I guess all of us sheeple are updating today? I'm finally done lambing for the spring!
We had an event on the farm on Saturday and I spent all day telling people Eclair the cormo looked like she was due any moment but was actually due on the 24th-26th. Of course as soon as the last guest pulled out of the driveway I noticed her water broke. It was the most ridiculous birth I've been around for in a while. As soon as her water broke she decided it was time to fight and went around butting people for a while until she got distracted and started grazing. She started having more contractions then and started following her yearling lamb around making baby noises clearly very confused about the whole experience. Eventually I got her into a pen expecting her to get to business once she was penned up and quiet but no such luck. I ended up having to give her a dose of oxytocin and going in. The lamb was trying to come out face first with his front legs braced against her pelvis so I rearranged things and ended up just pulling him as soon as she started contracting again. He then wasn't sure he actually wanted to be alive but some vigorous rubbing and suctioning all the goop out of his mouth and nose got him going. After all that he's totally fine now! Good thing no visitors were around to see me all up the back side of a sheep.
He's pretty cute at least.
I took some other baby pictures too!
Lucky Charm
Lil' Poopers aka Hi-Jinx
Anise and her girl who barely fits under there anymore.
One of Aster's girls
Thistle's girlie
Daisy's boy who she spends all day and night yelling about. No one cares, Daisy!
I'm all done with lambs for the spring now! Of course I have lost my mind and am thinking of experimenting with fall lambs so there may be more in 5-6 months.
Finally a sunny day! I spent it sitting in the grass enjoying being with my lambs. I ended up all spitty but it was worth it.
Romeldales being goobers.
Cormo boy still hasn't grown into his pajamas.
This little ram is like 15-20 lbs tops but has huge attitude. He's getting halter trained as soon as his horns are in a little better to learn some respect. He's not mean or aggressive, just bold and confident.
His brother is much more easy going.
I'm crazy about this ram, he's a really striking guy. I'm hoping someone will be in the market for a super handsome 2 horned, blue eyed ram and wants him. He's built so nicely I'd keep him if he wasn't related to everyone here.
Reba's girl, I always get her confused with Anise's girl so I'm going to have to be careful when I do vaccines and ear tags soon. Usually I can tell all of them apart so I don't bother ear tagging right away but I've been so busy this lambing season I'm not as good as I usually am.
Ear tagging day! The jacobs have such tiny ears that I usually wait until their first shots to tag them and I can usually tell them all apart, no problem. This year for some reason I've been really struggling to tell some of them apart so I had to make myself a cheat sheet. Luckily their spots don't change and I had pictures of all of them from birth.
They are all very suspicious of me now but with 3 people it went very fast and smooth and I really like the size of the new ear tags I got.
Is anyone else going to be at Great Lakes next weekend in Wooster? @norseofcourse ? I've got some fleeces in the show and I'm planning on listening to the judging on Friday this year, then I'll probably be helping with my farm's booth on Saturday or Sunday.
Love the lamb cheat sheet! Yes I'll be at Wooster, looking forward to it. Good luck in the wool judging! I'm not entering this year, but will again next year.
Everyone is sheared finally! I don't know what to do with all the free time but posting pictures will do for now. I'm also working on my sales list which is a bummer because I want everyone to stay here but I currently have 60 sheep and that's too many sheep for my property.
Valkyrie the romeldale, who is staying and might be bred for fall lambs. She likes to hang around and get hugs every night after I feed them all.
I think Goliath needs a new flock this year, he's too closely related to everyone here even though I love the big squish. He was my first romeldale ram born here.
I'm planning on cutting back on goats as well. I'll be keeping some favorites but some need to find new herds. They're just so much more high maintenance than my sheep
Babies still have a month or two to grow out before I make final decisions on them. Most will be sold though.
Mr. Handsomeface aka Sinatra's horns better stay nice! I'm hoping to bring him to the jacob sheep AGM this year.
been catching up with your lambing thread and all I can say is that those are some of the cutest lambs I've ever seen. I had some speckled babies born this year too and I just look at them and wonder if I really want to tan a hide. congrats on all the babies, they are adorable.
I send pelts off to Stern tanning in WI and the product I get back is fantastic. I'm actually all sold out now and need to send in another batch I have salted and sitting around in my basement. I just have one left in the freezer that I need to power wash and dry but that one might have to wait for the next round. I'm sitting on a big fluffy pelt from a problem ram right now!