size DISCREPENCIES

yES, wE HAVE A SIZE issue wE REALizE.

As you can see from the picture our new boar is...well...a bit short (er). You just never can tell from pictures what an animal really looks like so pictures (when there is no reference item) don't always speak a 1000 words.
AND even though he is a bit smaller than she is, I believe he feels he is more than capable or big enough for the job we got him for (to the dismay of our female). However I am thinking we may be waiting a bit for some piglets. Eventually I am sure they will work things out but right now Pumpkin (aka "oink") is a bit bossy and gives him a nip and a "what for" if he hovers near the slightly more rear aspects of her body. Sometimes she even chases him a bit---and he squeals just like a pig :-D (go figure!!)--- and runs and hides in the little white house that's in with them.
That's o.k. "Munch" as he is now known to us (Munchkin officially ) was well worth the trip I took and his personality is very nice. I know we will have some piglets in the not to distant future and I am very much looking forward to them.

Considering that the guinea hog is very endangered and not many left---a certain amount of "in breeding" does occur. Munch and Oink are about as distantly related as we could have probably hope for so we are very satisfied with him. I have to admit I was a bit surprised by his slightly smaller stature when we saw him the first time but I am told that he should hit his "growth period" very soon. Good thing---or else he'll have his wife beating him up all the time :-) Personally I think he might have lost out on the food issue and not gotten quite his fair share----but we will rectify that for him.
He has a nicer face than oink does too I think. I like his slightly longer nose and less inset eyes. Oink on the other hand has a very very meaty rump-----dreams of roast pop into your head when you watch her walk away :-D. Overall a good combo I think....now we just have to wait for the actual "DAY OF PIGLETS" to arrive.

Now..a few things about our setup that are visible in the picture. That is a doubled up cage that we purchased at Tractor Supply. Originally they were a bit cheaper than they are now. Gas and metal prices having gone up have made these pens quite expensive. However they do have a chain link style that would still, I believe, work well for this size pig. They attach at the corners with two brackets held by a bolt and a wing nut. Our second pen came without wing nuts----just regular nuts that required a wrench to tighten. We spent the extra 3.50 to purchase some wing nuts because they are much simpler to undo when we're ready to move the pen.
Also...you can see Oink's house in there. If you remember (and how could you forget) I have blogged about pig housing a few times recently. Oink's house is barely big enough for her and absolutely not big enough for her and piglets or Munch to get in and share it with her. So, we NEED to make that new house now. At the rate we finish things though, it will probably be the week before she has piglets that we get it done. It's just one of those time things (always!).
At least it's warm and not cold and rainy.


Two more things...I have one ewe I thought went open this year that I have found IS actually going to lamb. She will lamb about the first to middle of July (poor sheep!!).

Also I stumbled on this blog while out of town and would like to share it with all of you: Homesteading Hickory Hills.
I happened upon it while looking for examples of root cellars. After last years drought cracked and dried out the bottom of our pond so badly we need it to be re dug (it doesn't hold water now) and I figured I would have them dig for the root cellar while they are here. Now just to figure out where to put it hmm.......

A few things done

We have had an out of town guest here this last week so my routine has been a bit different. So, for an update here are a few things I have marked off my to-do list:

I have found a guinea hog boar "husband" for my sow. I will be picking him up in Arkansas at the end of May or early June. You can see the farm that I am buying him from at the link Rudugast's ideal Livestock.
The boar we are purchasing is a boar out of Skyfire Oreo and by Skyfire Sargent Pepper. Both our boar and sow will be "shared" with our neighbors to do tilling, compost turning and in the fall cleaning up under the nut and fruit trees. Of course they will also "help" us by having piglets. Think Hawaii here (unless your a vegetarian then just think Cute).
By the way--- I may have some piglets for sale in the fall for anyone interested.

I have a platform set up to raise my 250 gallon water container up off the ground. It is a mini deck like structure and it is under the chicken roof and though I would like to use it for watering the garden, I have such a large garden that when a drought occurs 250 gallons is just a drop in the bucket. (It can be used for emergency water for us though--along with our Big Berkey if we really needed it.) Instead, I think we will set it up as an automatic gravity fed watering station for the chickens and any sheep that are penned in there---or who have access through the neighboring pasture. That way we can travel a bit more during this summer without worrying about who will water the sheep, chickens, etc. Always an issue in this day and age of small farming.

I have tomato plants ready to plant out. Some of the seed was sent to me from a fellow blogger and then I also have the tomato "accordion" that I really enjoyed last year and did well in the drought. I also have more asparagus seeds sprouted for me and some friends. I am working towards another 40 foot row of asparagus so we can have a large harvest each year. The plants that I grew from seed last year are very tall now and seem to be doing well. Last year they never got taller than a foot---this year they are all at least 5 feet tall.
In addition, basil will also go out soon---in about another week. Their still rather small.

A 40 foot row of sweet potatoes went in on two very rainy days---only to get sun burnt on the first sunny day. So they are now under some burlap shade and looking a bit better. Hopefully they will make it since they are the two purple varieties of sweet potato I purchased. The rest of my sweet potato slips (about another 40 foot row) come at the end of May from Sandhill Preservation.

