She was pregnant when we left for church and when we got back there were two little lambs at the top of the mountain.
Grey lambed today, it looks like twin girls.
So our final lambing tally is 8 rams and 5 ewes. We will know for certain when we catch and wether half the rams, roughly.
Pictures later today or tomorrow.
The sandy place up the mountain where many of these pictures was taken we’re calling the maternity ward, since all the ewes are hiding out far away from us and the rams to give birth.
The rams are completely avoiding them and hanging out about as far away as they can get.
She is showing great mothering instincts, very protective and birthing in a safe, cool clearing. She didn’t show signs of having a second lamb, but gotta make sure with those first time mothers. Getting pictures off my phone is a challenge since I switched away from Windows Phone, but it looks like everything will be able to be posted tomorrow.
Five lambs from three ewes so far, four more mature ewes to go and 1-4 one winter ewes due in August or September.
Two fawn-colored lambs with spotting. She is our most ornery ewe, and lambed up in the woods like Grey did, but with more success. She looked like she only had one in there, but she clearly has good conformation for breeding. Both are healthy and vigorous, so that’s great. Later today I will verify the sexes and hopefully get a few pictures.
Three down, just Black N Tan to go. And five of six alive.
Grey did have a living lamb, also black moorit, walking around and hanging out as lambs do. Best guess is that this lamb is also about 8-9lbs. Grey is being a little nervy, so I am going out now every half hour to monitor. The perils of pasture lambing.
This is probably a ram, couldn’t get close enough to see.
Goldie and her lambs came by to greet the new arrival.
EDITED 5pm: The survivor is a little 9lb ewe. We call her Ripley. She is nursing great and mom’s chilled out and is relaxed and grazing.
Grey just lambed, and I was leaving her to do her thing, but after two hours, I went up the hill where she was hiding out and there was a dead black ram lamb, still in the sac. The other black (ram, probably, couldn’t get close enough to check for sure) lamb was up, a little wobbly, but able to nurse. She has only one teat, so that’s not the worst thing. She hasn’t passed the placenta yet. I took some pictures, will post them later today. This is depressing, but she is the most skittish when lambing and I had to choose between hovering over her and risking more labor complication vs. leaving her to it and taking this chance of a dead lamb. We may have to try in the future what we did last year, moving her to a small pen until the lamb(s) are established. This year we let her lamb on the main pasture and she ran off into the woods where it was full of twigs and moss and fallen logs and branches. Not easy to observe her or for her to move around, but definitely isolated the way she likes it.
SIGH.
Food, Farming and Faith in Snohomish County 