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!