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10/07/2024
The instincts of one of the pup pups have really kicked in nicely. Magazine and her mentor Petit Jean are getting along splendidly, and she is guarding her flock like a champ. Her sister has been slower to grow out of the puppy mentality stage, but we still have high hopes for her.
In the yearling pasture we welcomed Number 49 this weekend. The interesting thing about these late deliveries is that they’ve all been ewe lambs. 💕
47 and slowly counting… I’ve already informed the boss that this trickling of yearling mommas delivering lambs in the heat of summer wasn’t a good idea. Next year will be different!
Keeping fresh water for all the animals has been a top priority this week. We sure would welcome some rain and cooler temperatures!
BTW, the ewe you can hear hacking up a lung in the background is fine; she just choked on some mineral.
Number 45 has arrived.
18/06/2024
There is a beautiful, amazing story behind this little one. About six weeks ago, this yearling ewe developed pregnancy toxemia. As most shepherds know, a sick sheep is usually a dead sheep, and she definitely qualified as proof of that statement. Chuck decided to take her on as his own project. He kindly told her that he wouldn’t give up unless she did. 💕
There were several days when he would enter the barn and mentally accept the fact that she was dead, only to notice an ear twitch and recommit himself to his promise. You need to understand that she could not even raise her head, let alone stand to eat, so he used a drench gun to feed her electrolytes and lamb milk replacer. Slowly, she gained the strength to raise her head briefly. He then began to hand-feed her freshly-picked clover and grain and held bowls of water for her to drink several times a day for weeks. During this time, she pooped and peed on herself and developed sores from lying on the barn floor, so Chuck hosed her off and washed her enough to keep the flies from eating her alive. Anyone who visited us during that time knows what a sad mess she was. Eventually, though, she was able to hold her head up for extended periods of time, so we moved her outside into a protected area with high grass for her to munch on. Chuck made sure she had protective shade and still carried her water and small bowls of grain throughout the days. Amazingly, she remained alive, but never did gain enough strength to get up off the ground. All along, he kept reminding her (and me) that he’s a loser-not a quitter, and that he wouldn’t give up unless she did.
Fast forward to this past Saturday. Chuck returned from checking on his little project with an unexplainable look on his face. (I assumed the end had finally come for the poor, pathetic thing.) His bewilderment was understandable when he told me that his ewe had delivered a lamb! Now keep in mind that she hasn’t stood up for six weeks. Not only did she deliver a healthy baby, but she managed to successfully clean it, and the lamb had even nursed! When I went to see for myself, the ewe was “talking” to her baby and the tiny little lamb was up walking around her momma just like any other newborn lamb would. I cannot express how amazing this is.
We have moved them into the barn, and, as of today, the lamb is thriving. The ewe may never get up again, but she rolls from side to side, and the little lamb bends down and nurses her.
It’s truly remarkable what Chuck has accomplished with this project. I sometimes get frustrated when he tends to the animals in ways that I don’t think are good enough, but I have to hand it to him on this one. I think it’s a true livestock miracle, and I echo what one of our early mentors once told him, “Now that’s some good shepherding!”
Round 2 has begun 🥰. This group will be much more sporadic, but it’s time to keep a close watch on the yearling pasture.
Today I turned the bottle babies out with the yearlings. I think they like their freedom! They are eating grass now and getting only two bottles a day.
24/05/2024
I’m not a photographer, but I can see how being one would be exciting. I love studying how the lighting changed over a course of mere seconds as the sun rose behind this tree this morning.
I know I indicated that I’m done posting, but I just had to show you this little playpen Chuck set up for the bottle babies. 🥰
I just wanted to share my morning ride to the barn with you. I don’t post like I used to because these days my “want to” is much stronger than my “can do” is. If you miss seeing the lamb videos, please go to our page and scroll through posts from years past (or give us a call and come visit). 😊
This is a decent video to show why triplets are often a problem. Ewes have two teats, so if they have three hungry lambs, the weakest one often cannot fight its way to nurse before the ewe’s udder is emptied by the stronger lambs. Yes, she will produce more milk, but if the weakest lamb isn’t assisted in grabbing hold of a teat or supplemented, it will grow weaker very quickly and become too weak up even try. The ewe will walk away from a weakling lamb - illustrating nature’s “survival of the fittest.” That’s why we have to pay really close attention to all the newborns to make sure they are gaining strength each day until they are strong and bold enough to get all the milk they need. These three babies will be bottle fed until they are old enough to be weaned.
