in like a lion,out like a lamb...not so much.

The weather has been unpredictable this March. Heavy snow at the start, lot's of chilly windy days. Rain more than not...and the sun, has been absent most of the month. Has it taken vacation ? 

Today is more of the same. Windy , chilly, drizzle or rain showers. We did have a stretch of really beautiful days Mid month. A teaser of what is soon to come. I have gotten both of my ponies feet trimmed and they look so much better. My poor pony Nugget who has bouts with Laminitis had grown out so long since the last time I had trimmed her a few months ago. Her feet really should be cared for at least every four weeks but it was so darn cold and her hooves were like granite. I had attempted to trim them in Feb.but I just could not get the nippers to even get a bite on her hooves.

The lambs are all doing well from the first born to the last (I think the last ! ) and I took a few photo's of them the other day when the sun was out and the sky blue.

Even  the triplets are doing okay but I am still a little worried for the smallest of the three. She is so tiny and frail.

On walks with the dogs I have been hoisting stones back up onto the walls that deer must have knocked off over the winter. You would think I would know better to wear gloves. I never remember till after the fact that Poision Ivy and I are not friendy. My hands are covered with boils and rash. I just never remember until I get my first rash of the season. I'll be more careful here on out.

Finally managed to get pups out on the sheep yesterday after about a months break. I don't think it is a bad thing at the age they are at to have time off. They are still growing and I really feel that to grind a dog at this age with lot's time on sheep just can't be good down the road. I see too many promising young dogs having lameness issues at too young and age. I guess this goes back to my working with horses and seeing the toll too much work can do to both body and soul of the young ones.

Flint was awesome. I can't think of a bad thing to say. He picked up where we had left off. He let me go to him, call him off and resend. He was hitting the deck when asked on a fetch and oh he just has such a nice cool forward way on his sheep. Natural but biddable. I was able to send him from my feet about 100 yards to gather. He was just so nice at the top. I saw him try to pull his little wide away flank to avoid me taking him off the sheep but he was so much better than he has been and gave up on that after two foiled attempts.

Rush was a bit of a different story. Not horrible , but more typical of what you expect of a ten month old pup who has been on sheep less than 20 times. Fast is the best way to explain what I saw. She was a rocket without thought for the first part of the session. On a fetch she wanted the sheep moving faster to me and would barrel into the rears. I was working to get her to settle but she really was not wanting to play the game with me or my way. In the end we did come to an understanding. I did put more pressure on her that I had been and she handled it well. I think she should be fine. It is just that after the wonderful work session I had with Flint, Rush looked like a loose cannon next to him. Must not pit the two againt each other. I think Rush will be a good dog, maybe needing more handle than Flint . I  think Flint has just a bit more eye than Rush and this makes him be able to rate his sheep better. Rush I think will be a high maintenance type . Time will tell and both are too young to make any real thoughts on what they will be in the end.

22 lambs in 14 days!

I think we are finished. I do have one ewe left who had been exposed to a ram but I think she did not get bred. So this is the end of a very busy two weeks here at the farm. Yesterday shortly after I posted my blog I noticed a ewe getting ready. At about noon she had a ewe and a ram lamb.

The weather started going down hill through out the day and sure as I suspected, you know who figured it would be just about perfect to have her lambs. Everyone else was kind enough to have lambs in the light of day. No, not her. Rain, wind, dark of night.
So at about 8:00 PM she was done, two cute ewe lambs on the ground.
" Salt and Pepper ".

I was happy for the two ewe lambs, but the mother was not letting her milk down. I could not get a good squirt out of either teat and only a sluggish amount from one. I milked out the ewe that had had her lambs earlier this afternoon and hoped 30 cc's for each lamb would suffice for colostrum. Granted it was not "first" milk but I figured it was better than none if the ewe was not able to supply these two with it.
I did see them nursing today but I don't think the will get enough . I called my neighbor Paul, a few farms down and asked if he had colostrum from any of his cows. He gave me some and I added lamb replacer to it and fed both lambs. They took it so I know they are not getting enough milk from their mom. I guess I will have to offer them a few bottles through out the days ahead. This ewe was bred and lambed twins the year before last with no issues. Still scratching my head on this one. Oh well, almost home free with out incident.

