Sheep on the Vine

Sheep as vineyard mowers are becoming popular out in Napa Valley and now our own Aries Crossing Sheep are giving it a go as well.  Some friends approached us about trying out our sheep in their vineyard.    We brought part of our flock up to their beautiful hilltop vineyard and fenced them into a small area to see how they would do.

flock's first evening in the vineyard

grapes on the vine

Sheep have been used successfully in Australia and California as vineyard trimmers.   They can be used in place of tractors, human laborers, and herbicides to control the undergrowth beneath the vines. They also provide fertilizer and even irrigation as they go.   It's a very sustainable method of growing grapes.  It reduces the need for irrigation and saves fuel that would be used on multiple tractor passes.  Sheep are self propelled and run on solar in the form of grass.  Even the electric fencing runs on a solar charger.

We were thrilled with the opportunity to participate in such a symbiotic relationship with another local farmer.  

Of course we have to be careful to make sure the sheep don't eat the grape leaves that are needed to protect the grapes on the upper vines.  They will eat anything they can reach so as long as the grapes are up high enough, they should leave them alone and go for the easier pickings lower down.   They will have to be moved often so they don't start to eye those tasty leaves.

We shall see how our experiment goes.   There may be some other tricks required to get this to work really well but we love the idea and hope we can make it work.

Perhaps in the future we will be able to offer a nice pairing of our sheep cheese and the local wine they helped make.

For more about the use of sheep in vineyards, here are some interesting articles:

Sheep Trained to Weed Vinyards

sheep grazing the vines

Wines and Vines

Grass Farmer

Shearing Day!

Giovanna getting her hoof trimmed

We got our shearing team to come shear our sheep on Sunday.  This mother daughter shearing team is amazing.  They got all 45 of our adult sheep sheared and hooves trimmed in just under 6 hours!  There was one small sheep escape that required some quick thinking and running.  Luckily we have gotten pretty good at acting like sheep dogs and got them back in the small penned area without losing too much time.

Our sheep are currently housed at three separate locations in town, all near each other.  We started the day at our house with our small group of new moms and lambs, moved on to the bachelor pad where we keep our males, and then to our ladies over at another field.  

The wool was skirted and bagged for later processing with the help of some great friends.

Our black fleeces

I was so filthy by the end of the day covered in a mix of wool, lanolin, dirt, and sweat - yum!   But we all got the shepherd's special hand treatment from touching all that lanolin and my hands have never been so soft.  Once the dirt washed off of course - you couldn't have gotten better from a fancy spa.  Days later, my hands are still buttery soft.   I might just keep one fleece in a box to stick my hands in instead of using hand lotion.  That or next winter, I really need to remember to take my gloves off and really get my hands in the sheep's wool each day during feeding time.  
After the long day shearing, we laid out all the wool our on a tarp in the yard to get all the way dry before going into storage bags until we can send it off for processing.  We are thinking of having it made into blankets this year.

Fleeces laid to dry

Mutton for Sale

Sadly, we have our first round of cull sheep that can't stay with us any longer.  They  are simply not destined to be valuable members of our flock.   We do not want any of our animals to go to waste however and are hoping we will be able to get some good quality mutton for dog food along with organ meats and bones.

Feeding your pet a natural raw diet is one of the best things to do for his health.  It is easy and very cost effective.  Our dog lives on a diet primarily composed of white rice, raw mutton, eggs, and steamed or grated veggies.  A few supplements help round out the diet to ensure optimal nutrition. His coat has never been shinier.

I cook up a batch of dog food about twice a week and pack it up in single day portions.  The whole process is pretty quick.  It saves money and is great for pet health.

If you are interested in improving your dog or cat's health - please contact us to arrange to get some good quality mutton with or without organs along with bones for doggie chewing heaven.

Lamb For Sale!

We are gearing up for fall meat sales in time for the holidays.    What's better than fresh local pastured lamb for your upcoming celebration?    We will have lamb available starting in the next few weeks and are now taking orders.  

We have in the past only offered lamb  "on the hoof" meaning that we sold the whole lamb and our customer had to pay the butcher and pack it up themselves.  We are hoping to introduce more people to our delicious lamb by selling in smaller quantities this year.  We are selling lamb by the cut, prepackaged for your convenience.    For true lamb lovers we are still offering discount options if you would like a half or whole lamb either prepackaged or "on the hoof".    All options and prices are listed at our online Shop.  Simply download our orderform and get it back to us.    You are welcome to contact us for more information or to order direct by phone or email.