I got a 40' bed of raspberries planted ---but not mulched yet. Hopefully I will finish that by tomorrow. I am using old bedding from the ram/chicken pen so it should be full of good stuff for the berry plants. All my berries came from Nourse farms and look really nice. I even got a few extra--which I shared with my neighbor.
I have the yellow "anne", black "bristol" and two reds: "carolyn" and "taylor". By next year we should be snacking on berries and in a few more making jams and jellies hopefully. We had raspberries at our previous residence--but of course we didn't bring them with us.

My perennial oxalis bulbs/corms (aka OKA or OCA) came today and I will take pics of them to show what they look like before I plant them tomorrow. They are part of my expanded perennial beds that I am adding and posting about last post. Of course I only was able to get a few corms of these--they are rather expensive. We will see how they grow and taste and maybe in the not to distant future I will have my own to sell or trade with others.

Lastly---my lambs are growing like weeds this year. The grass is green and growing---unlike last year when it stayed short and stumpy. I will have to put up some new pictures soon. This batch of lambs has been very fun as most all are about the same size. They are like one huge school of "fish" swimming around the pastures, ignoring their mothers and overall trying to get into trouble. Baaaaad lambs! ;-D

Have a great weekend everyone!

She lost her sweater!

Oh no! Well not really. She looks a bit less like a rag a muffin without her sweater don't you think?
Still small---she may not be a breeder this fall---but she is growing like a weed. Her mom is doing a great job producing enough milk for twins. Since their dam is a yearling we were somewhat concerned about plentiful milk. (Also when she was delivering I worried there might be three---oh no I kept thinking to myself).
Yearling ewes sometimes barely have enough milk to raise one lamb let alone two. Their just not fully developed the first year which is why some people choose not to breed yearlings. We do unless their just super small----because after all that is what nature intended.
Obviously Too does have a capacious milk supply---but these guys started out pretty small so they have a bit more catching up to do to be the same size as the others. They are almost keeping pace with the single lambs being raised by yearling moms. Considering they have to share everything---thats not to bad. For all of you that had to share with siblings I guess maybe you can understand that :-D

The last and the littlest

Well, I promised pictures of my small set of twins. Having been born to a not super large yearling they are small---but healthy and already growing. We will keep them in the barn for a few more days just to make sure---especially since we are still cool and damp at night.

The little ram I had to wake up so all my pictures, except one, were of him nursing---or trying to get back to mom to nurse.
The little ewe (with her sweater that we kept on just because she looks cute in it) had already been up and was full.

Since I have been in there so much with them they are very friendly little things.

One way to save a lamb

So, I would venture to say that the little ewe twin of my yearling will make it. As a matter of fact she can push her slightly larger brother off a teat now---which is good news. Well, not for him maybe :-)

So quickly ,without super great detail, I would like to offer up some advice on how to save a lamb that I have learned through trial and error. These are things I have learned myself or through others.
First: No matter how the lamb is born, face forward or breech (but especially breech), if it seems as if it were the slightest bit stressed go ahead and hold the lamb VERY securely upside down and give a few slight swings to help it clear the lungs. As quoted from Jager Icelandic web site:

you will need to give it a good swing to clear the lungs and passages of any inhaled birth fluids. Hold on tight to the wet and slippery lamb while you swing, and be sure to be clear of any obstacles!

Keep a close eye on a breech lamb for the next few hours to watch for labored breathing.

Sometimes a lamb appears to be breathing normally after a breech birth, but will then succumb to fluid in the lungs later in the day.

This will be kind of from one side of your body to the other. A few will do----unless you really hear a lot of fluid then a few more will be o.k. Sometimes even gently born lambs have a small wheeze---so I always give them a quick swing and hope for the best. I have yet to lose one to inhaled fluid though.

The first time my husband saw me do this he freaked out "your going to kill it---or snap it's neck" It may seem like that but it doesn't happen---however remember this is swinging with control---not over your head cowboy style.

Next---if it is born outside and it is windy/cool or especially below freezing or rainy drying the lamb is very important (or even if your pyrenees decide to love on one until it is sopping wet while it is cool and windy outside). Usually lambs are fine,get up and mom can do it on her own. However if you notice the lamb is not getting up or sluggish they may be getting cold. Especially if mom has two or more---a lamb that lays gets overlooked while others begin to move and nurse.
Sometimes if mom is new she has trouble getting them dry fast enough. Difficult births can have mom or baby slow to start. Twins or more leave one slightly unattended sometimes. Usually---things are fine. However if you need to warm a slightly damp or chilled lamb hairdryers are your friend. They deliver gentle warm dry heat that will leave the scent on the lamb. You can use them easily in a barn with electricity.
If the lamb has dropped to lower temps (take a rectal temperature of your lamb)you need to heat them with: heat lamps, pads, very warm but not hot water (with lamb in a trash bag before immersion up to the head)or a heat box whichever you prefer. I suggest that you always have a good book like Laura Lawson's Managing your ewe and her newborn lambs (or another) on hand. Hypothermia can kill lambs quickly. You must know what to do

