More Triplets

Finally... BFL/Shetland babies. Wiley the BFL ram is a dad! Mom is Adrianna a Shetland ewe. Later in the day, Natasha had BFL/Shetland twins. Baby boom. Looks like there will be a lot of "'mules" (BFL/Shetland crossbred lambs) for sale this spring.

I'm An Enabler

I've been told this for years but now my lambs know it too. Since Kathleen had one udder and triplets I decided to offer them a bottle to supplement. The ewe wants nothing to do with me but the rams hear the door open and run to the gate for their bottle. They have me well trained. The white ram always seems full but he drinks anyway. The tiny black ram acts like he's starving and sucks vigorously. Suspicious that Kathleen might be able to feed them without me, I watched over the stone wall yesterday. Sure enough all three lambs line up for the one teat and take turns quite nicely. No pushing or rude behavior. The double dippers were getting quite full on mom, but at the sound of my voice both ran to the gate and acted famished. I think I'll be cutting down on those supplementary bottles. I can just hear them discussing what a sucker I am.

Optical Illusion

I love this picture of Jamie and her triplets! Nursing all three.... I don't think so but it sure looks that way. She is the perfect mom.

What Happens When You Keep a Ewe With One Udder

You get triplets! When I sold my Bluefaced ewes in the Fall no one wanted Kathleen Mavorneen because one udder was bad. Since she is a beautiful ewe, I put her with Cedar Fen Nathaniel and bred her figuring that two lambs might be able to nurse on one udder if she twinned. Besides, I have two bags of unused milk replacer in my freezer from last year. On friday night, I went out to find Kathleen with a big ewe lamb, a very small black ram lamb and another water bag hanging out. GREAT...triplets. The last lamb arrived healthy and lively. He was medium sized. Small, medium and large! Pretty cool. Kathleen looked overwhelmed when I put her in the lambing pen with her threesome. She liked the big girl but the two smaller rams seemed to confuse her. I made sure all had a drink from momma before going in to doze for an hour. Awakened by the little guy wailing on the monitor, I went out with a bottle which the two ram lambs sucked down. It was apparent that the big girl was not sharing the one teat with her brothers. Back to sleep for 2 hours. This time I was determined to let them get hungry so they'd find mom was their food source. But after unendurable crying, I went out. Kathleen was talking to all three so she had accepted them but the big ewe was not allowing the two boys to nurse. I held her at bay while the rams got their bellies full. By morning, they had sorted it all out. No one was crying on the monitor and when offered a bottle there were no takers. Today everyone is content and Kathleen loves them all equally.

Jamie Has Triplets Again!

Jamie never fails to produce the perfect set of triplets. Always 2 ewes and 1 ram. Sired by my Mossvale ram, these lambs are bigger than usual but Jamie had no need for help. When I visited her at 11:30 last night she was standing and grinding her teeth. Babies were on the way for sure. I moved the monitor near her and told Jamie to call me when ready. At 5:30 Jamie called but when I got out there she had three babies all full of milk and walking around. She was calling for breakfast as Jamie does every day. But she has a reason to be really hungry now!

Mom She's Not Sharing

After lambs are born, I put the new family in a pen, dip navels, give mom alfalfa and water, check to make sure she has milk and leave for coffee. Usually when I return in a few hours the lambs are nursing, full and content. Not today! When I returned the ram lamb was crying and empty. Poking his nose every place but near the teat, you could see what the problem was. The sister was sucking away. I could just imagine her saying,"THIS is how you do it" with a smug voice. It was time for intervention. After getting his mouth on the teat a few times he finally got the idea. But everytime I left him alone his sister pushed him off and took over. Finally, keeping the greedy little sister at bay, he reattached while stretched out flat and exhausted on his stomach. Milk finally. Soo good. "

2013 Lambs At Last

When my Bluefaced Leicester flock moved in October I couldn't part with all of them. Going cold turkey on BFL lambs wasn't a happy though so I kept Kathleen and Icy. Older ewes but good producers here Also staying was Jamie a Shetland/BFL mule and Greta, a high percentage BFL with a wee bit of Shetland in her.. They were bred by the rams that went to Colorado, Masterton (Mossvale) and Nathaniel (Heddon Valley).On Saturday Greta had twins sired Nathaniel. A black ram and a white ewe. Big, lively and beautiful.

This morning Icy had twins by Masterton. A big black ewe lamb and a bigger ram.