Our lambs were pasture raised, enjoying the summer on open fields.  They have had only minimal grain supplementation including spent brewer's grain from our local brewery Willimantic Brewing Company.

Chicken Day

If you had told me ten or even three years ago that I'd be assisting in slaughtering chickens in my backyard, I would have said you were crazy.  And yet, here I am having just come in from cleaning and de-feathering 8 chickens that were raised in my shed.   We raised just 6 cornish cross meat birds last year but this year we have 18.  We will process them in two batches, 8 this morning and another 10 another day.

This year, we had a good setup which I of course forgot to take a picture of.   We recently purchased a triple basin commercial sink at auction which will eventually be installed in our milking facility for washing milking equipment.  For now, it is sitting in the shed so we thought we'd make us of it and another stainless table which was also purchased for our future dairy operation.

We set the sink and basin up as work stations with garbage cans and kept a hose nearby.   We also have  a two burner outdoor gas stove that fits two large pots of hot water.   A pop up tent was also needed to keep us in the shade.    Once everything was set up and disinfected, we were ready for showtime.  Coolers filled with ice water awaited.  Three of us worked about 2 hours to process 8 birds.  Now that we've got a good system, we hope it will take about the same amount of time to do 10 next time.

So here is what we did:

1.  Jason hung the birds up in the barn by their feet one at a time, slit their throats and let them flap out their final bit of life.
2.  We rinsed the carcass with a hose a bit in the first sink and then plunged the bird into hot water on the burner.  Target temp was about 165 degrees.   This loosens up the skin for defeathering and also removes more of the filth that doesn't come off easily with a cold rinse.   The bird stays submerged for about 30 seconds to a minute though it can be a little less if the water is a bit hotter.
3.  Bird is brought to work spot to right of sinks and the feathers have to be removed.  If the hot water was hot enough, the feathers come out pretty easily but it sure makes a mess.
4. After de-feathering, the chicken moved to a different work station to be decapitated and eviscerated by Jason.  Organs and feet were kept in seperate ziplocks to use for stock or gravy.
5.  A final rinse to clean the inside and into the ice bath in the cooler to chill for a few hours before packing to freeze.

The whole process was quite wet, I and don't think a 90 degree day was the best choice but with other obligations, you gotta do it when you have time.

And so I add slaughtering chickens (though I didn't actually do the killing) to the list of things I thought I'd never do but have.

Meat packing day

We spent the afternoon a few weeks ago packing freshly butchered lamb and pork.  Three ram lambs who were born last spring went to the butcher Monday in our new used livestock trailer.  Our pig joined them.  All had to be packed in vacuum bags, labeled and stuck in the freezer.   We have another freezer practically full of meat including liver, heart, and some pigs ears and feet.  Jason is still working on the last of it that he wanted to butcher himself.   He cut up these ribs himself - don't they look lovely!

fresh cut lamb ribs

After coming home, my last task was to figure out what to do with the tallow that we took from the butcher.  I'm thinking of using it to make soap but after some online research have realized that it is good for many things including cooking, candles, and even skincare.  Who Knew?!

After reading some how to's, I decided to use my crock pot.  I took out the tallow and chopped it up in small pieces and put it in the crockpot on low.  We will see how it comes out.  I have more but figured I'd start with a small batch.   Our lambs were primarily grass-fed with a supplement of spent beer grain from the local brewery.   Hopefully that means the tallow is good quality.   I had no idea that our sheep would give us so many things - and we're just getting started.

Once the meat is all taken care of, the next project is to deal with the 30 fleeces we have bagged from sheering day.  They'll need to be skirted and sent off for carding.  

Started Barn Construction

It's hard to believe but we have actually begun our barn construction for our new facility.  Our barn will include space for the animals with a hay loft, a milking parlour, a milk storage room and a full kitchen where we can make cheese, gelato, cannoli's, and whatever else we fancy.

Jason's been digging the pit for the foundation for over a month, little by little.  Memorial Day we worked all day and go the forms for the footing all snapped together.  We used insulated concrete forms so we could do it ourselves more easily.  The forms snap together like legos.