If your lamb is still sluggish, but warming, they MUST have food. Again---you need to have a book because extreme hypothermia requires glucose ALWAYS during warming and before tubing---delivered abdominally so it will get there quick. If you warm them too much after they have been very cold they will die before they get warm without enough glucose for their body to use during warm up. You must at least have a book or something written so you can follow it and know what temperatures require what actions.
If your lamb just got slightly chilled--maybe it's temp never dropped below 101 or so--- you can also use 50% dextrose (yes, 50%) at 10cc, delivered into two places under the skin---preferable in the crotch of the back legs to kind of boost them. Use a small gauge needle---they have very thin skin. 20 or even a 22 gauge is best. Rub the bubble to disperse the glucose.
Another trick---is to put some into the fluid if you are feeding a colostrum substitute. I used about 6 cc in place of my water for a few times---however I was also able to milk my ewe and use her colostrum in addition.
Learn and understand how to tube your lamb because if it won't suck----it WILL die. If it won't suck and you are scared to try and tube because you are afraid you will accidentally drown your lamb---your lamb will still die. Remember: If you don't try because you are afraid to accidentally kill it----it will die anyway.
Keep tubing your lamb until it shows signs of 1) trying to nurse on its own ---then make sure it does or 2) until it shows signs of walking around and being frisky---then make sure it nurses. Books will give you a great idea of how much fluid down to the cc per pound but here is a general: 60cc (or 2 ounces) per 3 pounds of lamb EVERY every every 2 to 3 hours. If you go every 5 or 6 as some people do---the lamb will live but never get better. That happens frequently as people do not realize they must feed so often and the lamb slowly starves to death. The lamb will be always on the verge of starvation (also known as starvation induced hypothermia since their body temp can never go up completely without enough food). You MUST give them enough. It seems like a lot for their bellies but it is not. Promise.

Our one problem---we tubed our lamb so well she got full and wouldn't nurse. Once we realized she was so frisky and doing well we let her go without a feeding---we never could get her to suck a nipple for us. Finally---she got hungry and tried to nurse. We still had to help her the first few times (remember she hadn't gotten to nurse on mom before this) to find the nipple and kind of keep her brother from pushing her away. However she quickly caught on and is now a pro.

So...hopefully this helps someone in the future. Remember if you don't try---it will die anyway.

Doing well so far.

My small set of twin Icelandic lambs that I posted about yesterday seem to be doing o.k today. I will post pictures of them tomorrow after I go and check on them for the morning. Last night we spent every two hours (yuk!!) going out to tube the little ewe lamb since she was a bit lethargic and still not doing a good job of getting nursing. As I said it was chilly here yesterday and dropped into the low 30's last night with a wind that blew into the barn and over the hay bales I had set up. Yukky. Weather like that is hard on small small lambs that are struggling from the start because of getting cold.
However this morning she was looking much perkier and as the day went on and it warmed to the high 60's she really started to look good. Our only problem? How to get her to nurse from her mom. After consulting two friends (Jager Icelandics and Frelsi Farm) we decided that maybe we were feeding her so well that she wasn't ever hungry enough to try and nurse. So this afternoon I skipped one of her feedings since she was moving around and active----not lethargic or sleepy seeming at all. That seemed to do the trick and she decided (finally!!) to nurse on her own---a bit anyway. I had to help and encourage---but she took to it well enough and did some on her own.
Now we'll just keep an eye on her for a couple more days to make sure she is getting enough. She's not as aggressive of a nurser as her brother----but technically she is a day behind him after getting cold. She's doing well enough now though that she struggles and fights when I try and tube her---even squealing a bit so..... tomorrow if she looks good and acts well---I will optimistically post a picture of the two of them. Maybe I'll even let her model her sweater in the picture :-)

And to the weather.
It's been chilly here this spring 2008 but not with horrible late frost like last year. This weekend I will pick up some plants (because of my flu I am late on starting seedling or skipped some of the altogether) from our local organic place during their spring plant sale: Crabtree Farms.
I usually get a couple of jalapeño plants from them---we only need a few so it's not worth messing with a package of seed. This year I will probably buy a few tomato plants too. I have some tomatoes started but barely---they'll be later this year.
We are close to beans and many other things going into the ground. So it will soon get busy in the garden. Hopefully the rain we seem to be getting will keep coming as it has been. They say it will dry up this summer on us again---well we'll see. At least this spring has (knock on wood) been better so far than last.

Also, if your interested in more lamb pictures, my friend Nancy Chase of Ingleside Icelandics has what she termed a "lamb-a-palooza" event recently. She should have pictures up by tomorrow on her blog Keepingthefarm---she had so many lambs in a short time that she had to take off time from posting and hasn't gotten their pictures up yet.

Lastly---we're looking for a guinea hog boar this spring/summer of 2008 to buy, borrow or trade (sheep?) for.
Contact me if you know of someone that would like to allow us to do one of those things. Trade for sheep or a guinea hog piglet? Borrow? We are creative and will consider most any idea. Travel is not out of the question.

When you speak to soon....

