"Hi, we're new here! What's your name?"
Five months ago the ram lamb that we used for breeding jumped one fence and tore down another to get in with ewes we didn't want bred. Well, he successfully bred 3 ewes. One ewe, Ruth, was having a year off. The other two were past bottle lambs themselves and we didn't want to see if they could raise their own lambs. Sarah is 4 and Jane is 2.
Jane went into premature labor two weeks ago and couldn't deliver the lamb. With the aid of the vet a little ewe was born. Her heart was strong at first but just too young to survive. Jane wandered the pasture "baaing" for her lamb for several days. She would have been a great mom!! Thank goodness she healed well and is doing fine.
The 24th of June was day 146 from the breakout. On the 23rd, Sarah delievered a brown ewe lamb with a white flash on her head. She will probably be musket. She was born around 4:30 am. We are calling her Lightning to go with our weather related theme this year. After settling her in a pen with her mom we noticed that Ruth appeared to be beginning labor.
Lightning is checking out the clover from the fresh hay that was cut last week. She has tight curls all over like her grandfather, Cory.
At 7:30 am I was startled from a deep sleep for some reason. Off to the barn I went to check on the new little one and see how Ruth was progressing.
What to my wondering eyes should appear? Two little lambs up and nursing together. Wow!! That's how we like it. They were already dry and quite content. We never thought Ruth was that close to lambing! Yea, Ruth!!
Here is Hidaway Farms La Nina or Neena for short. She is a black and white smirslet ewe lamb. Neena has 3 high white socks. Her little nose is pink and black. What a cutie!!
Isn't being a lamb the best!!??
Neena's brother is Hidaway Farms Monsoon. He is a moorit and white smirslet ram lamb with 4 white socks and a tail that looks like it has be dipped in white paint just a little bit. Monsoon also has a "man beard" according to Katie. (A man beard is white fluffy wool under the chin going down the neck.) He was hopping around the lambing pen from the very beginning.
It's amazing how the lambs grow and develop in two short months!! Below is Stormy checking on the latest addition. Look at the size difference! Won't be long before these new ones are right there with the others!
Whew! We are glad that lambing is over for 2010. Total count: 7 rams lambs and 6 ewe lambs!
This is April Showers. She is an adorable musket yuglet/katmoget. This is our first double patterned lamb. April has a dense, soft fleece with luster.
We bred Hidaway Farms Emily Bronte, grey katmoget, with Sycamore Farms Tundra, a black smirslet. Emily then went to live with wonderful friends of ours. April was born at their farm.
We were amazed to see pictures of her as a newborn. So...Denise was very gracious and we traded Money Penny, a yearling katmoget for April.
Our new ram, Mapleton Thunder, and April Showers hang out together. They are the newbies on the block or rather in the pasture and the others aren't terribly willing to let them into their click!!