Our sheep relaxing while we work on their new barn

After hours in the hot sun, we got it done, and even square and level!  That took some doing.  There were couple Oh $*!#  moments but it all worked out.

Nearly completed

Aria has been learning how to use the excavator and she helped with the back-filling.

This week, concrete was poured into the forms so we can begin construction.   The big machines came over too to work on our new septic for the facility.  Our electrician is coming soon to rough in along with a plumber.

Maybe it will even be done in time to do some milking but for now the lambs are enjoying an extended nursing period.

Keeping us on our toes

Ewes certainly do like to keep us guessing. Tuesday morning, I went out with the girls to check on all the lambs, get some weights and change some their cute sweaters to a larger size. We have been waiting since last week for 63 to have her lambs and she has been in the lambing jug biding her time. We have since moved Lucille into the lambing jug beside her and Stella in to share the larger jug with her. We figured she must have cycled again before getting pregnant and would have her lamb or lambs next week.


On my way out to the nursery pen, all three expectant ewes were just sitting chewing - looking relaxed. 40 minutes later when I returned to the house, what do you know but 63 had delivered a newborn baby ewe lamb! They sure can labor quickly. I quickly moved Stella out of her pen to give her privacy with her lambs and put her in with Lucille. I watched and confirmed the baby had nursed and then went inside for a bit. About 45 minutes later I returned to find another baby born - a ram lamb.


Both had a rocky start. The boy was very weak and wouldn't get to the teat. The girl started off great but then showed signs of constipation which can be life threatening. Jay gave her an enema which seemed to solve that problem and after hours in the barn, we both had to leave to go to work.


When we returned home just a few hours later, we found a dead lamb in the other jug. It looked as if Lucille had completely ignored it - she didn't even lick off its face so it could breathe! I just wish we had caught it. We could have saved it I'm sure. This ewe is a little special shall we say. She just isn't right. Last year, she abandoned her lamb after delivery as well but then was a fine mother after being reunited. It is possible the lamb was stillborn but it seems more likely that she just ignored it. The poor little thing was still warm when we found it at about 6:30 pm. It was a girl too. Very sad.


The other two babies are doing well though and we have four other ewes due this week. I hope that is the only sad story I have to tell.

63 nursing her lamb just after birth

Tired after a long night

After spending all afternoon moving sheep and taking care of babies, I was ready to relax Sunday night but we decided we would go weigh Lilly and Lion before bed to make sure they were doing well before leaving them for the night.   When we got to the barn, we discovered that 67, who we'd been worried about all day, was definitely in labor.   I ran up to the house to get some towels and such when I discovered that 39 who we'd moved into the barn the day before was also in labor.  

On closer examination, 67 had a baby coming breach - rear first.  Jason pulled the lamb and then she went to work licking it.  This little ewe lamb seemed very weak and exhausted.  I went up to the house again and found that 39 had already delivered twins.  They seemed alright so I went back down to 67 who seemed to need more help.  While I was gone, 67 delivered a second twin breach - another little ewe lamb.  Mama then collapsed and didn't get up.  She must have been in labor all day which left her exhausted.  She still licked her babies but didn't have the energy needed to really care for them.   Jay left me with the lambs while he went to check on the other newborns.  

I didn't know what to do.  Both ewe lambs seemed to by dying - almost lifeless.  I rubbed them with towels and tried to keep them warm.  While I was worrying about this - I heard a noise from the other side of the barn.  54 was also definitely in labor!  It was overwhelming - almost comical.  

After another crazy half hour, we had a total of six new lambs.   I think five of them were born in 15 minutes.   Thankfully 39's babies needed little help and still are doing fine.   54 did well too without any assistance.

67's babies suddenly came to life just as we were thinking of giving them a dextrose injection.  All the time rubbing them with the towels and letting Mama lick as much as she could worked because they suddenly had enough energy to stand.  They wouldn't suck the bottle I had prepped for them but then Mama stood up after another hour or so, they both ate.   They are funny though - they would fall down seeming lifeless only to jump up again and go nurse.    It was crazy.  

Finally after running around in all directions and confirming that all lambs had at least most likely nursed, we weighed them all and went to bed.  We had to just trust that they would do what they needed to do.  