At about noon I saw my last ewe come in the barn and start digging her lambing spot. Around 2:30 PM she delivered a single LARGE ram lamb with a little help from me .

I also milked about 60 cc's of her first milk and fed it to the two lambs born last night. Better late than never and it could not hurt them to get more colostrum.

So with the exception of the one ewe left I think lambing is finally over. She could have been caught late as the Ram she was with was not removed until 12/10 so she  "may" be cooking a bun or two in the oven. I am doubtful though.

I ended with a total of 15 ewe lambs to 7 ram lambs. I am so happy for this. Most of my friends who have finished or are still lambing have had the tables tipped the other way this year. I am glad for once to be lucky .
So other than the two sort of bottle lambs things should get a little more back to normal. Whatever normal is on a farm.....

full tilt boogie

Yesterday we hit the ground running ! At about 4:30 in the morning while taking a trip to the bathroom I heard through the window the distinct cry of a new born lamb. So out to the barn to see what's up. I found a beautiful little brown new born Katahdin alone amongst the mass of sheep. I heard Momma at the back side calling to it. I picked her up and waded through the sheep to find Momma tending to two other little lambs! Triplets, and all ewes. Nice !

I got them set up in a jug and went back to bed for an hour or so.

When we went back out to do morning feed and chores we found another ewe in the barn looking ready to go. So we did the morning stuff and kept an eye on her. Just as we finished up she was ready to lamb. Twins, a ewe and ram lamb this time.

Five lambs on the ground and it was not even eight o'clock!

After a nice big farmers breakfast we went back out to tackle the day. I finally managed to trim at least one of my ponies feet, started shedding them out, scrubbed the water tubs and cleaned the paddock.

We moved the horse trailer , threw down hay to the lower barn . Moved a roll of fence and water tub out of the truck I had bought during the week.

We also did a road sweep of our and the neighbor across the streets property. I can't begin to tell you how much it bothers us to see trash on the roadside. We collected two huge bags full of plastic and glass bottles, cans and other crap people think nothing of chucking out their windows while driving by. Managed three really good walks and one trip down to the stream with the dogs as well.

We got back inside about 6:45 and I made Chicken Marsala for dinner, then a shower, and had about 45 minutes to decompress before the season opener for Breaking Bad. It is a dark show with depraved subject matter but the acting is just so good. I really don't know why but I just love this show.

I slept pretty well last night!

No lambs this morning . Someone who I won't mention looks like she MAY lamb today...but one never knows with her. 

two more lambs to the fold

The weather has just been splendid this week. I have gotten so much done. Finally got the Christmas lights off the house. Now, that has been bugging me. Too much snow and ice to risk taking them down sooner. I hate seeing them up on a house long after Christmas.

Yesterday when opening the windows to change out the air in the house I had something happen that I had been afraid of  since moving here. The windows are old double hung windows. Many (most) have to be propped open with wood because there is no tension to them. So while opening one of the windows it slipped away from my grip and I got one of my fingers squished up to the first knuckle in between the two windows. I can't begin to tell you how much that hurts!  I tried to lift the one window, that hurt too much . Tried to pull down the other window that hurt even more ! I ended up just yanking my finger out from the grip of both windows. That really hurt too but I was desperate at this point. My finger tip was flat for a good hour after getting it out. I iced it right away and I think that helped a lot. I felt sick to my stomach for quite a while. The finger nail is red so not sure if I'll loose the nail or not.
I seem to be very accident prone lately. Today Paul and I were moving some stockade fence sections and somehow a nail had stuck to a loose fence post and when we picked up the fence section the stupid post came up and wacked my shin ,  Ouch !

When we went out to feed up last night I heard the tell tale soft bleat of a mother ewe. We found one of my girls in the barn talking softly to her yet unborn lambs. This is the ewe who is the Katahdin / Cheviot cross. One of my lambs, not a purchased sheep.
Smart little thing and her first go at being a mom, right in the barn where it is safe. I stayed with her and when she was in hard labor I helped her with her lambs. Both lambs were in perfect position, I am sure she could have got through it okay without me but it being her first time I just thought I would help her along. She was so good and never fussed with me being back there at all and I think she really was happy I was there to help out. Two beautiful little ewe lambs. Her Mother will be proud as they now can show off their sets of twins together.

