Elvira starts lambing season off on the right "hoof"

Exactly two years ago, we found Elvira with baby Peanut at 2 PM.  Today, Elvira started having strong contractions around 11 AM.  She had a lot of "help" from various animals, and it slowed her down a bit.  

Her first lamb was born around 1 PM.  She is a black ewe lamb we've named Mahogany.  It's unlikely that she will lighten up.  She looks a lot like her big sister Molly. 

The second lamb followed before 1:15.  She is also a ewe lamb.  She's brown, and it looks like she might have sugar lips (which would mean she might lighten up).  We've named her Magnolia, and we'll probably call her Maggie.  Magnolia looks a lot like Daddy Chert.  Magnolia was quite vigorous; she was wriggling as she was being born! 

Elvira has learned that being the first to lamb means that all the animals are very interested.

A chicken laid an egg in Elvira's hay feeder while Elvira was in labor.  This, unfortunately, was not the end of the annoyances from chickens. 

 

I had to kick Tricot out of the barn.  I don't think she was trying to annoy Elvira, but nevertheless, she was.  Tricot still kept an eye on the happenings in the barn.

 

Barack O'Llama sniffed the new babies to welcome them to his herd.  (He does this every time.)

Tiffany came over to help lick the lambs.  (While she was doing this, I could see her udders, so she'll be lambing before too long.)

Friends

We're going to be shearing a bit later than usual this year, so we needed to do some prep work so that our ewes with early due dates will be ready to go.  We gave them their annual vaccine and crotched them.  Crotching is trimming the wool from around the udders and the other lady parts.  It helps us if we need to assist with lambing, and it helps the lambs find the udders.  And yes, it's really called crotching.

One of these bottoms is not like the others.

 A little while later, we noticed something strange in the ram pasture.  This:

Pecan and Sally nuzzle.

 We checked on Pecan.  He wouldn't have let another sheep do this to him.  He was perfectly fine when we arrived at the field, so perhaps he is just partial to Sally.

While we were there, we gave the boys their minerals.

The rams sharing their minerals.

"Yum, yum" Feldspar

 The boys also enjoyed some chin scratches.

Chert

Chert seemed to be checking in with Elsie.  Asking her how the lamb(s) are doing, perhaps?

Concerned father?

We're wondering, too.

Elsie: Size of a small planet.

Sick of Snow?

A few pictures from the day before the ice and snow storms that I never got around to posting until now....

Pistachio enjoys some minerals.

Molly

Molly and Peat

Macadamia and (an unamused) Filly

Elvira...Is that a bit of baby bulge?

Hazel smiles and says "Hello."

Some kisses from Snowball.

Elsie.  Who knows what's going on in there?

With Help from Cows

 We tried to move the fallen branches out of the front pasture last weekend.  We ended up quitting, not because of the eager "help" from Sally and friends, but because the back field was soggy and we didn't want to get stuck in it.  It's still soggy back there, so I doubt we'll get the job done soon.  Barack O'Llama will keep happily munching on it in the meantime.

Sally wants to help...

...and she brought some friends.

"A llama would never do such a thing" Barack O'Llama

Speedy cows

...But a few get distracted.

The newest calves.

Snow Llama...Or Not

Barack seems to like the snow...

But Snowball would rather stay in the shelter.

The soon-to-be mommies don't even seem to notice it.

Czadas

Tricot

Peanut (with proof that she slept outside)

Pistachio (with proof that she'd been snacking on snow)

The boys, on the other hand, seem to love it.

The boys are frisky.

Ice Storm

Sandy & the ewe lambs.

Yeti is the only one who doesn't like the ice & snow.

Pregnant ladies: Macadamia, Peanut, Hazel, & Elsie

Henrietta

We're thrilled that it did not did the fence....

...Barack is thrilled to have a tasty snack,

And I have no idea what Snowball has been eating!

Getting Ready

We're getting ready for spring.  The garden is underway.  We've done a little bit outside; most of our work has been inside, planning our layout, our planting dates, and ordering our seeds.

Snowball loves gardening.

It's a little over a month until our first expected lamb.  (It might seem a little early to go through lambing supplies, but we wanted to have plenty of time to order whatever we need.) We keep our lambing supplies in three 5-gallon buckets: mommy, baby, and general health.  The buckets are great because they are easy to carry where you need them, and you can sit on them.  The mommy bucket has things we might need during lambing: gloves, scalpels, a pulling rope, Nutri-Drench, and SuperLube.  The baby bucket has after-lambing supplies: a hanging scale and a lamb sling to go with it, Triodine and a navel cup, scissors, lamb jackets, and more gloves.  Our general health bucket has things we might need all year round, as well as the elastrator and ear tagging supplies.  There's also a big box of old towels, and I carry a backpack all the time during lambing season.  There are more gloves, more towels, Managing Your Ewe and Her Newborn Lambs, my cell phone, and a clipboard with the ewe's breeding sheets.  (There's usually a few snacks for humans, water bottles, and some easy knitting and/or spinning in case I'm in the barn a long time.)

Clipboard with breeding sheet.

 While we were doing this, the children did this:

"Stop playing with my food!" Barack O'Llama

 Elsie is getting ready for lambing, too.  She's huge!  I know I say this all time, but this year, her baby bump is enormous--visible before shearing and from a distance.  Or, she's just really, really fat.

My opposite ewes: Elsie & Henrietta

Peanut