Black and Grey

After being jugged for two nights, Daphne finally had twins this morning. Lucky for her - unlike poor Claire - I let her out to the paddock each day. She had been barely eating the past few days and really looking out to the mountains, off in the corner of the paddock, all by herself.

After she bolted out of the jug this morning back to the main stall, I let Doris and her ewe follow Daphne out to the paddock. It was a lovely morning and the little ewe lamb seemed active enough to stretch her legs with the big lambs. All was fine and Daphne just seemed like she'd wait another day. Maggie's udder had grown considerably overnight and certainly dropped, so I considered jugging her, but I couldn't isolate her very easily, and with all the lambs running around I decided it wasn't worth the effort.

I spent the majority of the morning pruning shrubs around the yard. Around 11 I decided I'd check on Maggie to see if she'd gone back to nesting in the big stall. All the ewes were out, except Daphne was no where in sight. I went into the barn to check the stall, and there she was just laying down rather calmly. Except then she wasn't. She was clearly in labor, stretching her head to the sky, lips curled back, cooing softly and pushing. Yes, full labor. She stood up and there were the tips of the hooves, already presenting.

Since our previous lambings this season have seemed rather drawn out, I went back to the house to get my young son, who has been asking when can he see a lamb come out. He ran up to the barn, and by the time we got there she was really pushing. I got him a small ladder to stand on so he could watch over the stall door, and we waited there, side by side, watching quietly so we wouldn't disrupt her. She was up and then down, up and then down again; pushing each time she laid down. "Why is she making that noise?" he asked. "She's talking to her baby," I replied. His eyes got big and he smiled. He was so focused. The ewe was so focused. My gaze shifted between the two, watching his reaction to her actions. The ewe stood, squatted and pushed as the lamb slowly dove to the straw below. Plop! She turned immediately, tongue flashing, ready to clean her lamb. The lamb flopped in the wet pile of goop, struggling to lift its head and take its first look at the world. Nose, eyes, ears all cleaned. The first cries of a newborn. I turned to my son, "A new lamb is born." And he just smiled back.

An hour later I went back to check on the ewe and relocate the two of them to a jug. While we were inside eating lunch, Daphne had lambed a second, larger gray ewe.  Twin ewes from a first-time mom. Way to go Daph!

Next up...Maggie???

In full swing...

We are now almost half way through lambing. Doris was the fourth ewe to lamb on Sunday morning. She had visibly dropped overnight and, after sending Claire and her ram outside, I brought her into a jug. By noon there was a very petite ewe lamb.

Doris's ewe was 5.7 lbs at birth, a full pound smaller than the smallest twin this year. She is moorit (may be fawn) with a small krunet marking like her grand-dam. She's very correct with a skinny tail and tightly crimped fleece from head to tail. I'm excited to see how this lamb turns out, especially since she's so mellow and already coming for scratches!


With today being the last sunny day for the foreseeable future, the other new lambs were all sent out to the paddock. There was the typical head banging and frantic lamb calls, but nothing unusual. After a short bit of confusion and introductions, the ladies and their lambs seem to be settled back into the flock.

The young ewes weren't quite sure what to make of the lambs. They seemed to avoid them for the most part, opting instead for an occasional sniff, keeping their distance from the competing new mamas.

Daphne (right) seemed to want to say hello. She looks like she'll lamb any day and seemed the most interested in lambs.

The lambs did a great job staying close to their mothers. They seemed quite comfortable with the big girls, even letting me approach them up close for photos.

 Ella and her twins. The ewe is very friendly and soft. Her brother is very careful to stay next to mom.

Myra's little ewe is so feminine. She's a wonderful little white ewe.

Her brother has a much wider face. His fleece is fantastic - if only they could swap fleeces!

Claire's ram has really filled out. He's very curious and a nicely put-together boy.

As for the ladies waiting to lamb...

Maggie is filling and dropping. Maybe by the end of the week?

Mary looks quite wide and her udder is slowly filling. Daphne looks like her udder is about to burst. Hopefully she'll lamb before that udder gets any larger! Maybe these two will also go before the weekend?

Lucy still has a ways. She's holding steady and rarely lets me get close enough to get a good shot.

Jeanne is most likely open.