Warm Weather and Wooly Friends

The weekend allowed us a brief break from the warm humid weather that brought many thunderstorms and lots of rain in the past few weeks. Unfortunately that hot humid weather is back and preventing many of the necessary projects from getting done. Three weeks ago a high-winds thunderstorm took down several large trees on the farm, including a great big cherry that landed right on the fence. A large tamarack was uprooted in the far corner of the field, but luckily it stayed within the field, sparing the fence. Yesterday we finally got the remaining debris off of the paddock fences in the main field and the sheep are back out grazing.

The girls don't seem to like this humid weather or the flies. Each seems to have a strategy for staying cool.

Some ewes seem to keep cool and protected by laying down as flat as possible in the tall grass. Madeleine demonstrates to the right.

Some ewes prefer to lay in the shade of a pine against a cool rock. Mocha demonstrates to the left.

And some ewes prefer to hide in the shade of the large burdock weeds. Maggie and her ewe lamb demonstrate below.

This weekend we also were able to sell seven ewes.

Crystal's ewe lamb was sold as a pet sheep and companion for another Shetland ewe. The girls will primarily be used as lawnmowers. 

Two yearlings and four ewe lambs were also sold, bringing our total ewe lambs down to four and our flock down to 35. After the ram lambs go we'll have 28 for the winter, which is probably right where we should be.

With the ewes gone the sheep sorting is almost done for the season. Aside from the three ram lambs that jumped the corral a few weeks ago to stay with their mothers, everyone is where they should be until breeding.

After all of the sorting and selling, Kira's three lambs remain on the farm. One of her ram lambs was weaned three weeks ago and made it to the back field, but the other decided it wasn't time to leave her side yet. Fortunately this has worked well, allowing both ram lambs and her ewe to catch up in size to the other lambs.

Kira is always the last to wean her lambs, often nursing well into the fall until she is separated for breeding. It always seems funny to watch her lambs, almost half her size, get on bended knees for a quick drink.

She is a great mother and the first ewe to raise triplets on our farm. Her girls are always friendly and her boys curious but non-aggressive. Her rams have consistently decent horns, and this year's rams have the best we've seen. If all of our sheep had her personality and mothering abilities we would have one easy flock to manage!

I'm not sure if it's the fact that she always throws Ag lambs or if her lambs are just exceptionally photogenic, but I find something irresistible about her girls.

From left to right: Ella (2012), Madeleine (2011), and...Oops! I guess the next step is naming the four little ewes that remain...(2013).

Speaking of naming, this little black ewe lamb out of Maggie is staying right here as our solid black ewe. She has a perfect Shetland tail, a little wooly poll, super crimpy fleece like her dad (Cedar), and has a curious personality.

 

In other news, I've finished my first sweater. Of course it is only size 6 months, but it's still exciting to have a finished product from our farm! The wool is from Otto (brown) and Mac (gray), two of our whethers.

The next post will have to be of the new chickens. The little layers are two months old now and getting used to being at the bottom of the pecking order. They've just gotten outside this week and are really enjoying the fresh grass freedom to roam with the ram lambs.

Lambs for Sale

Lambing concluded one week from its start. From the eight ewes we had 16 viable lambs: 7 rams and 9 ewes. It was quite the week, but overall it was a very successful season with few complications and lots of very solid Shetland lambs.

The biggest surprise was certainly Edna. She's the ewe I thought would single a week or more before the rest. She twinned four days after the last average lambing due date. At least she gave us twin rams - the only set!

Crystal had triplets again, and again she lost one. I left her in the barn Monday night after watching her closely for two hours. She seemed close when I left the barn around 9, but I knew once she started it would be another hour or two before I'd get to bed, and as I'd already been feeling off earlier in the day I decided to go home. When I got the barn the next morning there were two dried off lambs and one covered in hay. The surviving two were almost solid black - a ram and a ewe. The ewe that didn't make it had white stockings and a white muzzle. She would have been the most varied ewe of the season. There probably wasn't much that could have been done had I stayed that night, but coming into a stall with a dead lamb is always puzzling. On a brighter note, the surviving ewe lamb is already nibbling my fingers and demanding tail-waggling chest scratches. Hopefully we can find her a good home.

I finally set up a page with animals for sale. If you'd like to see pictures of this year's ewe lambs, go the For Sale tab above.

Loads of Lambs

Lambing re-cap...

Wednesday: Madeleine had triplets with one surviving ram lamb. He's a spotted musket.

Thursday: Poa had twin black ewe lambs in the morning.

 

Maggie had twin black ewe lambs in the afternoon.

Friday: Kira had triplets awaiting at 5:30 am - two rams and one ewe. The two spotted ones have sugar-lips and should be musket.

The ewe thought it would be easier to nurse laying down.
 




By 7:00 am Claire had delivered a ram and a ewe. Her non-bred sister Annie was by her side as she delivered.

 

Saturday: Wynona had twin ewes outside! The girls each weighed 8 lbs, which I guess is why I thought she'd have triplets. All the other lambs are averaging 5.5 lbs. She had one solid black and one solid brown. Pictures to come soon.
 
Two to go (and they're both past the due-date)...

