Lambs are growing, Hay is being cut, School is almost out!

Amelia is an amazingly friendly ewe considering that her mother will never come near us. Last spring I broke my pinky trying to catch her for pre-lambing vaccinating and worming. Needless to say, Daisy wasn't caught last year or this year until lambing. Amelia is so soft and has a lot of fleece. She is a possible keeper.
Here is Rhett Butler. We really like his conformation and crimpy moorit fleece. We would like to show him this fall and then sell him. Of course, that is if his horns cooperate.
This is one of our first two lambs that were born this year. He is going to be light grey. This is Orville. He is out of Emmett, the yearling ram that we would like to sell.
Follow the leader...Katie is carrying Minnie Pearl to sheep candy (leaves that they can't reach). Coming along behind her is Hank Aaron, Jackie O., and Minnie's brother, Patrick Henry.



We received some much needed rain today. As you can see from our pasture, we haven't had an over abundance of the wet stuff.



My husband, Rothey, and his father put up some much needed hay this past weekend. They got a good start before the rain. As soon as more clear days come, they will cut again. We were very blessed to have enough of our own hay this year. We finished up our last bale, just in time for a new one!



School is coming to a close. Why is that important, you might ask? Well, I am a teacher at Hendersonville Christian School, and it means a nice break! Time to play with the sheep, catch up on spinning, scrapbooking, cleaning, sleeping late and trying my hand at painting roving! Yes!! It also means that my baby daughter graduates from high school on Friday, May 30th. The same day I turn 43. :( We are proud of her and her accomplishments. More on that later.



Life continually offers change, and it is difficult. Some of us struggle with change more than others. I know that we'll make it. Phil. 4:13 promises that!

Baa Baa Black Sheep, have you any wool?

Yes, sir, yes, sir, MANY bags full!!! :> Shearing day arrived on Monday when Anthony came and sheared 17 of the 26 that needed their yearly haircuts. He returned on Tuesday to finish the other 9. We usually shear over the course of 2 days because we all work full time, and there are not enough hours in a day to get the job done.
Anthony is shearing Rare Find Farm Cory, our 3 year old fawn katmoget ram. He has been a wonderful addition for our flock. Cory's father is Underhill Gordon, and his mother is Windswept Rosemerta. He has a wonderful, gentle demeanor that he passes on to his lambs. He is friendly yet very respectful. When he was waiting his turn to be shorn, he just stood there while Katie held his halter, no butting or fuss.
Anthony loves Cory's fleece. It is very crimpy and lustrous and extremely soft. He is passing this softness to his lambs. We love to use him on our longest fleeced ewes which is how we are getting nice, soft, wavy, long fleeces on our lambs. Two of his sons were Champion and Reserve Champion rams at the North Carolina Mountain State Fair last September.
Wow, look at that fleece. (Yes, a bit of VM-vegetable matter.)
25 bags full to be exact!! (Our other fleece was from Peep, Lauren's first market lamb, who is 12 years old. Her fleece went with the shearer to a wool pool.) Time to start skirting fleeces. Most will go to Frankenmuth's Woolen Mill, and we will hold 6 or 7 to show in the fall. Oh, the lovely smell of raw sheep's wool as you walk into our house! I guess it's a smell only a shepherd could love!

Who to Sell?

This is Rare Find Farm Emmett. He is a 1 year old proven ram. He is registered as emsket. Emmett is a very sturdy, square standing ram. He put nice straight legs on his lambs. He has an immense fleece. Emmett is for sale in order for us to purchase a spotted moorit ram. We will also have several ram lambs and wethers for sale as well. It is also looking like we will sell 3 ewe lambs. One of the ewe lambs is a beautiful black ewe with a very soft fleece. There will also be 2 katmoget ewes for sale. They will be determined at a later time.
After a hard day at work, there is nothing like sitting in the pasture or barnyard watching sheep contentedly crunch grass or lambs at play. This weekend included a good bit of SOOTHING sheep sitting! Here are a couple of the pictures captured during this down time.
Jane Austin and Emily Bronte peer into the barn to see what they can see.
Jane enjoys her rest time after playing with the other lambs. Today was the first day that she was on her own for about 1/2 of the day. Whew! She was tired when we returned her to her pen after her lunch. She doesn't seem to mind that her life is a little different being the bottle baby!

Baby Jane

Our bottle baby is trying to figure out where she fits into the scheme of things in the barnyard at our house. Jane is a week old and really would like to be one of the sheep. She is kept in a large pen in the barn between feedings and run around time. She would love to be out all the time but without a mom to look out for her, it's just too early. There are 4 mothers that chase her away or butt her when she gets near their heads. She's learning to move a little more quickly. Then there are two yearlings, one was our bottle lamb last year. Then there is Sarah, our bottle lamb from 2 years ago that didn't get bred last fall. So no one really wants to put up with a little feisty ewe lamb.





