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.