Total Count: 12 lambs - 4 rams, 8 ewes
Colors: 5 black, 7 moorit based (1 mioget, 3 musket, 1 fawn, 3 moorit)
Spots: 6 spotted, 6 solid
Weights: 4.5-6 lbs

I'm hoping there are 5 more lambs to come and that they're all rams! There are too many cute ewes with perfect tails and sweet faces. Many of these girls will have to find new homes or else I'm going to have some REALLY hard decisions to make. 

Lambing Begins - Day 163

Which ewe lambed first? One lambed today and these pictures are from Sunday. Just see if you can guess...

Top row: Crystal, Poa, Maggie
Bottom row: Kira, Madeleine, Edna

Well, it certainly wasn't Edna or Poa, the two I predicted would be first. And if you can believe it, the first one had triplets! No, it wasn't Crystal or Kira. Look in the center of the bottom row. Yes, Madeleine had TRIPLETS just three days after this pictures was taken. She has barely an udder and barely a barrel. This was her first lambing. It is very easy to see just why only one survived - a 5 lb ram lamb. The other two were smaller, and with today's wintery temperatures and biting winds it's a surprise that one is thriving. Mom and lamb are snuggled under a heat lamp and doing just fine.

Poa has been moved to her own private stall after an afternoon of nesting and looking quite uncomfortable. She's dropped and her udder is definitely full. Maybe there will be lambs before bed.

Wynona is actually starting to fill and may not be last this time after all.

I've re-calculated the last possible day (day 152 post ram removal) to be next Thursday. So in one week we should have the other seven ewes with lambs. This is going to be one busy week! Photos will come with the new lambs.

Day 150

The average gestation length for Shetlands is approximately 147 days. The only ewe I've ever been able to track is Clover, (because Shetlands like their privacy,) who twice lambed at 149 days. Today is day 150 and not a single ewe looks close to lambing. However, I did witness Cedar mounting at least one ewe the day he was to leave, but that was at the far edge of the field, so I have no idea who is actually expected to lamb on April 6th (147 days from that date). Given that the ewes tend to cycle in groups, I suspect that several of the girls will be lambing in April, and we waited just long enough for him to get the job done. Judging from the pictures it certainly looks like we'll be busy the first week of April.

The only ewe that I think we MAY see a lamb out of by next weekend is Edna. And I think it will be A lamb, not lambs. She is SO narrow compared to the other ewes, and her mother always carries straight out to the sides and looks uncomfortably large. Edna also seems to be acting a bit strange, secluding herself from the flock and staying in the barn most of the day. I'll have to keep an eye on the weather, because with low temperatures and a snow storm predicted, I'd hate to have her lamb outside.

My next bets are on Maggie and Crystal, both of whom I think will lamb the week before Easter. 

Although...Poa may beat one of them to it. Poa looks like she's about 10 days to two weeks from lambing.

Kira looks like she'll go at Easter. This is what she looked like 2 weeks prior to lambing triplets last year. She and Poa lambed within 24 hours of one another, so my guess is they'll be pretty close again this year.

Wynona's always last. My guess is this year will be the same.

The only two ewes that may lamb after her are Madeleine and Claire. Neither have much of an udder, and both are still pretty narrow. It's always so hard to tell with first-timers. But Cedar did seem to be chasing several girls in those last 48 hours before his departure.

Just for comparison, here are Edna and Crystal. Crystal is huge but has a very small udder, while Edna is tiny and has a well-developing udder. 

If there are lambs before next weekend, I'll post again. If nothing exciting happens, I'll post in a week.

Sheared Sheep

Finally! The bred ewes are sheared. I can now begin estimating approximate due dates and numbers of lambs.

These girls are all two-year-old, first-time fresheners. Because I don't have any comparisons from previous years, it is a little hard for me to tell just who will be first and how many each are carrying. My guess, based on barrel width and udder formation, is that Madeleine and Claire will each twin in early April and Edna will single in a week or two. Judging on udder size, Edna may be the first to lamb of the whole group.

Edna

Madeleine

Claire

Maggie twinned last year, and my best guess is she'll twin again in 2-3 weeks. Poa has twinned for the past three years and always looks quite wide. Though her udder is still quite small, she may be closer than several of the other girls.  

Maggie

Poa

Crystal looks quite a bit smaller than she did last year, but her udder is still small. My guess is she'll twin this year in a few weeks, or else she'll wait until the end and triplet. Kira on the other hand, definitely looks like she will triplet again this year. She has barely any udder formation but is already HUGE. Both Kira and Crystal twinned two years ago and had triplets last year. Both ewes lost one lamb during birth. Hopefully this year lambing will be a little smoother for these girls.

Crystal

Kira

 

 

 Wynona looks just like she did last year. Triplets after Easter.

Wynona

And, from the front...Madeleine, Claire, Edna, Maggie, Poa, Crystal, Kira, and Wynona. Cedar certainly did his job, settling all eight ewes in just three weeks.

And then there is just Annie. Annie was put in with one of our ram lambs for three days in November. He tried hard to catch her, but she just didn't seem to be having any of it. This was just a we'll-try-it-and-see pairing, so I'm not too disappointed that she clearly isn't bred. Annie is out of Poa and is Claire's sister, so we'll have plenty of Poa genetics in this year's lambs without any from Annie.