LAMBS!!!!

I finally got my camera out to the barn and what a beautiful day it is..can you tell is 5 degrees?  All the animals were out in the sun with no wind, the sun was warmer than the barn after such a cold night. 

Our two horses with ice on their whiskers

These two twins were born about 4 days ago, they belong to, Jan, our resident tunis/texal ewe.  She and Walker had fun and now these girls are here.  They are cute little things. 

Maggie, our other non-finnsheep had triplets and is doing well with them.  They are about 12 hours younger than Jan's and you can tell a little as they are smaller.  It's hard to feed three but Maggie is doing well. Two boys and a girl.  Good job, Mags!

This is our first ram born a few weeks ago.  He is a brown, non-fading registered Finnsheep and is gorgeous.  I will be watching his fleece as he ages but really a great guy!  

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These are Kaarina's quadruplets, as an update. (one didn't survive the birthing) They are still in a lambing stall as I am teaching them to drink from an orphan bucket.  Momma Kaarina is a fantastic mom and has the best fleece in the flock.  Last Spring she sufferer mastitis so bad that her udder was left too scarred to raise them herself so, I'm helping.  They are growing like weeds and are doing well and have gone from 7 lbs at birth (imagine that! 4, 7lb lambs at one time) to now 8-9 lbs in a week.  They will hopefully be out of this stall and out with the other kids soon. Two girls and a boy.

 

  

  Most of the lambs will be available for purchase. 

Brrrrrr....

Lambs

It's cold out this winter, much colder than last year.  We have had a few more lambs born here on the farm and it's exciting and busy now!  Kaarina, a wonderful mother and gorgeous fleeced animal, lambed early Monday morning.  She was busy as she delivered quads this year.  Unfortunately one did not survive.  I am guessing in all the confusion of four lambs, it might not have gotten it's mouth and nose cleared out in time. One a brighter note, she has three still here and doing well.  All three have the beautiful fleece that my best Finns carry.

 Kaarina had a terrible case of mastitis last year.  She is a very hard sheep to read and she didn't show her sickness until an infection had given her a high fever and she was barely able to walk.  After 10 days of antibiotics, infusions, hot packs, milking her, and special feed, she recovered.  She lost all her wool from the fever and one side of her udder has never been the same.  I was concerned about her feeding lambs this year but bred her anyway, knowing I might have bottle lambs.  She is producing milk out of the bad side and the other is fully functioning.  She loves her lambs and I am supplementing at this time.  For now, all is well and I will introduce them to the orphan bucket soon so I don't have to feed so often.

Jan, our Tunis ewe lambed to big ewe lambs and they are doing really well!  Not very exciting and that's how I like my lambing to go.  Going out to do chores with a cup of coffee and seeing new lambs, all fed and loved by their moms.  Uneventful