norseofcourse's journal - spring and show update

[norseofcourse]

The vet called today with some preliminary results on the lamb that Brosa aborted. They have ruled out toxoplasmosis, leptospirosis, and neospora. There was a little bacteria but that may have been normal. They are still checking on some of the trace minerals and vitamins, but the copper and selenium were ok.

The most unusual thing so far was they said the abdomen was distended, and there were no eyes formed. Hoping their final report will come soon.

So, at least it appears the reason isn't something contagious to my other ewes.

Elding's behavior has improved. glad for that. Tomorrow is the weekly udder check on the ewes. I started a lambing thread since it's only a little over two weeks till the first possible lambing date. Come on spring!

 

[norseofcourse]

March came in like a lion - a big, white, fluffy lion. I think we had about 8 inches of snow total - first nice light fluffy stuff, then as it warmed up it got heavier and wetter. It looks beautiful covering the trees. Not so beautiful shoveling it from the driveway, and clearing it from gates so I can open them far enough to feed and water.

The sheep don't seem to mind it, they're even eating it, but I am so glad lambing is still a couple weeks away. I can't imagine lambing in this weather, those who do are a lot tougher than me.

 

[BrownSheep]

Sorry, winter is still roaring. I'll try sending some of our spring your way!

 

[norseofcourse]

Sorry, winter is still roaring. I'll try sending some of our spring your way!

Whatever you did, it worked! Temperatures are finally going above freezing, and all this snow and ice is starting to melt Of course that means lots of mud, but at this point I'll take it!

 

[norseofcourse]

The weather was nice enough Tuesday that I decided to set up the sheep chair and trim Elding's hooves. I put the chair in the sheep's run-in area of the barn, and took my camera out so I could get some pictures of Elding all nice and cozy in the chair.

Unfortunately, things did not go as planned. The person who sold me the chair said just get ahold of a sheep, back them up to the chair, and just kind of 'tip' them in. It kind of worked - Elding went into the chair easily enough, but one of his hind legs got wedged into the netting. I had not adjusted the width of the chair, since it seemed about as wide as he is, but I quickly realized I should have narrowed it down quite a bit, so he fit more snugly and couldn't move side to side at all.

I got his hind leg free, and began trimming his hooves, but he was able to move around in the chair, and kept struggling to get out. I was able to hang on to his front legs for awhile and trim, but then he made a mighty effort, and twisted enough that I knew I couldn't hold him, and he got out.

I put the leash on him and tied him to the fence so I could finish trimming his hooves, at least, and so he didn't get the idea that he escaped entirely. I didn't have the tools to adjust the sheep chair with me, so that'll have to wait for another day. And I was so busy holding Elding that I didn't get any pictures.

In other news, the snow is finally melting! There is a lot of standing water since the ground is too frozen for it to sink in very fast, and plenty of mud where the ground has started to thaw. There is still a foot or more of snow in much of the pasture. But it's nice to finally see spring on its way!

 

[Chivoville]

Norse, I am really getting a kick out of your trials and tribulations with Elding. He is so darned cute! Always getting flipped over onto his back for one reason or another...Maybe eventually he will just lie down when he sees you coming! You be careful out there!

 

[bonbean01]

 

[norseofcourse]

Norse, I am really getting a kick out of your trials and tribulations with Elding. He is so darned cute! Always getting flipped over onto his back for one reason or another...Maybe eventually he will just lie down when he sees you coming! You be careful out there!

LOL - thanks, I am being careful. He's pretty good when it's not breeding season, and the worst time was the day Brosa miscarried, and I was not watching him (my mistake) so I missed when he switched to attack mode. And I wasn't prepared to deal with him right then - not only had I not been watching him, but because I'd been trimming soiled wool off Brosa's hind end, I didn't want to grab Elding and flip him because I didn't know at that point whether I was dealing with something infectious or not.

Elding has been doing better lately, as his mind is finally coming out of 'breeding season' mode. Here he is enjoying some attention:

The ewes are getting closer to lambing. I'm still thinking Rose will lamb first. Her daughter Lukka won't be far behind, though. I look forward to seeing what her lamb looks like, since she's such a nice solid little girl:

I am still salt-curing the 3 lambskins from January's wethers getting processed. It's only supposed to take a couple of weeks before they're ready to send to a processor, but the extreme winter temperatures we had caused them to freeze and seemed to stop the curing process. On the advice of purplequeenvt, I cleaned them off and re-salted them on Sunday, and I do think they're starting to dry properly, now that the temperatures have finally gone back up. I sure hope they will be ok - I am looking forward to seeing how they turn out.

Robins, red-wing blackbirds and killdeer are back. I have crocus and daffodil shoots poking up. Most of the remaining snow is the piles in parking lots, although there are still a few snow patches in the pastures. I've been able to use the hose again to fill the water tub!! Nothing is growing yet, but it won't be long before fresh spring grass and bouncing baby lambs make winter seem like a distant memory

 

[norseofcourse]

Most of my posts lately have been in my lambing thread. It's been a busy week or so.

First Rose lambed on Saturday. I didn't know she was going to have twins, and after she had her first one, I moved her so I could put Elding in the back half of the sheep's pasture by himself. Rose then had another lamb, and she seemed to do ok with it - got it cleaned off and it nursed, too. I penned her with the twins in the run-in for the night so they could bond undisturbed. By morning, Rose had decided she liked her firstborn but not the second one. Moving her might have been a factor, or maybe she just figured a single (like her first two lambings) was all she wanted.

By asking here, searching for info on the web, and trial and error, I was able to get Rose to let the second one nurse - kicking and fighting A LOT at first. Gradually she's gotten better. I have the twins penned, and every few hours let them out to nurse and have time with Rose. She still definitely has a favorite. Every time I let them together, I think of the Smothers Brothers (mom always liked you best...) as they are both boys. I hope they can be together full time soon.

Then Monday morning, Rose's daughter Lukka lambed. She did great, and had a single ewe lamb.

Gracie should be lambing any day. She is wide, and twins again would not surprise me. Even triplets would only surprise me a little, but I'm quite ok with her just having twins.

Spring has been kind of quietly arriving. There's lots of birdsong in the morning, plenty of spring mud, and the ponies are shedding like crazy. But there's still patches of frozen ground, nights below freezing, and spurts of sleet or snow. I haven't heard the spring peepers yet either.

The increasing daylight is noticeable now, and I'm looking forward to milking in a few weeks. I've got a ton of stuff on my to-do list though, lots of outside work once the weather gets a bit nicer and the ground thaws and dries out.

 

[norseofcourse]

Just some random updates. Saturday we actually had some nice sunshine, so the ponies did some sunbathing behind their run-in shed:

Rose has been doing good with the twins. Rose's pattern is grey, which means the undercoat comes in white/cream and combines with the base color to make it lighter (making grey if they're black, and light brown if they're brown). Rose may also carry another pattern of 'solid', or she may be homozygous grey.

If both the twins get light undercoats, it's more likely that Rose is homozygous grey. But if the black on either of them stays solid (the undercoat comes in black), then I'll know Rose carries a 'solid' pattern gene. I find it so interesting to try and figure out the genetics of their colors and patterns.

I boxed up the lambskins today to send to the tanner's. I sure hope I did the salting right and they turn out ok.