So far no lambs today.
Nola's son Robbie stopped by on " Jack " his Mule to see the lambs. We had also talked about stocking our pond with a few fish so he wanted to see the pond too. He is such a nice kid. So polite and comfortable around adults. Other than that we have just been taking advantage of this early warm snap to get some things cleaned up around the house and barn area.
I am really wondering what is going on with my one ewe. I thought for sure this one was to be the first to lamb (I also thought my Tunis was having twins or triplet's, so what do I know?) and still has not lambed out. I am thinking she is waiting for the weather to get bad and have them then.

Gigantor!

Bigger than big, Taller than tall,Quicker than quick,Stronger than strong.
Ready to fight for right , against wrong !
GIGANTOR ! GIGANTOR ! GIGANTOR !!!
I know this dates myself but it was one of my favorite cartoons as a child.
Do you recall that huge Tunis I had been waiting on to lamb?
No, again not the ewe I thought was going to lamb last week.

I thought for sure triplets or at least twins.
NOOOOOO, a single HUGE Ram lamb.
She picked a nice spot yesterday up along the rock wall sheltered from the wind and on the south side where the sun felt so warm. Around 3:00 in the afternoon she was having good steady contractions. I waited close by to see how it would go, given I was certian of multible births.
As the lamb started to show I noticed right away the the hooves were facing up. UH OH.
I gave her some time and when I was only seeing two little legs and no face I thought that I most likely was going to need to help this ewe. I waited just a bit more and after another hard contraction and not much progress I saw the two little legs wiggling . I waited for her next contraction and went over to her. She got up right away but I was able to grab her and got just in front so I could get my knee in front of her shoulder. I reached around and grabbed the two legs and pulled. Ass backwards and upside down , out came this monster lamb. Figures another Ram lamb to boot! I can not believe this was the only lamb in this ewe. He is the size of my first born single ewe lamb who has eight days on him!
I call him Gigantor

The other lambs are out and about and doing well. So cute to see them.

I have been sticking close to the house for just this reason. I am sure this lamb would have not made it had I not pulled him when I did. I needed to turn him upside down and give him a few swings to get the amniotic fluid out of his lungs. He was sputtering pretty good there and I was not sure if he may have taken in too much fluid. He seems okay today.

I got my vegetable garden and flower beds cleaned up while waiting on this ewe and had done some good clean up around the house the past few days.

Last night I did get over to Chip's ( Al's brother in law ) and  " helped " make maple syrup . Al called and asked me to bring eggs. Okay ??? I thought. So really it was just a bunch of us sitting around drinking , laughing and boiling some eggs in maple syrup that was boiling down over a wood fire. Met a few new people,  had a lot of laughs. Had a couple of Mike's Hard Lime-aid's and a hard boiled egg or two and called it a night.

 Got up at the crack for some reason today and no lambs born over night.

It has been just beautiful this week and have been enjoying the higher than average temp's we have had.

I  need to get to trimming some equine feet so may tackle a pony today. Had planned on trimming one of them yesterday but it does a number on me and when I saw  "wide load " getting ready to lamb what I thought and hoped were multiples I did not want to be too worn out. My eqines are in real need of trims and have neglected doing them because it was too cold. No excuse , but that is what I am going with. I wish I could find someone . I have asked a few folks in the area and they always tell me the farrier they are using is not taking new clients. Most don't want to be bothered with trims too. I really am not getting any younger and am sore a good day or two after trimming a horse or pony. Plus I ALWAYS manage to rake the rasp across a knuckle or too.THAT hurts!

Well that is about it for now.

in the nick of time

Today I had my first difficult lambing. One of my ewes .... ( no, not the one I have been waiting on ) looked to be showing early signs of lambing this morning when I was feeding. I waited and waited and just saw some mild contractions. After a few hours I got her up into the barn and checked on her every hour or so. Still nothing happening other than mild contractions,  she did not look distressed at all.

