A Peanutty Surprise

Elvira has been acting strange for the past few days.  So strange, in fact, that she's been in lambing jug (so we could keep an eye on her).  Today, Scott and I left for an appointment, and when we returned....

Licking baby... a lot.

Elvira gave birth to a single lamb sometime around noon today.   The lamb is a girl, and she's 99% white--she has a few black spots.  According to our scale, she weighed six pounds.  I think that's a little low.  We've named her Peanut because of Elvira's fondness for peanuts.

Where's the milk?

Peanut had a bit of trouble getting started nursing.   Specifically, her momma wouldn't let her in the udder vicinity.  She was too busy licking her.

I'm sparkly clean now, Mom!

Once again, Calico attempted a lambnapping.  And once again, Theresa was a bit freaked out. 

Theresa checking out Peanut and stealing some hay while she's at it.

Pecan

Spring Lambs...in the Snow

We've been watching Elsie for days now.  She's had none of the signs of lambing that I've read about in books.  Off her feed?  Nope, Elsie was eating while delivering the afterbirth.  Seeking privacy from the flock?  No, she delivered her lambs in the midst of the whole gang.  Elsie's behavior was normal for Elsie all day yesterday.  She did have a few physical signs: udders filling up (more), lambs dropping.  Some of the other animals have acted differently the past few days: Barack was in high alert mode, and Calico and Sandy (our experienced mommas) were hanging out with Elsie (or Elsie was hanging out with them).

Pecan getting a drink while Pistachio looks around.

We checked on all the animals around eight o'clock.  When Scott* did a "midnight check" at 11:15, there were lambs.  I quickly went out to join him and saw sheep in various forms and stages of excitement.  Elsie was looking for her lambs, Calico thought they might be her lambs, and Theresa thought they were visitors from another planet.  Everyone (other than Barack** and Scott) was baaing. 

Elsie is getting the hang of the mothering thing quickly.

Scott and I managed to get the lambs and Elsie into the lambing jug.  We had some tribulations first.  Calico thought it was her turn to go into the jug, and Theresa decided to get out of the barn and not (under any circumstances except perhaps snacks) come back in.  We did all the stuff you're supposed to do with newborn lambs--hopefully we did it properly.

Pistachio.  The white near her lips means she will lighten up.

Elsie has a boy and a girl**.  The boy weighed about seven pounds (our scale is a piece o' poo), and he is all black.  His name is Pecan.  (I'm not sure if we'll go for Southern or Northern pronunciation.)  The girl weighed about five pounds.  She is black, with a white spot on her head and "sugar lips"--white around her lips that indicated that she will lighten up, possibly looking a bit like Theresa.  We're calling her Pistachio.

Meeting the other sheep.

There has been some shock and disbelief that our white sheep has given birth to two (mostly) black lambs.  Their daddy is a dark gray Shetland ram, so it's not much of a surprise.

We should have a week or so until we have any more lambs.  But when we left the barn this morning, Calico was digging a nest the size of the Grand Canyon....

* We take turns with nighttime checks. 
** Barack guarded goats in the past and has witnessed birth.  He was interested in what was going on but was very calm.  Unlike some of the sheep....
*** Unless there was a examination error.

Keeping an Eye Out

We've been keeping a close eye on Elsie.  She is due to lamb in a week.  She's still running up hills (although I'm not quite sure how) and otherwise acting normal, but she's really, really enormous.  The other girls have been really frisky the past few days--running, sproinging, ramming each others' heads....  Calico is seven years old and very pregnant and she still takes part in the frolics.

Elsie and Calico

Barack O'Llama is keeping a watchful eye on everyone.  He protected the boys and I from some cows yesterday.

"You do NOT want to go near that cow!"

Gently herding us away from the fence.

In addition to his other duties, he's also been busy protecting the sheep from a bunny that has (very stupidly) taken up residence in the barn. 

Big Day Out

It was a beautiful day yesterday.  The chicks had their first big day (well, hour or so) out.  It's always a lot of fun to see how chicks react to being outside for the first time.  This batch was a little freaked out, but they are a tad on the old side for their first outing.

With Easter Eggers, you never know what the grown up chickens will look like.  Our Easter Eggers are a diverse bunch (yay!).  When they are not under the heat lamps, we can tell what colors they are.

She's blue!

We're pretty certain that we have a rooster.  He's a tiny thing, but he has a big comb and a bit of a wattle.  More than that, he really acts like a rooster.  He stands up straighter than the rest of the chicks and puffing his wee little chest out. He spent most of his time outside strutting around the girls and making sure everyone looked safe.

Colonel Brandon, in the middle, is on the lookout for danger.

They met the sheep.

Theresa is looking for some new friends.

A few decided to squeeze out of the portable fence and meet all of the sheep.

Pearl is one brave little chick.

Sandy, are you my mother?

Calico is not sure about these birds.

 While in the trough, Charlene pecks hands and rushes at whomever is feeding or watering her.  We were afraid that she was aggressive, but it turns out she is just friendly.

Charlene climbing up...

...settling in for a nap.

Where was Barack O'Llama during all of this? Standing down by the big chickens, looking tough. 