Sometimes you can become overwhelmed. As happened to me today. After my initial post I went off to do some volunteer work at an organic garden/teaching center. However---since this is the week before their semi-annual organic plant sale---they were inundated with volunteers. After spending just a portion of time their that I was suppose to I told them politely that "I have some ewes due to lamb and since there are so many people I will just go ahead and leave a bit sooner". No problem was their reply.

So off to home I went, thinking maybe,just maybe one ewe might (might is the operative word) have her lamb today.
As I drive up I count sheep and 2 are missing. I get out and go to the barn and their they are both looking at me from the back. "girls, what trouble are you getting into down there" I ask them as one runs past me. Oh nothing----except having a lamb. My white ewe El was down there with a cute little white ram lamb. So into a pen I put her. Get water. Give him a quick scrub with a towel just to make sure he's dry (cool wind today here) and go in to eat a sandwich.

Well, after my sandwich I walk out to get the mail and Secret looks rather suspicious down in the pasture----she was the ewe in the barn with El earlier.
Sure enough---she's lambing too. Out in the pasture of course with the cool wind blowing around. I watch for a while and then eventually notice some yellow fluid leaking out. Yellow means the lamb may be in distress---so in with my midwife skills I step and help to pull the largest lamb ever born on my farm out of this poor ewe. We haven't weighed it yet----but I will tell you tomorrow if I am wrong and it is NOT at least 12 pounds. This lamb is as big as my first born set of twins. Seriously. It's a she---and she's a beauty though. I think she's a white lamb with odd pheomelanin splotches. However---she could be a moorit spotted but I really don't think so since her skin doesn't look tannish (or brown) that I can tell. Her pheomelanin is an odd taupe color though instead of the more common golden or reddish yellow color.
Since her dam has great big teats (like a cow not like a sheep) we are calling her Secret's calf because of her size. Heaven's sake---big lamb.

So...I get them in the barn and settled in. I take all my towels and my very dirty clothes and throw them in the wash and change into a clean set. My last ewe to lamb looked ...mmmm...odd as Secret was lambing so I feel the need to check on her now.
No sooner than I walk up to her and up she gets from the ground with back lamb legs hanging out. Bummer. My first thought is dead lamb. However I need to help her get it out, and fast, since maybe it might still live. Too (the sheeps name is Too) getting a bit uptight about this lambing thing, decides to be a brat. I have to kind of wait until she lays to push and sneak up to her. As I get there I take hold of the legs and pull with her contraction as gently---but quickly---as I can. Out comes a small horned moorit gray ram lamb (Not another ram lamb I am thinking!! At least he's cute) I hold him upside down and help the fluid drain and he starts breathing. Good.
Then Too lays back down and woosh---out pops a small black gray mouflon ewe lamb for good measure. (By the way---this is the yearling I blogged about that I said I thought she might have twins)
The ewe lamb, having been stuck in there a bit longer than she was suppose to was a bit weaker. Though she isn't on deaths door, we are helping her out a bit and hopefully she will make it. As small as she is (about 3 pounds) plus the being stuck behind a lamb that might have held things up by coming backwards has made her a bit tired. So we have and will tube her a bit, give her a few glucose shots and hopefully she will respond well and thrive. She is not giving up---she walks and tries to nurse---however she is a bit weaker and slower which when your 3 pounds can be a not very good thing. In two days we will know if she will make it or not.

So to say the least: I didn't get dinner made tonight.

Here are pictures of the first two lambs. First picture is El's ram lamb. Other two are Secret's oddly colored ewe lamb. I don't have pics yet of the small twins. Tomorrow maybe. Wish me luck :-)

Twinlets

So I have had no more lambs yet but we have been enjoying those we do have. Three of them are a bit "odder" than lambs normally are.

My ewe Aleda has the badger ewe and ram lamb and my ewe Tippi has the black/gray ram lamb.
Tippi's ram has been a pill since the day he was born. Never still, always exploring, he has taken it upon himself to gather all the lambs together in play. Irregardless if a ewe doesn't want him to...he keeps at it until he leads the other lambs "astray".
Anyway--probably because of age proximity he and the badger twins have hooked up. We saw this happening over time---and to a certain extent it is not unusual. Lambs of similar ages play together. However, and here is the weird part: These lambs have become more and more attached to the point that they are almost triplets. During the day they play, run, explore and sleep together. Temporarily the separate to nurse or if their mother's insist but it's not very frequently and has gotten less and less the older they become. Yesterday though we noticed an even closer bond start to develop. The black lamb (for once) was sleeping when the badger ram decided to come get him. Streeeetcchhhhh....he got up to play, and then decided he needed a sip real quick before playing. Mom----not 5 feet away---was close to accommodate him. However, badger must have decided at that time, seeing his "brother" nursing,that he TOO needed a sip (siblings always nurse together---they see the other start and dive in to get their share). He looked around, called for mom who didn't answer, and decided he would just slip right in under "the other mother" Tippi. She didn't notice right away but as she turned to look, calmly chewing cud, she sniffed and realized "Not MY kid" , looked decidedly shocked and then butted him away. So badger looked around again, called mom again---still no answer---and tried to slip in under Tippi a second time. This time she was more prepared and shoo'd him off. By this point Blackie was done ----and off they ran to play, peas in a pod to get the third miscreant---and badger was no longer interested in a sip.
Later, after dark, we went to check the "un" lambed ewes as usual before going to bed. Off to the side was Aleda ( a bit stricter mother) with her ram lamb, her ewe lamb and ,shockingly, blackie all spooned up next to her for warmth doing a sheep sleep over---something we have never seen before. At night (since dark is dangerous) lambs usually stay side by side with their dam. Tippi was a little bit away---but watchful of her lamb---going to give him a sniff to make sure he was fine when my husband went near them. She left him there though with his "siblings". Ewes just don't usually allow other lambs to be that close during nursing or sleeping, nor do ewes normally allow their lambs to wander off to that extent, especially during the dark. For some reason these ewes have worked out something because these lambs seem to think they are long lost triplets. I don't know how it happened. I don't know why---but I have to admit it is odd and we have ever seen lambs or ewes do this.
When they are all lined up, side by side, neck in neck, sniffing or trying to sample some new grass they just act like siblings---not age mates.
Of course I couldn't get them together for this post---but I am sure I will later.
The picture of two lambs are the two rams. The single is the ewe. Quite cute aren't they?

