Darla's Lambs

Darla waited for me to leave for work this morning, and then decided she wanted to go ahead and have her lambs.  Luckily I saw her on my barn camera I have set up (only during the work days or when there's something going on out there) and was able to come home to make sure everything was ok.  Darla is an experienced ewe, but even experienced ewes can't push out lambs who aren't situated properly.

She had twins, the ram lamb was 11 lbs and the ewe lamb was 12 lbs. These lambs are purebred Southdowns, but they're much darker than normal.  Perhaps they'll fade as they grow.

Now I've got 2 ewes left to lamb, and then the 2 goats are due in a couple of weeks.

A Makeover

This owl cookie jar didn't sell at our yardsale in the fall, so I put it in the garage to be painted over.

I painted it this weekend and I think it's much better!

What else can I paint?!

Sheep Update

My little bottle baby went outside today to see snow and get some fresh air.  He loved it, but stuck close by me.  

 

We got fresh snow early this morning, about an inch and a half, but it got up to 45* today so it melted fairly quickly.  Our temps are supposed to get up to 60 this week, but next week be back below freezing.  The poor animals...I'm not sure how they keep up with the changes.  

Today is the first time I've seen the baby bunnies get out of the nest box. Doe #2 had a very small litter...just 3 and 2 survived. They're growing fast, and she has done an excellent job of keeping them tucked in a nice nest of warm bunny fur.  

 Poor girl doesn't get any rest now that they're following her around the whole cage.

Bean and her lambs are doing great. The lambs were hopping and skipping all around the jug today. 

Darla is huge, and I really hope she lambs soon.  I just feel bad for her...seems she can't get comfortable.  She and Bean are irritated at each other, and they've been headbutting (gently mostly) through the jug wall (cattle panel).  I hope to get Bean and her lambs out into the main pasture this week while it's warm.  Her lambs should be able to handle the cold temps as long as they're nursing fine.  

There are 2 remaining ewes outside, Barley and Dixie. We took the ram to the butcher this weekend.  I didn't have any interested buyers, and I didn't have a place to separate him from the ewes and lambs.  

I think Barley has about a week to week and a half left before lambing, and I'm not sure about Dixie. I'll just have to keep an eye on her. 

 Barley, below. 

Right now I'm sitting on my couch blogging and watching Darla and Bean through the baby monitor.  They must be trash talking each other because they're back to head butting.  I may have to hang a curtain between them.  Me-ow!  Like a bunch of kids.... "Bean is looking at me wrong!"  "You started it!"

My Indian Name

should be "Naps With Lambs". 

It's too bad I've got to go back to work tomorrow. It was nice having a long weekend because of the snow and President's Day.  I won't have as much time to snuggle with lambs. 

Bummer Lamb

I now have a bummer lamb.  Bean just couldn't get over the fact that one of her lambs was different than the others (white, not black).  It's really ok, because I wasn't sure Bean would be able to raise all three on her own anyways. 

I even tried a dark coat on the lamb to see if it would ease Bean's confusion, but it didn't.  I brought the little lamb in the house last night to feed him, and he ended up staying for a nap on my lap for about an hour and a half.  I hated to put him back in the barn.

Buford loved him, and was VERY enthusiastic about covering him in kisses!

Valentine's Day

We had a low key Valentine's Day here, since the snow storm ruined the plans we'd made.  I did make our traditional heart shaped meatloaf for dinner though.  And we had pink mashed potatoes, except for David because they weird him out.

Happy late Valentine's Day to you!

One Isn't Like the Others

Poor Bean...her first year lambing, she aborted her twins (last year), and this year she has triplets and they all lived and she was a bit overwhelmed I think.  Things started out fine, but a day after she lambed I think she realized one of her lambs wasn't the same as the other two.  

I saw her on the baby monitor, headbutting the white ram lamb.  It seems she liked him sometimes, and would let him nurse, but other times she'd get confused and headbutt him.

I didn't want to separate him if I didn't have to, so first Devin and I tried putting up a bar in the corner of the jug so the lambs could get away from her if they needed to. 

I thought it was working, but then this morning I saw her headbutt the white lamb again.  Since I wasn't sure she'd be able to raise all 3 on her own anyways, I went ahead and separated the white one. How he's in a large dog crate in the barn, with his own heat lamp.  Bean is a bit confused, and still calls to him, but I know she just can't handle raising him.  I thought about knitting a dark colored coat for him, but odds are as a first time mom she can't handle trips anyways. 

Darla is going to be lambing soon, and there's a chance I can foster him onto her if she only has a single lamb, but if she has twins he'll stay a bottle baby. 

I'm thinking about naming him Han....as in Han Solo.  :-)

Triplets!

We've got lambs!  Bean had triplet ram lambs tonight around 8pm.  Two little natural colored (black) ones, and one looks like a purebred Southdown.  Isn't it funny how genetics work out?  These lambs are 3/4 Southdown and 1/4 Romney. 

They're all doing well so far and Bean is being a really great mom so far. 

I moved Darla and Bean into the barn yesterday afternoon because we were expecting snow, and it's easier moving them before the lamb rather than after, and I figured those two were close to lambing.  It's also easier for me to monitor them with my video baby monitor from my bed than it is to go out into the pasture and check them!

 So cute!  I'm thrilled to have triplets. This is the first time I have had triplets born here!


And while I was out in the barn tonight, I caught Rocky the rabbit playing king of the mountain on the hay pile!  That rabbit cracks me up!

I Spy...

something red!

I plowed the driveway today and found my beloved swiss army knife (after I ran it over with the tractor).  I lost it about 2 weeks ago when I was unloading hay.  I have a habit of losing these things. I once lost one in a hay loft in a barn in Vermont...I think it may have been found a year later.  Then once I lost one in a Lowe's parking lot, after I left it on the truck bed side.  Never got that one back.  Maybe I need to tie a long string on this one...

New Jugs

We got rid of the big pallet pen in the barn this spring and instead built these smaller lambing jugs/pens.  I made the 6'x6' so they'd be big enough to fit 2 animals in, in a pinch (not for lambing, but in case of bad weather or something).  The middle partition can come out, which would make one long 6'x12' pen.  I also hope to build 2 more soon, as soon as my pile of hay gets fed out.


And the udders continue to grow.  Darla looks like she'll to first.  I've added in a 10pm check before bed, so I'll go out and feed a little hay just to get everyone up so I can check on them again. 

Bean is so wide...she better have at least twins in there! 

Getting Closer...

Here are more sheep udder pics. Sorry if these posts aren't the most exciting things. It's really helpful to have record that I can come back and check.  These pictures were taken February 3rd.  I'm ready for lambs now.  We spent some time Sunday building 2 new pens for lambing/kidding.  I'll get more pictures after I hang the second hay feeder.

Bean

Dixie

Darla

Barley

I Got to Babysit!

Today I got to babysit my 4 month old second cousin, Isaac.  He's the cutest thing!  He hung out with us for a couple hours and we had a great time.  The dogs loved him (they seem to love all babies) and he was very curious about them.  Then he napped in my arms for a little while.  He's such a sweet baby!