to monitor her udder. These girls are practically climbing in my lap!

I'm certain Madeleine, Ella, Myra, Cali, and Mary are bred. All have udders and are getting round barrels. Madeleine's on track for triplets, the rest twins, with the possible exception of Mary, who may single as she did last year.

Cali and Madeleine

Madeleine

Ella

Cali and Myra

Cali and Myra

Mary

Shelly and Lucy are almost certainly bred, each with tiny udders and slightly rounding sides. My guess is Shelly will single and Lucy may twin, but it will most likely be a month or so before lambs from these two.

Shelly

Shelly

Lucy

I'm growing more and more convinced that Jeanne, much like her mother her first year exposed to a ram, was not settled. She's often spotted gazing longingly for the big pasture with the non-bred ewes, bucking and rearing high into the air, and engaging in boarder-line aggressive play with the unenthusiastic bred ewes. She seems board and unusually energetic for a ewe that should be settled.

 

 

Jeanne

 

 

 

At this point I'm betting on a dozen lambs to be born over the course of a month. After looking at the genetics, odds are good we'll have a majority black-based, with a high number of greys. Given the rams we used, several of the lambs should have spots or white patches. This is the least predictable lambing season so far, and I found myself writing "anything's possible" for a number of the breeding pairs. With any luck we'll have a flashy flock of bouncing lambs in a month!

On a separate note: Allante's fleece is fantastic! I hope his lambs get his fleece!