New Guys on the Block---plus a gal

So after I posted early this morning we went outside to round up the ewes for the state vets visit for our annual scrapie check. As we were setting up we noticed that one of the yearling ewes looked as if she might be lambing. Well, as it turned out we were correct. Poor Paris---our shyest ewe overall---had to be rounded up and then put into the barn while the poor thing is starting to lamb. Of course I never would have gotten her in the barn without my husbands help so we had to do it.
The other reason for doing it is if she had had trouble lambing we could then help her without doing the commando routine out in the pasture trying to sneak up on her. Believe it or not---laboring ewes can run to a certain extent if they feel it necessary. Paris lambed like a pro considering all that went on--completely unaided. Way to go.
Anyway, we only have a small barn---16 x 32. Very small actually because Icelandics just really don't need serious barn space in our climate. Our barn is barely more than a "just had my lamb" space and a small amount of square bale storage and a place to "trap" them for shots/tagging or vet checks or whatever. Really we wouldn't have even had one except it rained so much the first year we had them I wanted a place to feed them were I didn't have to be in the rain the whole time---so the barn is more for me to stay dry in the winter :-)
But....in there today we had one pen with Princess and her two new lambs. One pen for Tippi and Aleda and their slightly older lambs. One pen for poor Paris---trying to have her lamb and another for the 4 girls not YET lambed. Jeepers! I didn't even have enough panels---I had to sacrifice a 16 footer to the cause and cut it down.
All worked out in the end though and the vet got everyone looked at and now we are good for another year. Finally---I have been able to get around to posting pictures of today "lamb haul". Oh yes---Paris had a precious little white ewe lamb that looks like a little angel lamb. Of course so far---to me---all the little white ewe lambs look like angels. Their faces are just a bit different looking than when color shades them :-)
One more thing---the little brown ram decided that it's never too soon to start caring for horns.

Was it the drought?

Last night I had another set of twins born to one of my ewes: two more RAM lambs! What's up with that?!?
At first I just thought it was dear old Tex getting heavy on the ram lambs and my luck would change. However this ewe was bred to an entirely different ram---one that has generally thrown mostly ewes for me and never have I gotten ram twins from him so....Was it the drought?
Nutrition supposedly can and will affect conception rate of sheep. In the fall most shepherds "flush" their ewes and rams. Flushing is when you raise the quality and quantity of food right before, during and slightly after breeding to encourage more eggs to drop. Though I did that---and have received all twins for my trouble so far---I do wonder if something about the drought changed something about the matings and so that is why I am so heavy on ram lambs. On the other hand---it could just be "luck of the draw" this year and it was just what I was meant to have.
Regarding droughts affecting the number of lambs though: quite a few people have commented this year that they are getting many more singles from ewes that have always had twins or even triplets. So it just goes to show, yet again, how important good nutrition is for something even so simple as fertility. Obviously drought is a lot harder to control than minerals are, but something to consider when raising animals and getting them ready for breeding. Nutrition is key to everything.

I will post some pictures of the cuties later this morning. It is still to dark to take pictures in the barn since I never got electricity down there. Also the state vet is coming early this afternoon for our annual scrapie check which we missed in October. So it is going to be a busy morning. At least the weather is suppose to be nice :-) Maybe some rain tomorrow which will be good for my patch of oats I planted but look like nothing more than a "patchy" stand of garden I forgot to pull grass from right now.
Have a good one.

And another lamb

Another new little ram lamb born yesterday to our ewe Tippi. He actually was a twin---but his brother died. So sad. However he made it and is cute as a button---and on the move!
Black as sin and though it doesn't look like it he has fairly large horn buds. That was his and his brothers problem--horn buds (plus his brother came backwards). The horn buds slowed them down and required a bit of help. So far all of Tex's rams have had large horn buds. I will have to watch the few yearlings I bred to him to make sure their lambs (if ram lambs) make it out o.k.







