Took a minute

Went out this afternoon to feed the two lambs that drink supplemental milk out of a bowl, while checking on the lambs I couldn't resist sitting down with them under their favorite ruminating spot for a few minutes. Sometimes I wish I was a sheep, they are in no hurrry and seem to enjoy life waiting on their shepherd to come out with the feed bucket a couple of times a day while keeping the hay feeders and water tanks full. The ewes feel pretty secure in the pasture and come in a small paddock connected to the barn at night. Today's weather was enough to make us all happy, hope more is on the way.

Snowbabies updated

It's amazing how fast a lamb can grow just on ewes milk. The snowbabies are three weeks old, not eating any grain or grazing, just on mom. They will be old enough to be weaned before you know it. These lambs are half Finn-Cormo and are showing a lot of lustre in their fleeces, should be soft and shiny, very interesting. Real sweet lambs just like their dad, I've never had a ram that loved to be petted and even wag his tail, but yet would not butt me.

What's new

Airielle had her foal without me, made my 1:00 am check and knew she was getting ready, passed out for a couple of hours and ran up the hill to find this. What a happy surprise, and it is a filly. Such a sweet and inquisitive creature, loves to get butt rubs, maybe rubbing that horsehoe print on her butt will bring us good luck. Worth a try. Such a good mom, never agressive toward me, has loads of milk, and beautiful. It makes all the hard work worth it just to have them to touch and just to look at them is magical. Think the last ewe lambed this morning, still a few more does to kid but spaced out more so I can get some sleep. Soon as the weather breaks lots of shearing to get done before it gets hot. The cycle begins again.

Snowbabies

Winter has been as cold, wet, windy and tough as summer was hot and dry. Most of the sheep and goats have stayed in the barns so that means carrying feed and water and hay indoors. Lot's of work for the shepherd, but this weather is hard on animals. Have lost a few of the older ones and was feeling down. Dotsy surprised me with these twins on the coldest day we've had. She is a first time mama and did a perfect lambing and mothering with her two sweet babies. Fortunately, I sheared her on the one warm day we had last week and she was smart enough, maybe cold enough, to seek shelter in the back corner of the lambing barn. Not all sheep are so smart. Some ewes and does get as far away from me and the other animals to drop their babies in the cold, wet, stormy and unprotected from predators place they can find. Dotsy spent hours drying the lambs down with her tongue then guided them to what saved their life, colostrum, without they cannot live. When she was through I moved her to a pen with warm water and hay for her and a dry bed and heat lamp for the lambs. Went back later to put sweaters on them and will leave them on a few days until they get full of milk and warm.