We dropped to bed exhausted at 2 am.  

At 6am, I woke up to check on all our new lambs.  Thankfully, they were all still alive and seemed OK so I went back to sleep.  

Monday morning, we did a more thorough check and weighed them all again.  Some lost weight but all were still alive and seemed OK so left them a few more hours and did another weight check on the ones that hadn't gained.  They all put on weight.

54 with one of her lambs resting

39's newborn lamb

39s newborn lamb

51 and her twins

Lilly and Lion

Thankfully we no more lambs born yesterday or last night.   Poppy and Petunia seem to be doing well.  We moved Giovanna and her two girls out to share a pen with 64 and her twin boys.  They adjusted well.  We moved 39, our next due up to the Giovanna's pen in the barn by the house.  67 has been acting strange all day and while we were worrying about her, 51 started labor right in front of us.

She delivered twins within 15 minutes - a boy and a girl.  Despite planning not to name boys, this one got the name Lion to go with Lilly his twin sister.  They were born at about 1 pm this afternoon and have had a slightly rocky day.  At first it seemed that neither were nursing but then the boy had a good long suckle while we pinned his mother against the wall.  After that he seemed to nurse on his own several more times.   

Lilly would not nurse so we pinned Mama again so I could pump a little colostrum.  Our handy Udderly EZ milker wasn't so handy so I had to hand express the milk.  Luckily I could aim it right into the bottle.  Lilly was thrilled with the bottle and drank all three ounces that I milked from her mom.  Since then, she got her strength and has been nursing all afternoon.  

Now her brother seems a little weak and won't nurse in front of us.  He also won't take a bottle but he seems warm and OK so we are waiting to see how he is.  

67 has been acting strange all day and shows little interest in food so she may be next.  54 was seen pawing the ground but then seems fine so we shall see who goes next.    It is nearly impossible to guess.

51 looking up at me with Lion and Lilly sleeping on top of each other

Poppy & Petunia

While I was writing my previous post, 45 was delivering her twin girls in the barn.  The kids discovered them.  Obviously the delivery was easy and quick and both lambs seem to be nursing well.  We are watching closely for the first few hours.

Luckily, 45 was the one we guessed would be next and was accordingly moved to a private pen last night.  She is skittish and was a beast to convince to come up to the barn close to the house but with a patient friend's help, we made it up in the dark last night.   I sure am glad we did.  It is much easier to deal with ewes and lambs when they have the right quarters.   We now have 5 more due in the next few days - all but one of which are now housed in a drop pen on one side of the main barn.

Three pregnant ewes in the drop pen (and a chicken too)

Here are the pictures of our newest additions.  Unfortunately, the heat lamp makes for very bad photographs but you get the idea.  The girls have decided on a flower theme for this year's lambs so these were named Poppy and Petunia.   The boys will not be named.

And here are some other pictures of our other lambs.

Rosie in blue, Posie in red

Rosie's star

64's twin boys napping

64 

4 lambs in 12 hours

By the time I had posted my prepping to lamb post, the lambs were here.

Last night, (at least one day earlier than expected) our first due ewe, Giovanna delivered twin girls.  We saw she was in labor and moved her into a private lambing pen.  We thought we'd leave her alone for half an hour and then see how she was progressing but 10 minutes later, we heard the bleating of a lamb.  I went out to check and sure enough there were not one but two tiny lambs.  Rosie is black like her mother with the same little white mark on her forehead and Posie is white.  Rosie is the smallest (and perhaps the cutest) lamb born at Aries Crossing yet.  She was only 6lbs 5 oz at birth!

Friday morning, we went to check on the new lambs and then my daughter went to check on the rest of lambs.  She came running back to tell me that one of the sheep had something handing from its rear end.

Sure enough 64 had delivered one and had another on the way in the main barn.  Thankfully the other sheep had left her alone in the barn while they went outside so we were able to focus on her.   She had two healthy ram lambs weighing in at over 12 lbs each.  They were a little slow to prove they were nursing but all is well.  

Prepare for lambing!

Written March 8, 2015: We are only a week away from our first due date at Aries Crossing.  I am nervous, anxious, and excited.  We have restocked our supplies and need to prep our lambing pens tomorrow.   Thirteen ewes are due in a roughly two-week period starting late next week.  Our first round of deliveries will be our second time mothers.  These will be likely to produce an average of two lambs each so we are going to be very busy.  We only had two sets of twins last year and we lost one baby who was abandoned by mom in the field before we could get there in time.  