Strange Things

Someone managed to catch Violet (or is it Iris? We can't tell the Black Australorps apart unless they are beside each other.)

This is what happens to hens who fly over the fence.

Barack O'Llama had some help eating some pine needles.  Yum.

Finally, someone tall enough to help!

When we went to the barn Saturday morning, most of the sheep were shivering.  We put sweaters on them.  Most of them wore my old sweaters.  (It's warmed up, so they're back to being au naturel.)

Sheep sweater fashion show...

Henrietta needed a little duct tape to achieve the perfect fit.

Elsie's sweater matches her ear tag.

Hazel  posed for the camera.

Enticed by a peanut.

No coat, no wool, no sweater.  Aah.

I've skirted, picked, washed, flicked, carded, and spun some of Theresa's fleece.  Now I have a tiny bit of yarn from one of my own sheep!  One of these days, I'll blog about the process, but for now, here's a picture: 

Yippee!

Sleepy Acres Shearing Awards 2013

Most Changed Appearance; Most Variation Within One Fleece: Theresa

Before: Multicolored sheep

After: All silver

Worst Behavior While Being Sheared: Calico

Before: One of her few days without a coat.

After: Looking quite a bit like a goat.

Best Behavior Under Adverse Circumstances; Most Ready to be a Mama: Elsie

Before: Such beautiful fluffiness

After: Still fluffy...around the belly

Overall Best Behavior and Really Awesome Fleece (Expected): Sandy

Before: The fleece that makes grown women cry.

After: Just hanging out while Calico is wrestling with the shearer.

Most Awesome Fleece (Unexpected); Most Likely To Hide From a Camera: Hazel

Before: There's lots of wool under that sheep suit.

 No after picture yet....

Most Shockingly Tiny After Shearing; More Hay Than Fleece: Henrietta

Before: She's definitely wearing a coat next year.

After: Itty bitty sheep

Most Happy Surprise: Elvira

Before: She's gorgeous.

After: She's gorgeous and has a baby on the way!

Best Guardian; Best Behaved Llama During Sheep Shearing:

You will not mess with my...whatever she is!

Shearing Day

Today was shearing day for the sheep.  (Barack O'Llama will be getting his annual trim soonish.)

Elvira was a good sheep.  Some of the others, not so much.

Now there are some baby bumps in view.  Elsie and Elvira should be mothers pretty soon. 

Baby (maybe babies?) on board.

It's astonishing how different some of the sheep look.  Theresa doesn't look like a black sheep anymore!

What Theresa thinks about getting sheared.

It's really astonishing how tiny some of the sheep look. Henrietta looks like a lamb.  She's three years old, by the way.

Barack is not so sure that he knows this tiny goat.

It's really, really astonishing how huge some of the fleeces look.  Elsie's fleece looks like a polar bear skin.

Perhaps it would make a nice rug?

We found out some things we already knew.  (Henrietta had started to roo--some primitive breeds lose their wool in the spring.)  We had some bad surprises (Elsie's wool had felted.) We had some good surprises.  (Hazel's fleece weighed five pounds!  I didn't think she would have the weightiest fleece.)

We're all pretty tired. 

The men were so exhausted that they laid down on the job.

Coming soon: before and after pictures of all the girls.  (Well, except for Hazel.  She's been hiding from the camera again.)

Meet the Flock: Calico

When we first started talking about getting sheep, Scott googled "sheep for sale Tennessee."  He found, among other things, a picture of Calico.  At the time, I wasn't sure I wanted Shetlands, but nevertheless, I talked about her all the time.

Calico, when there was still room to grow in her sheep suit

We went to the Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair at the end of October.  When I saw the Shetlands, I fell in love.  (And they were a lot more practical--the breed that was on the top of our list at the time, Tunis, were taller than Henry!) 

A few days later, we saw Calico (and a few of her friends) posted on Craigslist.  I harassed Scott incessantly, and he told me things like "We don't even have a fence up yet" and "We'd need to put up a barn, too."  I argued that we could get those things done by January (and we did, although it was a close call--as some of you know).

In November, we went to visit the girls.  Calico came up to me and let me scratch her under the chin (something that hasn't happened again).

Calico & most of the gang, ready to meet Barack.  Where's Elsie?

Calico is (almost) seven years old.  (She would like me to add that Sandy is older.)  She's a mioget katmoget (a Shetland thing). Mioget describes her color (light brown), and katmoget describes her markings (dark on the bottom and light on the top). 

Going somewhere fast--for Calico

Calico loves corn.   She really, really loves corn, and she'll do almost anything for it.  In fact, I often think that she knows where I want her to go but goes the opposite way, hoping that I'll try to bribe her with corn.  Unlike the younger gals, she's not fond of peanuts; she will sniff them and turn her head away, disgusted. 

Sniffing for corn

Calico is a stickler for a schedule.  If I'm not heading to the barn exactly at feeding time, she stares at me through the windows.  It's almost creepy, how she always seems to know exactly what room I'm in.

Tomorrow is shearing day, and I'm really excited to see what all the girls look like under all that wool!