It’s a new week and a fresh start. We did some reorganizing over the weekend to (hopefully) simplify things a little bit. The three bottle babies are now penned up together. I think Wellesley approves of this setup.
After assessing the ewes, I think there are three left to deliver in this first batch. We moved the 19 yearlings to a different pasture, as they were bred later and won’t be due for a while. Except for the bottle feeding, I guess this is our mid-season break. Current count: 42 lambs. 😊
I have a set of wind chimes gifted at my dad’s funeral hanging at the barn. One reason they’re at the barn is to remind me to keep working hard, even when I’m ready to quit, because that’s what he would tell me to do. The other reason they’re at the barn is a little bit spiteful, because he hated those “damn horses,” and would rather see me working anywhere besides the barn. 😂 As I stood listening to the melody of the chimes and watching Banjo eat belly-high grass this morning, I smiled, because I think he would have to admit this is a beautiful sight - horse and all! 🥰
Someone’s excited about the cooler temperatures today.
It’s fun until it isn’t. These are two of the three mommas who are currently in detention because they are refusing to let one of their babies nurse. One of the triplets and two of the twins have been disowned. Every four hours or so, we hold each of these ewes and let her rejected lamb nurse both sides. The lambs are getting stronger and more aggressive each day, which makes this job progressively a little easier, but it’s still annoying, especially when there are three of them.
In the time it took me to fetch a bottle of water for Chuck, Lambs 27 and 28 were on the ground! Some lucky mommas have very short labor/delivery times.
We welcomed lambs 19 and 20 this afternoon and thought you might want to join us for their arrivals.
Consider this your live birth warning.
Another beautiful morning! The triplets are well-bonded with their momma, so I released them back into the pasture.
01/05/2024
It’s May 1, our targeted start to lambing season, and guess who took the day off to turkey hunt? It would take pages of writing to share all that has happened so far today, so I’ll just touch on the highlights with a few photos. The count is currently 13 lambs.
30/04/2024
It’s a beautiful, foggy morning, and we’re up to seven lambs. Chop Chop is on deck! 😊
We added two boys to the roster this afternoon. Olivia has been a big help, as she gave up her day off work to give us a hand.
Good morning! We’re off to a good start - 3 girls so far!
28/04/2024
It’s a girl! Momma and baby doing fine 🥰. For those of you who guessed which ewe would lamb first, we were all wrong. It was Sister. (She’s the one who was snacking on spinach in the photo posted a few days ago. ). It’s a beautiful day to be a shepherd!
Lambpalooza 2024 has officially begun! 🥰 More details after we go to worship the Lord…
27/04/2024
No babies yet. This poor girl looks like a swan sitting there.
26/04/2024
According to the ovine gestation calendar, tomorrow is the earliest targeted date for lambs to be born. I took a moment this morning to assess the flock and predict which ewe I think will be first. Can you make a guess? 🐑💕
There are times throughout the year when we want our ewes to carry extra weight. Going into winter, for example, is a good time for them to have some extra cover (i.e. fat). However, lambing season is not one of those times. Carrying extra weight can cause difficulties during delivery, including prolapse. That’s why we’re watching their diets pretty closely right now. Today they’re snacking on organic spinach leaves.
24/04/2024
Last fall we sold two breeding ewes to a family that wanted more color in their flock. These are two of the lambs they got this spring. Both ewes are great mommas, and we are thrilled with how healthy and beautiful their lambs are! Check out that tri-color! 😍
23/04/2024
In order to rely less on the commercially processed food industry, one of the commodities we have added to our arsenal is homegrown pork. We purchase weanling piglets, feed them out, and butcher them ourselves. This has added to the list of daily chores, but knowing our meat is raised humanely, on the ground, without any hormones or antibiotics is worth it!
22/04/2024
This is a rotten way to start the week, literally. We lost the last of our original ewes today. She is the one Chuck wanted to pass on, but I insisted we buy her back in 2016 when this project began because I saw something special in her. I named her Gray Eye, and she became our top producer and my closest buddy. She bore us three sets of triplets and four sets of twins, so she definitely earned her keep. We buried her this morning because she deserved a proper burial. Sad day, but that’s the cycle of life on the farm. I will miss her! 😢
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