And here are a couple pics of Aleda's twins. Doing well and bouncing all over the pasture. Sproing! Sproing! Very cute. They are all on the move so getting these few non blurred pictures was a feat in and of itself. So healthy though :-)

Soon...about the 9th I should have another ewe due. Maybe---even though I saw her breeding they trick me continually so....
Check back---the pictures will keep coming.

Some have come

First---apologies to some of you for not answering your comments. I have been "away". That's how we'll leave it :-D But I do apologize for seeming to ignore.

Anyway---I have lambs and other things to blog about so maybe I will have more presence here in the coming weeks and months.

My first lambs have arrived. My ewe Aleda has had two beautiful lambs for me early this morning and accomplishing it without a hitch just like the pro she is. Aleda has always given all the "classic" signs of immenent lambing the 24 hours preceding her lambing so we have never failed to know when she would lamb. Her milk bag will gain a large amount of size the preceding day, she will take herself off to be alone and away from the others and her flanks will sink in to tell us that the lambs are getting their selves ready and in position. Thankfully Aleda is kind to us like that unlike some of the others that try and trick us for weeks previous to their lambing. They continually leave us hanging and watching and wondering. Oh well, we are speaking of sheep here.
Here are some pictures of the first of this years lambs--standing lamb is a ram and laying lamb is a ewe--- and one of Mikey (their guardian) saying a quick Hello. Oh yes---and a quick picture of the bluebird box. Hopefully they will all show up---you know how blogger is with pictures :-(

Signs of Spring (and lambs)

Not only have I noticed many daffodils and forsythia blooming around here, but we now have a few dogwoods (just a few) with some flowers on them and a number of trees with swelling buds.
This, along with the warmer weather we had the last few days, reminds me that spring is very close and may be peaking from around the corner of my house ( I just can't see it because we're siding you know?).
The big storm on the news came through and brought much rain and lots and lots of wind to us along with a drop of temps. We went from high 60's, low 70's to the 40's :-(
Within the next few weeks we will start to see more and more warm days though AND some lambs.

Yes, I was working up to the lamb part of my title.
Though I have my first ewe "officially due" on April 9th----she is just the first I actually had seen get bred. Without a marker on the rams chest that leaves a green (or red or orange etc) spot on the back of the ewe it is sometimes impossible to know exactly when a ewe was bred or even took. Just because you see a mating does not mean that the ewe took that time or at all for that matter.
Most of the time however---I don't see them breed. They are sneaky or maybe just private. I mean after all...... who wants a crowd watching when you do the deed-- right?

During feeding about a week ago we noticed that we have a number of ewes developing some nice bags. Or nice Jumblies as Austin Powers might say.
Nice jumblies are a sure sign that we are at least within a months time at most.
So considering when I first started groping my sheep's jumblies----I suspect I may have a set or two of lambs by mid March. Yeah!
Everyone loves a lamb---they are just too cute.

Not only do I have one or two adults that may be due then but I also think one of my yearling ewes is also-----and I think she may have twins. Though she is not a really large sheep she is fairly large for her size in a round kind of way. She has also all but quit running around the pasture with the flock---a sure sign of an imminent lamb or squooshed multiples. So we shall see if I am correct. Last year I did guess correctly that one of my older ewes would have triplets so....we'll see if I can go 2 for 2 on guesses. If not..no big deal. At least I know that she actually is pregnant and better than that she, and the other early due girls, tell me that my young ram Tex absolutely did his job to the best of his ability. Quickly too. Another good thing.

Very soon I will have to start making my very late (about 11 oclock) and my very early (about 5:30 or 6) pasture rounds. That way I can catch any lambs that might be born while it's cold out. Icelandics are usually very good about getting their lambs up and clean but sometimes a new mom kind of doesn't get it yet----and then her lamb can get cold and possibly die. I had that happen last year so we will be extra careful this year. Another problem is a ewe having twins while another ewe (usually very close to her own due date) gets a bit over excited and kidnaps the first born. Sometimes that "yeah---I'm going to have a baby" kicks in a bit hard and they get a little too excited about having a lamb and steal someone else's. We have to be careful of that since the kidnapper doesn't have milk yet----not a good thing for a little lamb.

One last thing I would like to leave this post with is a link to helping hypothermic lambs and how to tube and give intra peritoneal injection of glucose solution to them. For those that breed sheep it is a great thing to keep on hand for "just in case". Last year I had everything on hand EXCEPT the glucose solution which was how I lost my little gal. I didn't think I would ever need it and that tubing and warming would be fine----but that was just not so.

So---here's to an excellent last lambing for me. I truly look forward to it and am very excited as always. I will surely miss it next year (and for many afterwards) and I will have to re-live it each year vicariously through my sheep owning friends :-D

The last lamb of the year

Well unfortunately we have come without a bang to the ending of lambing. Our last one died. Luckily our ewe did not die with it. She is a great ewe and her lamb was breech plus had it's head turned back. So once we got out the legs---stuck again. We had a bit of trouble because my fingers are short---and the vet and my husband both had very large hands. Which cause a bit of problem in getting to a quick efficient solution.
To bad it was a nice little moorit ewe lamb. Exactly what I was hoping for. Secret luckily looks good---and the vet said it doesn't seem as if there is any damage. So we will hope for success with her next year. She is such a sweet sheep---very personable. She was so good through the whole thing and I know it was somewhat painful. So on to the milking stand she will go. At least there are always "lights at the end of tunnels". How about "making lemonade from life's lemons"? And of course we will "Keep on keeping on".

