Camera Shy

Beautiful sunny day. Sam came over to help me get great pictures of my lambs for sale. Or so we thought. They knew something was afoot as soon as we entered the barnyard. Lambs dashed to the gate,escaping under and through it. Sam tried to catch and hold several budding models but they either sat down or set their legs at strange angles in protest. Cornered they climbed on top of each other to avoid the lense. One little ewe tried to squeeze through a space in the gate into the ram pen with the encouragement of the yearling rams. I had to laugh since that's the way I feel when someone come at me with a camera.

Wow A Lamb NOT Black or Moorit!

Looks just like his mom doesn't he? Mom is White Pine Selah.

Almost Finished Lambing

Lambs are growing and happy. All 35 of them. The blues are finished lambing but we still have Shetlands to arrive. So far we have 14 Shetland lambs.

It's All About Technique

It was inevitable. Lambing was going too easily so Eudora decided to liven things up a bit. As I called the flock up to the barn for the nightly lamb count I noticed her in the upper pasture obviously pushing. My binoculars didn't help so I hobbled up to her. The lamb was stuck and needed human hands to free it but Eudora fled as I approached. I decided against the flying tackle approach to catching her and herded her up to the barn. It seemed to take forever. Once penned,Eudora stood for me but I couldn't kneel down to get my hand in her to grab the lamb. My knee not working was so frustrating at this point. When I put a halter on her, Eudora dropped to the ground in surrender. With no other option I had to lie beside her with my head at her butt. Not exactly the best angle to pull but it worked! I got my hand in the free the lamb's long legs and out popped a huge ewe lamb. Her head was swollen and red from being trapped and compressed but momma loved her the instant I plopped her under under mom's nose. Mission accomplished! As I felt satisfied and relieved that all was well I realized I couldn't get up! GGRR. As Eudora licked her ugly baby I rolled through the straw and manure to pull myself up on the feeder. Vertical never felt so good. The baby's name is Swan, hoping that's what she'll turn out to be after starting out as the ugly duckling. with one more BFL ewe to lamb, I'm hoping we return to easy lambing 2012.

Shepherding By Binoculars

Almost finished lambing. The ewes have been very cooperative, lambing easily as I sit here on my veranda with my leg propped up watching my flock through binoculars. My veranda is getting bigger with each week I sit on it but walking the pastures on crutches isn't easy. It's been a strange year. Warm weather, fewer sheep, a hay surplus and a barn full of ram lambs. The Shetlands have not even come into the barn to lamb. As soon as I can catch the babies, I install a bright red eartag so when I scan the field with my field glasses I can spot a newborn minus a tag.

The Blues have all lambed at a decent hour but even Icy who always has twin ewes has twinned ram lambs. What's up???? Hopefully I will have a collection of F2 Heddon Valley and Mossvale Masterplan ram lambs for sale at the Wooster show on Memorial Day Weekend.

March Madness Shepherd Style

Love watching the BFL lambs playing on what else.....the manure pile. Lamb count 22 BFL and 9 Shetlands.

So far 3 of my Shetland ewes have surprised me with ram lambs at feeding time in the morning. This morning it was apparent that Moira was going to lamb. She refused to come in to eat and meandered around the pasture looking for the perfect lambing spot. Finally after watching her for hours, Moira had 2 little black lambs scrambling under her. I'm so anxious for a ewe lamb but I can't get down the hill to her on my crutches to satisfy my curiosity. Binoculars will not reveal the sex of the 2 little imps bouncing around beside momma. When it began to rain, I expected momma to bring them to the barn. Well, I was so wrong. Moira and company are still out in the pasture despite the raindrops. Moira looks up at me in defiance. It's a Shetland standoff and she's winning.