Hopefully we have everything we need and all goes well.  We have lube and gloves to assist in delivery if needed though we have no experience with the obstetrical side of lambing.  We have dextrose.  We have our Udderly EZ milker to collect colostrum or milk as needed.  We have formula for a bottle lamb and colostrum replacer which we probably won't use.

Today I bought several yards of fleece to make little wearable lamb blankets.  The weather has been cold.  Last year March was in the single digits many nights.    We had a few lamb blankets but wished we had more.  This year, with perhaps 30 lambs coming during the cold weather, we will be better prepared.  We got more of the pre-made lamb sweaters from premier but I wish we hadn't.  It is a very simple design and i am making 16 for less than a dollar a piece.   I've got prettier colors than the plain red and blue that Premier offers.  I can't wait to see all the little lambs in all these colorful blankets in the field.

Magic Michael

It's been a few weeks but now that the Holiday mahem is complete I have time to post.   It's been quiet since the excitement of lambing.  We've been eating our first harvest.  Lamb is tasty.

In addition, the remaining rams have all moved back home after summering around the corner at another pasture.  We tried to separate them in a bachelor paddock on one side of a fence with the ewes all together in a fully electrified enclosure right next to them.   Apparently, at least one of them have supernatural powers.  Our other senior ram, Michael Jackson, magically moved in with the ewes without leaving any tracks in the snow between the enclosures!  There were some prints on the outside of the ewe's enclosure but we followed them and they dead-ended nowhere near the perimeter where he came from.  ?!?

It's quite the puzzler.  He has now been re-dubbed Magic Michael.    The snow melted but he has done it several more times and also helped his friends.  Now all the rams are in with the ewes within the electric fence.

We will have to work on our fences before lambing begins but for now it works OK.

Breeding Time

It's the season of love on sheep farms across the hemisphere.   Just a few weeks ago, we brought our largest ram, Dodge, from the bachelor pad around the corner to be with the ladies.   He will spend the next month or so with the 2013 ewes who already had babies last spring.   If all goes well, they will all be bred and with the help of a marking crayon, we'll even know due dates.   So far, all the ewes seem to have been bred in under two weeks.  We've changed the color of the crayon so we'll know if any of them go into estrus a second time.  If none go into estrus again, that means they were all likely bred and will be having babies within a week of each other.  That's 14 deliveries in one week - we certainly will be busy.

The younger female lambs were just joined by one of the young ram lambs.  We chose number nine, now dubbed Nino, because of his East Friesian appearance and the fact that his mother was a great milker.   So far many have been "marked" by his purple crayon but not all.   He'll be switched to green in another week or so and hopefully all will be bred.    

Adventures in Soap - Making

It's been quite a few months since my last post.  Compared with the craze of lambing, summer has been quiet and uneventful.   Our lambs nursed and grew.   In May, we brought 12 new lambs from another farm to Aries Crossing. They were all bottle fed .   As a breastfeeding advocate, I'm proud to say our breastfed lambs were bigger and healthier than their formula fed friends.  One of our additions died shortly after coming to us but the rest have been fine though slow to grow.

  

Our lambs stayed with their Mammas for many months.  These lambs were lucky. Once we have milking equipment, they won't enjoy such a long nursing period as we'll be taking a lot of the milk for production.

In July we separated the males and females and were left with some engorged Mammas.



They had to be milked to prevent mastitis and the fun began.  We hand milked for a week or so before getting a hand pump.   I got pretty good at hand milking but it is very hard to keep the milk clean when milking into a bucket.  The ewes would step in it or knock it over or just drop junk off their long fleece into the milk.  We decided this milk was not fit for consumption and we froze it.  It will hopefully become milk soap.   The hand pump puts the milk directly into a bottle which keeps it a lot cleaner.  That milk is in the freezer too.   Some we plan to pasteurize and make into cheese for ourselves.

Today, I made my first batch of soap.  We will see how it went in three weeks or so after it cures.  If it works well, I'll be making lots more of it and experimenting with different scents and such.