So hopefully you won't be seeing lamb and sheep posts as much from me. At least for a while. We will be purchasing a new ewe and a ram from a couple of other farms so trips and travels will ensue in the line of "sheep business" with plenty of pictures to come since we will go up into Michigan and possibly Canada for some fun during our trip(s) to get them.

Hope all of you have a great day

SmallMeadow Farm--registered Icelandic sheep
http://www.smallmeadowfarm.com

An angel and more

This little girl was yesterdays lamb of the day. Her mother "Tippi" is doting on her very nicely. She looks a bit different than most Icelandic faces we are used to, which I mean in a nice way. Her face is almost an "angel" lamb face. She's very "pretty".
This is the first ewe lamb born here this year that will for sure stay with us instead of being sold. I don't even mind that she is white since I don't really have many white sheep. Now to think of a name: and it will not be angel! To many animals are named that. We need something more EWEnique :-D for her. We'll have to watch her personality to see what fits her best.

Also this morning an adult ewe (Aleda) had twins. I will post pictures later if I remember when I put them on my web site. Aleda had a moorit ewe lamb---no grey on her which blows my theory about my ram carrying only grey. She also is going to stay with us, which puts us at two for sure to keep. The other is a very stocky moorit badgerface ram lamb with HUGE horn buds. He's going to have a set of horns to be proud of for sure. I can't tell if he carries grey since the badger covers it a bit--we'll have to wait a week or so to know for sure. I think his weight is in line with the other ram's birth weights but he looks to be the stockiest ram lamb we have gotten so farm. Nice.
The reason we are hesitating on keeping lambs is that we have been trying to downsize to about 8 to 10 ewes. We are unsure of the number since we keep wiffle waffling on who to sell and who not too. We have had some of them for sale then you think: wait not that one, this other one. No not that one, how about this one.
It's not easy to choose. They all have their pros and cons---and you wonder if you sell them will that one be the one you regret selling in the long run. Ahh...decisions, decisions.

O.K---two yearling ewes to go. That's it. Will be in the next two weeks but no idea if it will be tomorrow or day 14.

On a roll now

Yesterday after Greta had her ewe lambs we noticed that her sister Havvah seemed to be acting a bit "off". By the evening she still had not had her lambs though so I went to bed early (exhaustion from all the night time checks!) asking my husband to please check her later. He said he checked her about 10:45 and knew she would lamb that night---so he waited up for her. By 12:30 when he rechecked, she had had both of them by then. Two moorit spotted ram lambs with horn buds. Bummer! I was hoping for at least one spotted moorit ewe out of Havvah! Drat! They are spunky little guys though---not as active as quickly as Greta's "barely out of the womb and doing the jig" girls but close. They look almost identical---and are spotted almost exactly as their sire.
Here's some afternoon pictures:






See, they look almost alike.
So after that we went back to bed but I got up to make my quick morning check at 6:30 and surprise me if I didn't have a yearling ewe (Suri) have twins during the night---twin ram lambs. Oh well---maybe I'll get some more girls from the others still to go.
However it is: yearlings can have twins but it's not something you count on so we were surprised. She didn't even look that big. They are a black and a moorit both with grey---which confirms my theory that my ram is homozygous for grey.

Here they are:






You will notice they are full of hay. That would be because they have decided right under the hay feeder is the best place in the stall. So all the fine blades keep covering them up. They are cute though that is for sure.


By the way---we had a gentlemen come out from the local paper yesterday to do a "human interest" story on us. Hmmm...surprising to think of ourselves as "interesting" because we do something we like so much. He took pictures and asked many questions. We will see how it comes out. I told him to chop my head out of any pictures with me in them that he might publish :-)

The newest arrivals

So here they are---my newest arrivals. Finally! I think I had ants in my pants I was getting so impatient!

Greta---my only sheep that is from a "leadersheep" line had twin ewe lambs this morning. (I will explain Leadersheep another time) One is I believe---a black spotted. That would be the one mostly white. She might carry grey and she might carry mouflon but she is so spotted it is an unknown. The other ewe lamb---the mostly black lamb---I am almost positive she is a black spotted mouflon---maybe carrying grey. The classic sign for grey is "sugar lips". As if you caught them just having pulled their head out of the sugar bin and they still have it around their lips like a milk moustache. The only problem here is that both these girls are spotted on their face---so it is an unknown at least for a while.

