Penultimate Lambing for 2007

Fancy had her lambs this morning. She'd been hanging away from the other ewes and generally looking suspicious, but not enough to stay up with her. This morning on the lamb cam, she had a little black lump with her in the far corner of the Hilton. When I went out to take care of them, though, the lump diverged! There were two "black" lumps. Let the other ewes and lambs out, dip navels, get weights - just under 6 lb and just over 6 lb, nice sized girls for a first time mom - then put them in the waiting jug. Motherhood brings such a pleasant change over these girls. They become more calm and trusting of their shepherd and seem to gain patience overnight. The last two who've lambed, Fancy and Tori, have been known to jump fences when we're trying to pen them - not good - but with their lambs, they're settling down and only giving me a wary eye when I get close.

Twins. That puts a crimp in my colostrum saving efforts. Not that I'm complaining! I decided not to "steal" colostrum from moms with twins or triplets, or yearling moms. That left only two mature ewes with singles. Hortense donated about 3 cups, and Lindy lambed during the Shepherd's Extravaganza, when there was essentially no time to milk her within that first 12 hours or so.

Total lambs at EverRanch is 39. Thirty nine! A lot of other farms routinely have more lambs than that. I'm overwhelmed, thrilled and looking for ways to extend our pastures and protect the younguns from infections, parasites, and predators.

Thank you, Fancy. Emmie is now the only one left to lamb and we're thinking her due date is still a couple of weeks out. C'mon Emmie! Photos at 11 ;-)

-Franna