3 more lambs

After almost two weeks off from lambing three of our other four ewes have now delivered and we are watching the fourth for signs but can't even find any teats so it may be a few more weeks.   Good Friday started off our latest round of deliveries.

Number 48 looked like her udders were about to burst so we put her in the nursery jug with another ewe and her twins.  That way, if she delivered, we wouldn't have to deal with a barn full  of sheep.  

Sure enough, after just a day or so, we found a newborn lamb there in the afternoon on April 18th.  Another ram lamb.  The other ewe and her lambs were let out so the new mama could have some time with her lamb alone.  This was another uneventful lambing as the lamb seemed a bit wobbly but did just fine with little assistance.  No interventions were necessary and both have been doing great. They joined the main flock a week later. 

Then on Wednesday the 23rd, our small ewe Lucille, who Jay thought was surely not pregnant, delivered in the field sometime in the afternoon.   Lucille has always been very small and a bit odd - she has a strange far off look in her eye and often holds her head at a strange angle.    I looked out the window in the afternoon to see a very white looking lamb being licked by a ewe and went right outside to check.  Sure enough, a new lamb was delivered out in the field with all the other sheep and lambs.   As I have with other field deliveries, I threw some hay in the field to distract the flock.  Unfortunately, Lucille got distracted too.  She had delivered an begun cleaning her baby but the sight of the hay and the other sheep running made her forget her maternal obligation and she ran to get in the mix to get some hay.  I don't know if she was particularly hungry or just got distracted but she abandoned her lamb.  I went in and tried to get her back with her lamb but that proved impossible.  Since it was fairly chilly and windy, I decided to bring the lamb indoors to protect it from the cold and hopefully extract Lucille separately.   

I carried the lamb inside the barn by the house to the lambing jug and turned on the heat lamb.  Aria, our 8 year old agreed to keep the lamb company while I tried to get the mother.  She took the lamb wrapped in a towel onto her lap under the heat lamp.   Meanwhile, I asked my neighbor to come assist with getting Lucille out of the field without the rest of the sheep but we had no luck.  She ran away from me and I couldn't get a lead on her, never mind pull her all the way up toward the house.  Michael Jackson, our punk ram didn't help either as he decided to headbutt me as much as he could.  I gave up and decided Jay could deal with getting Lucille out.  Hopefully she wouldn't reject her lamb after a long separation.  

Back to the barn I went to focus my attention on our newest member of the flock, a little ewe lamb.  We got  fewer ewe lambs than we had hoped so I really wanted to make sure she made it.  We decided to bottle feed her to keep her going until she could be reunited with her Mama.  Thankfully, she had warmed up and was willing to take a bit of colostrum replacer from the bottle.   She was named Jackie. Aria stayed with her for over an hour while I brought Lilah to girl scouts and Jay finally got Lucille into the barn.  Thankfully, she immediately re-accepted her lamb and soon Jackie was nursing like a pro.  Another happy ending after a challenging post lambing period.  

Jackie Bottlefeeding

Finally, our most recent delivery came this past Friday, the 25th.  Once again, we put a ready looking ewe (39) in the pen with another ewe and lamb.  Sure enough, the next morning another ram lamb arrived.  He was discovered shaking and barely able to stand, covered in meconium and amniotic fluids.  The mother was caring for him but also seemed to still be in labor.  We thought perhaps a twin was on the way.  We didn't want to interfere with the two of them but the little lamb didn't look so good and she wasn't letting him nurse.  He needed an enema and after a good poop, he regained his suck reflex and we got  him latched on.  Mama took awhile delivery her placenta but no twin emerged.  After she finished laboring, she was attentive and he nursed.  He has been gaining well ever since.  

We now have only one more ewe who could deliver.  No. 54, who I thought looked pregnant weeks ago, now seems to show no signs.  I assume she is pregnant but must just be a few weeks delayed.  Hopefully she will lamb in a week or so and we will completely done with 2014 lambing.    

Double Delivery

Just when I was wondering when we would have more lambs, two more came. This morning both 77 and Giovanna delivered just hours apart.  Our last little guy has been doing great, nursing, and gaining a ton so we've had a bit of a break.  I knew it wouldn't last for long.

