Lambing Season Recap

Last fall, we put nine ewes in with Gunpowder, and ten ewes delivered lambs this spring.  Not only did Gunpowder do a good job, he's a miracle worker!  (Just kidding...Henrietta visited one afternoon in November.)

Ten ewes delivered fifteen lambs.  Our lambing percentage was 150%.  Five ewes had twins; five ewes had singles.  Eight lambs are ewes, and seven are rams.

It seemed in the beginning that we would have only black sheep.  However:
Black (and Greys): 9
Browns: 4
White: 2

I attempted to get pictures of all the lambs, but I failed miserably. 

Feldspar & Olivine (Sandy's) waiting to be released.

Malachite (Elvira's). Molly is too quick for pictures!

Peat (Henrietta's) and Zircon (Elsie's) having a snack.

Zircon & Feldspar

Chert (Calico's)

Quartz (Theresa's)

Rhoda (Czada's).  Beryl is also speedy.

Calico's entire family: Cashew, Acorn, Chert, & Opal

Theresa the Tiebreaker

When Theresa went into labor last night, we had 14 lambs: 7 ewes and 7 rams.  Theresa broke our tie with a ewe lamb.

We've named her Quartz.  Quartz is black and white spotted all over.  She has sugar lips, so the black will probably lighten to gray.  It's really hard to say what's she's going to look like when she grows up.

Theresa was a first time mother and the youngest ewe to be lambing this year (she's 2 years old).  She is doing a great job so far, even with interference from her neighbors Calico and family. 

Hazel, Full of Awesome

Hazel was quite enormous until last night.  Here she is, blocking the path behind the barn with last year's lamb Filly (and Elvira).

Hazel woke us up around 2 AM.  When we went to the barn, we found twins. 

The firstborn is Marble, a ewe lamb.  She looks black now, but she has "sugar lips" (white around her lips), which means that she will lighten up to some shade of gray.  (If she doesn't, I will feel ridiculous for naming a black sheep Marble.)   Marble's head is nearly white but has some black spots. 

 Hazel's second lamb is a brown ram who we've named Granite.  He also has sugar lips, so he will lighten up.  I'm guessing that he will be musket (very light brown) like Hazel and Filly.  I can already tell that he has the kind of fleece that I love. See those little curls? 

Hazel did a fabulous job this year.  Her fleece was wonderful, she gave us some gorgeous lambs, and she didn't keep us up all night--just part of it.

Calico Does It Again

Like last year, Calico had twins!

"Indeed, I am awesome," Calico

Calico began labor around 8 AM.  It was a long, long wait...

Feldspar & Olivine aren't terribly interested in what Calico is doing.

 ...but finally, Calico delivered her lambs.  The firstborn is Chert, a solid brown ram lamb.  He could lighten up and look like big sister Cashew, or he might stay dark brown.

"I will wait patiently while sister gets licked," Chert

Shortly later, Calico gave birth to Opal, a ewe lamb.  Opal is katmoget (the same pattern as Calico and Acorn) with some extra spots.  I'm thrilled.

Will she be as naughty as her big sisters?

Two more ewes to go!

Tricot, Very Protective Mother

Tricot chose the middle of the night on a very cold night to deliver her lamb.*  Being a first time mother, she was a little on the slow side, too, but I think I can forgive her.

 Tricot gave birth to a single ram lamb.  He's black (of course) with white markings, including some super cute ears.  We've named him Slate.  

Tricot is a pretty fierce mother.  One of the hens had been laying eggs in Tricot's lambing jug.  Tricot was not particularly concerned.  The hen flew into the jug this morning and started to get comfy, only to be attacked by Tricot.   The hen escaped in the nick of time.

*Feldspar kept us entertained during the long, cold wait.

Inside Sandy's Giant Belly...

...twins!

Sandy is an expert mother.

Sandy went into labor late last evening.  I went into the barn and found her with a malpresentation.  Luckily, it was easily fixed, and Sandy gave birth to a beautiful white ram lamb who we've named Feldspar.  We could tell Feldspar was a ram without the usual gender check--he has some obvious horn buds!  (We, of course, did the usual gender check, too.)  Feldspar has a few black spots, which may or may not fade.   His fleece looks very similar to big brother Almond's fleece (which I love), so I'm quite excited.

Feldspar!

Feldspar knows he's adorable.

 I'm doubly excited because, fifteen minutes later, Sandy gave birth to a nearly solid brown ewe lamb.  That's right, brown! (Sandy is genetically a brown sheep with a big white spot, so it's not too big of a surprise.)  We've named her Olivine.

Olivine

She's definitely brown.

Good job, Sandy!

Sandy, Feldspar, & Olivine

While we wait for Sandy....

...in pictures. 

Once again, the wheelbarrow is a popular toy....

...as is the mineral/creep feeder.

Peat lays down to nurse.

"Play" bales provide entertainment for last year's lambs...

...and, eventually, a place for Zircon to rest.

Barack works hard, protecting his new charges.

Peat snuggles with mama Henrietta.

Czadas is Dramatic

It seemed obvious to anyone with functioning eyes that Czadas would be having more than one lamb.  She (quite dramatically) gave birth to a ewe lamb Tuesday afternoon. 

I waited and waited...Then an hour and a half later, she laid back down and (quite easily) delivered another ewe lamb.  There was quite a bit of drama, getting number two cleaned and fed with a first time mother and a twin old enough to be pushy. 

The first born is named Beryl.  She is a little stouter than #2 and has more white markings on her face.  The (much) later lamb is Rhodochrosite; we've nicknamed her Rhoda.  She is leggier than her twin, and her white markings are around her neck and ears.  They may look a lot a like, but their fleeces are wildly dissimilar.  We'll see what happens as they grow.

 Czadas' post is a bit delayed because she isn't letting me take pictures of her babies.  It's not that she's guarding them terribly fiercely; it's that she thinks she really, really deserves some treats!

We're at the halfway point now: five ewes have lambed and we have five more to go. Current lamb stats:
Total: 7
Rams: 3
Ewes: 4
Black: 6
Not Black: 1

Elvira is Sneaky

Elvira was so quiet when she was in labor that she didn't wake us up.  Her little ewe lamb woke us up baaing at 3:30 AM.  We went to the barn, clipped, dipped, and stripped* and were heading back to bed when we noticed that there were a pair of hooves coming out.  I was excited for twins, but wished Elvira would have decided on a daytime birth.

Elvira's first born is a ewe lamb.  She's the closest thing we've had to all black yet--there's just a tiny spot of white on her head.  We've named her Molybdenite.

Elvira's second lamb is a ram.  He's black, and he has a lot of markings! His name is Malachite.

* Clip the cord, dip it into iodine, and strip the teats (making sure the ewe has milk)

Tiffany: Worth the Wait

Tiffany woke us up early this morning with loud baaing.  When we went to the barn and found her laboring, we were thrilled...but still a bit worried.  I was concerned that she might have a difficult birth given that she was so many (five) days past her due date. 

Tiffany had no problems whatsoever.  In fact, she was pretty speedy--especially for a first timer.  She did, however, make quite a racket!  Tiffany gave birth to a single ewe lamb who we've named Galena.  Galena is black with white spots on her face and looks a lot like daddy. 

Tiffany is convinced that she also is the mother of Peat and Zircon.  She continually licked Peat throughout labor, so much that his wee little face was wet.  (Of course, it was his fault as he kept annoying her.)  Twelve hours after giving birth, she is still attempting to lick all the babies.