Busy Day on the Farm

We had EmmyLou lamb this morning and then this afternoon, Rose decided to join in the fun.

I settled into the barn to watch her progress, and June couldn't get enough attention.

She even started critiquing my work.

When Rose started pushing, all I could see were hooves, but no nose. And labor wasn't progressing at all. For the first time ever, I had to help! The lamb's nose was being pushed up instead of pointing between the hooves, so I had to use a finger to hold the nose down in position while I grabbed hooves with the other hand to pull. It took some work, but Rose and I got her out with no problems. She's a beautiful, dark gray katmoget. My fingers are crossed that she doesn't lighten too much.

I was also able to get some nice photos of EmmyLou's ram for a birth announcement collage.

I thought at first he was gray, but once in the light, he's definitely a brown-based little guy, so we'll call it fawn.

And the clowns of the barn couldn't be ignored. June is so patient with her "neice and nephew."

More Lambs to Show Off

I've gotten behind! Yesterday afternoon, Sparkles had the best looking little girl! I really love her facial markings, and she's HUGE.

I watched Sparkles in labor via the lambcam until it looked like things had slowed a bit with the lamb's head out, but no further progress. When I went out to inspect the situation, I saw that we had a nose and only one hoof. Sparkles was pushing, so instead of trying to push the baby back in and adjust the hooves, I turned the lamb a bit to ease the shoulders and out she came.

And this morning, EmmyLou gave us an equally HUGE lamb ram! He's similar to Sparkles' ewe, but with a solid head. In fact, he's and HST (head, socks, tail). He carried the Katmoget genes, so I'm just assuming that he's got spots covering up those markings.

I don't have a pretty collage of him yet because I only had time for a few shots before heading to Kat's preschool for the morning.

Rose and June should be the next two to lamb!

Buttercup Gives Us a Ram!

This morning, Buttercup delivered an absolutely beautiful gray Katmoget ram! He's got the best wool I've ever seen on one of our lambs; I'm so excited!

This year, we've decided to keep all the ram lambs as fiber animals by making them wethers. That'll put our flock right at 20 animals, and we'll take a break from breeding. That'll be my final fiber flock!

Take a look at these curls and bright color!

He's a sweet little thing, too. He came to me and let me scratch him for a while before settling down for a nap.

We've also decided on names for Peridot's kiddos. Our theme this year is our family's favorite TV show characters, so we're starting the naming off with characters from Psych.

Juliet:

And Lassiter (Lassie for short):

 

Peridot's Little Lamb

We've been busy finishing up a barn expansion which includes 4 lambing jugs, a storage area and space for chickens! It's extensive enough to deserve a post of its own!

But in the mean time, enjoy some cute lamb pics!

The little ram was popping all over the place, and was impossible to photograph, until Kat held him down.

Peridot Delivers Twins

Note: I've had to edit this whole post because I originally thought we had two boys, but apparently I shouldn't try to determine lamb sex when I'm tired! We have one ram and one ewe. 

We finally have some lambs to celebrate! Last Tuesday night, at 9:37 and 9:43pm, Peridot delivered a ram and a ewe. They're both nice Katmogets that look brown-based right now, but I'm pretty sure are actually gray.

Ram: He's darker (right now, but I'm sure that'll fade) with a nice white ring around his head.

Ewe: She's lighter with traditional Kat facial coloring. She's got nice white tips on her ears, though!

 

Photo should read "Ewe: 1 day old . . ."

Peridot was very frustrating to watch through labor. She would come into the barn, start having contractions, then leave to hang out with the flock and eat. Not normal behavior for a ewe in labor. She didn't read the chapter that explained how a ewe will set herself apart from the group and stop eating. She was so focused on food that even during active, heavy pushing, she would stand up and nibble the hay. I never knew sheep could turn to food for stress relief!