When I went to check the sheep this morning at about  8:30, there was a little lamb standing next to 77.  At first, I just looked at him and thought "you look small."   In my pre-coffee state, it didn't register right away that he wasn't just one of the many lambs in the main barn.  But I quickly realized what had happened.     He looked great though, standing right up with everyone else, already cleaned and dry and nursing - Good job Mama!

We got everyone else outside and let them have some time before moving them into the small lamb jug for their bonding days.  He seems to be doing fine.

77 with her ram lamb

We were finishing up with that when some friends came over to see the lambs so we took them on a tour and did the weighing rounds.  All the lambs were doing great, nursing, and frolicking with each other.

Our friends were just getting ready to leave and we were about to go in when Jay calls that Giovanna is coming!  Our guests decided to stay to see the birth and within half an hour, Giovanna had delivered another ram lam.  She has been another all-star mom and they are doing great too!  

Giovanna and her ram lam just after delivery

I think that the ewes that have seen all the other lambs nursing understand about mothering better than the ones who delivered weeks ago and had never seen a lamb before.  I think next year, we should make sure that the experienced mothers lamb first so that the younger ewes can learn from them.

It was a good morning.  Two successful deliveries without complication, a beautiful day, and a morning with friends.    There are only 4 more ewes that haven't lambed.  At first we thought one or two of them weren't pregnant but we're pretty sure they all are now.   Lambing season continues . . .

some lambs sunning themselves

On another note, Jay tried his hand at shearing yesterday. We have one shorn sheep - she was not a happy camper.  Now he just has to do the other 15!  Oh - and we need to figure out how to do something with all that wool.

Jay's first shearing job (64)

Back to the Teat

While I had almost given up on our newest little guy feeding from the teat - last night he did it for the first time!   That means we might not have to milk his mom or bottle-feed him anymor.    All day today, he has been nursing properly.  The only problem is that it seems he doesn't do it on his own.  We've been getting him up and helping him find the nipple every few hours all day.  At least it's a start.  The La Leche League leader in me is so excited for him to nurse the way he is supposed to instead of from a bottle!  The lazy shepherdess in me is just glad I don't have to do more milking and bottle feeding.  Win-win!

51 with her ram-lamb

Our first bottle baby

Well we were wrong about Giovanna.  She still hasn't lambed but 51 did.  I got very lucky once again yesterday.  Maybe St. Germaine really is looking out for me.   I was out for the afternoon and when I went out to check the sheep, one was just starting to show a hoof coming out.  She was in the barn with the rest of the sheep since the weather was crappy and we'd kept them all in for the day.  One of the other sheep was seemingly trying to kick the baby as it emerged so I cleared all the other sheep out of the barn.  The baby was born soon after.  I had to clear his face of mucous as its mother didn't do so right away but then she started licking him.  He was soon up and trying to nurse but she was walking away.

We let them stay in the barn to bond for about an hour before moving them to the lamb jug by the house.  51 is a very skittish sheep and really didn't like us being so close to her.  Once she was in the other pen, she continued to shy away from her lamb whenever he got near the teat.   Unlike some of the others that did the same thing, she flipped out whenever we got close to her so we couldn't help the lamb latch on like we had.

After a bit of this, we decided to just milk her and give the lamb some milk in a bottle.  Jay pinned her against the wall as she ate and I milked as much as I could.  It is not easy to milk a sheep that really doesn't want you near her.  We did get a good bit of milk though and thankfully, the lamb sucked on the bottle and drank a good bit.  At least we didn't have to tube feed him.   We fed him a bit more a few hours later using the rest of the milk along with a bit of the powdered colostrum replacer.  Then we milked her again.

Today, we tried to get him to latch on himself several more times but he didn't seem interested so again we milked and bottle-fed.   He got plenty from the bottle but would only take a few ounces at a time so we had to feed him often.  After a longer stretch without eating, he was very hungry this evening.  We gave her some grain and he actually latched on with help and suckled from the teat!    Hopefully we can get him to do that a few more times and the two of them might actually get the hang of it.

Otherwise, he has to be bottle-fed and she has to be milked to relieve pressure in the udders so she doesn't get mastitis.  Without proper equipment, milking is a real PITA so I really hope they get the hang of nursing as Nature intended.

No one else had a baby today so far and I really have no idea who will be next.  Giovanna, 77, and 54 all look ready to go and have for days so we'll see.  That may be it for spring lambing.