In the top picture she is checking out Sarah. We have had 3 years experience with bottle babies but due to a rejection issue with the mother not a death. In the second picture Jane is eyeing a pipe that she really wants to jump over. Some day, Jane. Just not today.





Tomorrow I will be demonstrating spinning at the Historic Johnson Farm Festival. At least I will have an excuse to sit and spin all day. I still won't make a dent in the roving that I have accumulated.





We are hoping to shear next week....that means more fiber!! I better get a lot done tomorrow!

Precious Moments

Shania with her girls in the afternoon...










Resting in a feed pan...

























Minnie Pearl sleeping on mom. Can you see her?


What a handsome face, Patrick Henry.









Yes, life is good on the farm!

Baby Jane

Introducing our bottle lamb, Jane Austin- she is a musket (?) katmoget. The wool on her body is an oatmeal color just like her mom's. She has brown wool on her legs and belly. She is getting stronger each day. Today she ran around with us in the pasture and likes to stay right by your feet. We are hoping that the two little ewe lambs in the pasture will become her friends. Bethia's boy already tried to be the bully toward her. Someone is always trying to be top sheep!



Here are Gina's lambs. The ram, Rhett Butler, is moorit with a very crimpy fleece. His sister,
Scarlet O'Hara, is a very dark grey katmoget.



Being the last of the babies they are the least friendly. We didn't give them as much attention as we have the previous babies. Maybe they'll be curious and we'll get to pet them. I love the thick legs on these two.




Now that lambing is over we get to watch them grow and play. The lamb races have begun. I need a picture or two of that.



We feel very blessed with the 21 healthy lambs that we have. I think we will be keeping about 5 or 6 of the ewe lambs but the rest will eventually be for sale. We will pick a couple of the rams to show this fall as well as the ewes that we will keep. There is nothing like sitting in the pasture with curious babies checking you out and enjoying some scratches.

"It was the best of times. It was the worst of times."

Yes, this year's lambing was the best and the worst in the 12 or so years that we have bred sheep. We are finished and the final count is 12 ram lambs and 9 ewe lambs.

10 ewes lambed without a hitch. 10 sets of healthy twins. We only saw one lamb born this year. We have beautiful colors, patterns, and soft fleeces. They are running around the pasture like crazy children-hopping, kicking, jumping, crashing, and out and out running.



The very best of the best ... the two ewe lambs born to Windswept Shania and Hidaway Farms Razzle. It was an experiment. Razzle's mom is a black yuglet sokket and his dad is a fawn katmoget. Razzle is a grey katmoget. We have been trying to get spots from Shania but so far only 3 solids and a katmoget. The experiment worked.
So...introducing...(drum roll please)...Hidaway Farms Emily and Charlotte Bronte.















Emily is a spotted grey katmoget ewe. She has a white spot on her forehead and some white patches in her grey fleece. Charlotte is what our goal was. She is a moorit smirslet ewe. She has one brown leg and hoof and 3 white legs and hooves. Her belly is white as well as her tail and neck. We couldn't be happier with these two.



Windswept Martina (black with a krunet spot) was also bred to Razzle. She produced two black ram lambs.














The experiment didn't produce the same results with Martina who carries the spotting gene. On the top is Ricky Ricardo and on the bottom is Fred Mertz.



We also had a precious moorit ram with a very crimpy fleece born to Hidaway Farms Gina and a dark grey katmoget ewe lamb. Pictures will come later.




We were nearing the end with one more ewe to lamb. All I can say it that it was a tragedy. After too many hours in labor we realized that Cadey was having a problem. A call to the vet-she was out of town-it was up to my dear husband to untangle the lambs. It seems both were trying to be born at the same time. A stillborn ram lamb was delivered and then a very weak ewe lamb came. Poor Cadey was in shock. She tried licking the ewe and even drank some warm molasses water. We gave her a shot and some nutridrench. We gave the lamb nutridrench and a bottle. We left the barn that night discouraged and knew it was up to them if they were to survive at all. Thursday morning my husband found the lamb nursing a very sore and miserable Cadey. Cadey died during our evening feeding. She tried nursing the baby just a few minutes before she gave up. What a valiant mother she was!! Needless to say that we were heartbroken for the second time this lambing season. Well, we have a bottle baby for the 4th year in a row. For the past 3 years we had a mom that rejected one lamb every year. We got smart and didn't breed her this time. Well, on the plus side...we don't have 2 bottle lambs.




We have baby Jane Austin, a musket katmoget, in a little pen in the barn. She is doing very well and getting stronger every day. She already knows our voices and follows us around. It is truly amazing! She smells my breath just to be sure it's her new mom. We will love her and take care of her for Cadey! Tomorrow I will introduce you to her.




Yes, it has been the best of lambing and the worst of lambing. Now we move ahead and watch as these beautiful lambs grow and those wonderful Shetland fleeces are being produced!