I took a ride down to a local hardware store that was closing it's doors. It was sad as the owner who was 82 had passed away and his wife and sons were closing his store. I bought a bunch of odds and ends. Somehow even with a % 50 discount I still managed to spend $70.00 !

My mind was on the ewe and went home to find her, now about 3:30 in the afternoon just as I saw her at 7:00 this morning. So I called my neighbor Al and asked if he could come up and hold the ewe so I could check her to see if the lamb was in a bad position. He came right up and again I sure am thankful for the people who I have met up here and can be proud to call my friends. I did an exam and the lamb felt in the right position two little feet and a head tucked just behind them. Unfortunatly when palpatating her I broke the water and had to pull the lamb out . I knew this ewe was too tired after trying all day and the lamb would die if I did not act promptly . I pulled and pulled and I mean PULLED on this lamb. I pulled so hard I was pulling the ewe away from Al while he was holding her. I felt bad but I had to keep at it. I finally was able to get the head out and two more pulls and the lamb came out. Thankfully alive. I don't think that would have been the case if I had not acted when I did. I hate going into a sheep but I felt so many hours had past and it was time to get proactive.
All that work for a Ram lamb, darn ! After I pulled him out I went back in just to make sure there was not another lamb. She was empty and this boy is a big'un . Almost as big as a single I have that is two days older than him.
At least the ending was happy. But now the happy bliss of lambing is tainted with the nagging possibility of something going bad. I hate that part.
Maybe I'll call this little guy Nick, since we got him out just in the nick of time!

meet Hershey and Bosco !

Had another set of twins born yesterday afternoon . NO , again not the one I thought would lamb a few days ago !

Sneaky ewe showed no sign she was ready to lamb. Did a sweep of the flock mid afternoon and found her down the hill in a nice little hollow just about perfect for her to lamb. She was in steady contractions so left her alone and sat on a rock close by to keep and eye on her. She was all business. None of this getting up and down , pawing or circles round and round. She got comfortable and went down and popped out two little ewes in short fashion. Two brown beauties , we are calling them Hershey and Bosco.

I let the first ewe and her lamb out with the flock today. Most of my last years lambs were very fascinated with the tiny new addition to the flock.

I'll add to this blog if there are any new lambs born today .

And their off !

Last night after my Blog entry I went out to do evening chores and feeding. When bringing hay out to the sheep I noticed one of my ewes down the hill a bit and not coming up for hay.  Again , NOT the ewe who I thought for sure would lamb the other day !
Uh oh , I thought. Don't even THINK your lambing in the rain and cold out here tonight ! I was able to convince her she really should go in the barn and after a little coaxing she agreed. Around six thirty or so she delivered a little Ram lamb and shortly after a little ewe lamb.

This morning I noticed another ewe showing signs of early stage labor.

Convinced her the barn would be the perfect place to birth and just before noon today she delivered twins. Another Ram lamb and Ewe lamb.

 

I have a daughter of this ewe who is bred this year . I had crossed her to one of my Cheviots rams the year before last and the Cheviot Katahdin cross showed much more to the Cheviot side of the cross. I have bred this ewes daughter back to my other Cheviot Ram so it should have a real Cheviot look to the lamb (s) .

So it seems my ewes look to finally be getting with the program. I am bringing everyone in the barn tonight. We are looking at some heavy rain and high wind. Better safe than sorry .

and then there were two

My ewes are really taking sweet time lambing out this spring! Yesterday I thought for sure a ewe was going to lamb. I waited and waited. She was pawing , restless, grunting when down. I got tired of holding vigil. I left an went down to Nola's for a while. She was tacking up one of her young Paso stallions  when I got there. She is focused on getting him ready for a show and I can understand the pressure she is feeling all too well. She has been refining his canter. A gait that is not something that comes natural to the breed. Her young stallion is getting it but like all of us better on one side than the other. I really was impressed with this young horses attitude. Nola really worked him and pushed him just a bit more than he wanted. He took it all and tried. He never got argumentative and you could see him processing the information she was transmitting and working hard to give her what she was asking for. When she felt she could stop on a good note she invited me to get up on him.I have never been on a "gaited" horse before. After working him just a little to get the feel of what they are about I was really taken with the smooth gait that is so natural to them. I did not want to do much since he had worked hard for Nola. I can see why people are taken with this breed. They are smooth as a Cadillac.


