Get outta my belly! And some other stuff..

Lamb Update:  No lambs....I am now convinced it will be a mass lambing and they will all go as soon as I get back into bed after my late night check.  Then, when I return to the barn, it will be baby chaos!  This is my view and what a stare at when I do my checks...yeah, it's hard not to look, I know.

Fleece Update:  all fleeces bagged and weighed.  Hmm...some nice soft and shinny wool in those bags.  My biggest surprise was Jan's, a tunis/texal cross.  She has a beautiful crimpy wool.  I have two photos, can you tell which one is the tunis/texal and which is the white finn?  In person, it's easy to tell because of color and texture but in the photo, not so much.

 

I'm amazed at the quality of Jan's.  (well, in all honesty, she could be a tunis/blue faced cross.  There was a little moment where she wasn't sure and we wanted to save her the embarrassment, you know how hard it is to be a young single mother without a baby daddy)

Duck Update:  Three bachelors left the brothel this morning so now our ratios of boy to girl are back to normal.  No more gang hen attacks.  1 boy, 8 girls.   Hmmm....he does seem to like his odds around the barnyard.  He did seem to be prancing around very proud today.  

New Birds:  Today, Tiffany, from Woodspryte Farm, brought our ram, Dexter, back.  She had borrowed him for a month and with him came, 40 quail eggs.  I will have to get back with her to get the details on the breed but we have them in the incubator...just put them in..and hopefully they hatch.  Secretly, I don't want all 40 but she wasn't sure with the weather and egg collection how many would make it through.   My friend asked me what we would do with all those eggs and I said, "not sure".  We have about 20 days to get a plan.  Any one want a quail??  I just said, I'm amazed loaning a ram could bring such a cool return! 

Dog Agility Update:  Taught many many lessons today and got some really good videos of the students.  I am hoping to put together another agility video of my newest agility crew.  They have been working so hard and are doing so well, I thought they deserved a tribute....

Oh, and Paul worked really hard today to get our washer and dryer installed in our bedroom walk-in closet...so cool!  That's where all washer and dryers should be, in the bedroom closet.  

Maybe lambs, tomorrow....

It's been so long since I've been on blogger that I found lots of new settings!! 

Ewe Tube: lamb updates

No new babies as of this morning, Friday. I do have milk production and even bigger udders. I am glad to be done with the long days at work and school and can now be here to check often. I have a great friend that stops by and gives me updates via text message during those long days. (she has great experience with new little lambs) and of course, my husband, checks for me when he is home. Everyone still eating and I'm sure they are planning a mass lambing.

We do have fleeces ready for purchase. I have 8 available at this time and they are gorgeous. I will be opening bags and doing some skirting this afternoon as the sun is out and there is no wind today. Please let me know if you are interested as they usually go fast. We have brown, black, grey, white, and piebald. I still have to shear the rams and one little grey ewe.  Below are two photos of our fleece before shearing.  One piebald badgerface and the other, black.

 

Lamb Watch

10 pm: no lambs

Wednesday
3:30 am: no lambs

7:30 am: no lambs

1:30 pm: ?

Can't wait til I get off work.

Runner Ducks

Today, we got another egg.  I have some very young hens and 3 very old hens.  So, I'm not surprised the eggs have been absent.  I purchased some very nice grey/mallard Indian Runners last fall and they had just begun to lay when the winter came and we sold the others.  I have 3 older ducks that will always stay here regardless of color, production, or breeding quality.  As long as the number of 'forevers' doesn't increase, I think we can manage the feeding.  Ha!! 

On Sunday, I found three eggs, pretty much frozen but the dogs liked them anyway.  We got 1 egg on Monday and 1 egg today.  So, they're coming back as the daylight hours last longer.  We don't keep a light on them in the winter so, I rely on season for laying.  I need to thank my in-laws for supplying us with chicken eggs during the winter as their birds lay year round.

I love the duck eggs and we are planning out Spring hatching as I'm excited to offer grey colored runners and some trout as the trout (li/li) color is a light phase of grey.   (Grey is mallard in Indian runners)

This is our main breeding male grey runner and some of his ladies. The males carry most of the traditional colors we are used to seeing.  We will have babies and hatching eggs available in early Spring.  Contact us for more information.


PS: no lambs yet

Ewe Tube: pre-lambing

It's been a while since I've blogged and I'm trying to get it all up and going during lambing so everyone can enjoy the babies!  We have built the lambing stalls.  We took our 14x14 stalls and divided them.  So, I can keep prolific moms separate so they can bond with their babies and I can keep everyone straight.  I have listed their due dates in the photos and we'll see how well they play along.  If I didn't see them get bred, then it's listed as unknown and I'll just have to keep an eye on physical changes to watch for signs of lambing.  

Here is Maggie and Jan.  They are our two non-finn ewes and they have produces large lambs.  These ladies our here for a special reason and will stay forever, despite how our breeding program goes.  These girls can't remove their mouths and head from food long enough to see their faces but, this is the view I normally have anyway.  Maggie is mostly hair sheep so we don't shear or save her wool, so messy is fine for her.

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This next group is our crazy group.  They are wonderful producers, have amazing fleece, but just are, well, CRAZY.  They all have huge milky udders and love their lambs but are flighty.  I really just try not to cause premature labor with them and keep entering the stall with food.  They like food. 

 This next group is the friendly stall.  They will let you pet, scratch, hug, feel babies move, and do just about anything with them.  They were well socialized with humans and so glad because it's hard not to be involved with lambing and pregnant moms right now!  They are also the first to lamb, I think, because you can tell they are getting uncomfortable.

Finally, last but not least is Beedle and Betty.  They are friendly on their terms, not mine.  I can sometimes pet them and feel for moving babies but not always.  They, too, hardly lift their heads from the hay. 

So, there are the "ladies in waiting".  I will try to keep photos and updates coming throughout lambing and yes, lambs will be available for sale.  All Finns are registered and are available with or without registration. Maggie's and Jan's babies are not for sale. 

There are three additional ewes to lamb in April.  They are last years lambs from me that are at a friend house.  I will be posting those lambs for her coming in warmer Spring!

Llamas

Many months ago, we purchased a llama and her cria to come and live at our farm.  The intent was to get an adult that would protect our sheep fairly quickly and have a baby that could grow up with us and our sheep and eventually become a protector, too.  So, we purchased an adorable pair and they have been great.  The mamma llama is doing a great job at keeping watch over the pastures however, we have many fields and lots of coyotes. Besides wanting  more to make her job easier..we have fallen in love with these amazing creatures.  I have enjoyed learning and enjoying llamas.  So, we decided to go back for another pair.  I have included a link to a video of our first pair and I'm sure we'll add another one when we pick up our new farm members tomorrow!  I am very excited and glad we have the space and knowledge to accommodate these unique and intelligent animals.