Greta is a very very bossy mother. Last year she literally told her lamb what and when and that lamb did it every time. If she wanted Bit to lay----she pawed the very spot and down Bit went and stayed. If she wanted to move to a different spot to graze---she pawed Bit and up she jumped and then her mother told her where to lay again. When they ran---Bit stuck to her like velcro (we almost named her that but it was a dumb name)
Well, now we have a different situation. This year lambs are already hopping and jumping and on the move. The white one is the worst. Greta keeps pawing a spot for it to lay in---which it does---but as soon as she turns to check the other---POP up comes the lamb to move around again. So---I think I have at least one more trouble maker on my hands if not two.

6 more ewes to go. Two more due within the next 5ish days. The others....????? big fat question marks.

Bad lambs

This must be the year of the bad lambs. Not only am I STILL waiting on arrivals (7 more ewes still to go!! bad babies holding out in there) but I have some other really really BAD lambs. 3 of them have figured out how to slip through a few spots in the fence---which has never ever been an issue for us previously. Of course generally by the time they are this old we have on the electric wire and they quickly learn not to mess around near the fence, which includes going through or under it. However, with the fact that one of my lambs is not even a week---and more young ones to come---we have left it off for their sake. So, the others make their way through it periodically---bad bad babies! Then we have to go and chase them down, trying to catch or herd them to get them back on the correct side of the fence.

Then there is the triplet ram lamb. HE plays around the water trough. So much so---we don't have water in them because we were afraid he would fall in---which he does (we are using some smaller buckets for now). The tubs are the old cast iron claw foot bathtubs---two side by side (we sit and drink a beer in them and talk after a hot days work in the summer). Well, Mr triplet has now decided he will play in them----then he squalls and squalls and SQUALLS for his mother to come over to him. Well, we tried saving him a few times but the brat will wait until we are right next to him then he will


JUMP



out and run away. Brat.

Lastly we have the lamb that "screams" for her mother (I have never heard a lamb as loud as this one) in a voice/sound that replicates a dying animal being attacked by something. Or it also sounds kind of like a child screaming in pain. Either way---very disturbing, especially in the night. And I always have to go check the "wolf" cryer---just in case. She might only be across the pasture----but that is how she calls her mother. Brat.

Hopefully the hold outs will be much more polite lambs. They have already put me through the "trial of patience" so the least they could do after that is be way better than these others are.
Someday.........I will find out.

Finally another arrives :-)

Finally! Another lamb---and a live lamb. Yeah!
She's a little bitty thing--a little over 5 pounds. A bit small for my preference but her mother absolutely refused to eat any of the grain we offer during pregnancy to the ewes. So considering that we have fed hay since August, with just a small bit of green grass during some warmer spells---I am happy with the health of this lamb. She is very vigorous, quick to get up when born to nurse and the most interesting color lamb. Moorit (brown) with a grey undercoat gene from mom and dad which gives her a soft dove grey or "violet" cast to her coloring. Very cute. My daughter says she doesn't care that I won't name them people names---SHE is calling the lamb violet since that is what she looks like. Well, violet technically is a color so we can call her that I suppose. Dove would be cuter but we don't register them with a name anyways---just with farm letters and a number only. Kind of cold isn't it--but much easier in the long run.
The ewe who lost her lamb to the cold weather the other day---was SURE she was going to be this one's mother. She was trying to steal it before it was even finished being born. She was licking and nickering to it. When we took the lamb and it's mother to the barn, Princess tried to come over the fence with us to follow. Sad. She will be a good mother next year though.
It's also a good thing we happened to be home since this one had the lamb in the same spot and still even today it is cold under the tree in the shade there---and windy. The lamb was starting to shiver by the time we got them out to the sun. Just imagine the other lamb being born while it was still dark instead of 11 in the afternoon. Poor little thing. Last year we had hot hot weather at this time, this year cool, with cool breezes. Because of that and after "falling down on the job" and losing my other lamb --I am now walking the pasture at 3 a.m each night to check if lambs have been born. Better safe than sorry again.
Well, this lamb was a total surprise today since I have ewes much much larger and with much much bigger milk bags---so maybe we will be on a roll here soon. 7 more to go: 4 more yearlings and 3 more adults left.

Little Lost Lamb

Lost a lamb today---hypothermia. Yeah, yeah I know your thinking "hypothermia when it's been warm the last few days??" Yes, it does occur. No matter how you look at it---even 72 degrees can be cold when your wet and little and in the shade with the wind. Mom, being young, didn't lick dry well enough so she got too cold. I tried---but couldn't save her---poor little lamb. Though she made attempts to try and get going when I found her and picked her up (thank you Mikey) her mouth was like an ice cube---and even a hot bath in a plastic bag to stay dry, warm air from the hair dryer and warm milk couldn't help. Glucose was what we needed, in a shot, into the intestinal cavity---but it was too late. Next time--I won't forget that little trick like I did this time. Good looking ewe lamb too---black spotted, big and chunky with a fleece that was already long and thick thick. Bummer.
Mom's been out there looking and calling for her---by tomorrow she won't remember any more.
Well---let's hope for better luck next time. Think positively! And though I was sure you didn't really think you wanted to see a picture of this little gal even as cute as she was--hopefully my next entry of lambs will come with pictures of bouncing "babies". Or at least nursing ones. Standing still will even work for me currently :-)

Have good day.