Yesterday was so beautiful. In the low 60's. I had the pleasure of seeing a flock of Snow Geese on the wing back north yesterday morning. They really were stunning against the blue sky overhead.

We had really good melt off yesterday and I had strong streams of run off all over the property. I can see ground again...and MUD. Had to break out the short hose yesterday and hose the dogs down at end of day before coming in the house. The pups were pretty good about it and the older dogs know the drill by now.
Last check in the evening and still no lambs, nothing this morning when I went out to feed.

The contractor came today to finish up the kitchen. I would love to say the job is done. Too bad there was one piece molding short of finished. So he will drop off the last one over the weekend and I'll stain and clear coat it and it will be done! I took a few pictures that don't show the missing molding so you can see what it ended up looking like

So while the contractor was working , I checked on the sheep. I heard the tell tale digging and pawing....yep a ewe in first stage labor. NOT the ewe I thought would lamb yesterday though!
So another Katahdin single, but thankfully a ewe lamb .
The little black Katahdin Ram " Houdini " I used for this season sure is putting his stamp on his get !

At last !

Just a quick note to show the first lamb. Nice little black Katahdin ewe lamb.

Mom and lamb are doing great.

and down the stretch they come !

I know it's been a while since my last blog. Not much to talk about. Too much snow to work dogs. I hurt my leg again trying to walk in the deep snow and have been a little pissy about it. I have been working hard at getting the kitchen project finished because I know once the weather breaks for the better I will not be in the house much at all and sure will not want to be doing any inside projects. It's now or never.

Yep, I think it just might be the beginning of a fresh new season. I had my doubts after getting dumped 26 or so inches of snow over several days as well as a very LONG string of overcast dreary days.  But the past few days have been very nice. Just warm enough to melt the snow at a reasonable rate and not cause flooding.

Today was particularly nice. I saw our first Red Wing Blackbird atop a tree hoping to attract a lady bird or two.

The Maples are plump with spring buds

The stream is full and bubbling with the snow melt

The melt off is turning the place into little streams of runoff. So it has been a challenge to negotiate the running water, mud or deep snow in any given place

Still there were the usual few who enjoyed the walks during my breaks from the kitchen project I have been focused on.

Spirit was amusing herself with seeing how high she could jump .

Bracken, really just does not see the point of it.

Even my horse Scotty was having some fun with the running water today.

So, back to the kitchen. The contractor had finished the rough work so this left me to staining and clear coating the molding and trim. Priming and painting the new ceiling and walls just over the cabinets. There was a really ugly dropped ceiling there when we bought this place that came down to the top of the cabinets and just above what was a french door. So when the drop ceiling came down the contractor covered the space over the cabinets with sheetrock to tie it in. There is oak paneling in much of the house.I'm not a fan , so 70's ! Anyway, it was not stained or clear coated where it was hidden under the drop ceiling. I had to then sand it , try to match the stain and blend the clear coat to what is on the panels that was below the dropped ceiling. I don't want to spend too much on this as hopefully at some point it will be gone too. I finished up with that today and it is matched pretty well.You still can see the mark where the metal frame was for the old drop ceiling but it is blended well enough that your eye is not drawn to it as it was before I messed with it some. There were two old ugly office type Fluorescent lights overhead. We changed them and put recessed lighting in the cooking area and a small ceiling fan with lights in the eating area. We also changed out a French Door with a Patio door.

So I am done. The contractor comes back Thursday and will get all the molding and trim up. I'll take some pictures of it finished. I am stiff and sore and feel my age! Will run my errands tomorrow and going over to Nola's tomorrow night for a little get together. Should be fun and she makes a mean frozen Margarita!

Oh and the sheep, I don't know what they are waiting on but STILL not one little lamb !