Lambs

English Garden (XDarcy) had a Grey Kat Ram and a Fawn Kat ewe Sunday afternoon.

Fancy Kat Ram

The first ewe of 2018 

Only a few hours old.  Wonder if this was their position in the womb?


Dowager and her boys got kicked out of the jug and into the open area for the ewes and their lambs.  The boys really enjoyed the extra play space.  This was the only photo I could get as they couldn't stop frolicking.

More lambs

Sarin (x Darcy) had her black ram lamb this morning.  I checked at 3 am and didn't see anything, then at 6, this tiny little shadow was on the tv.

Sarin doesn't like it when you come near her lamb.  Keep your distance lady.

Then I came home from work at lunch and Ivy (xNitro) had her little grey katmoget ram.  He seems a little bit preemie, so we tube fed him about 3 oz of mom's milk to give him a little kick start.  Will keep an eye on him.

Few hours old

Later in the evening

OK, bring on the ewe lambs!

Lamb cam

No lambs yesterday, but lots of suspicious activity on the lamb cam.  We have a wireless camera set up in the barn so we can watch the bred ewes pen 24/7.

Note the group on the upper left, they are scrummed to stay warn.  The upper right corner is where the ewe that is typically next to go will hang out.  We don't know why, but practically every time this is where they lamb.  We call it the lambing corner.

While waiting for lambs I am working on a 3 ply self striping three color yarn - cream/fawn/brown from neck wool from 2017 clip. 

Lambs

Dowager Countess X Nitro had twin ram lambs last night around 6:30.  Fawn katmogets with spotting.  The first one out had eaten his fill and was resting, the second one was still working on finding the udder and getting his belly filled.  They are about 1 hour old in these photos.

Shearing day final

Thought I would share a video of Georgianna being sheared. 

Such riches - can't wait to get in there and play with my fleeces! 

All finished, now time for breakfast.  Thanks girls!

Shearing Day Part 2

Photos today are in the thick of the shearing process.  We started at ~9:30 and finished at 1:00 or so.  46 sheep sheared.  We didn't do the adult rams because they are outside and it was raining.  We will have to shear them on Aaron's next run through WNY.

Hannah happily displaying Reawick's fleece - she knitted a cowl with her wool last year.

I am bringing a sheared and inoculated ewe lamb from 2017 back into the fold.  Rich got shots done on all the sheared sheep as part of the process.

Mayhem when you introduce a sheared ewe into the flock.  Who is this new girl, she smells different!

Aaron does a wonderful job keeping the fleeces intact as he shears.

I wish blogs had smells, cause this smells wonderful.

1/4 of the way through.

One of my favorite ewes from last year, Brienne of Tarth.  She is a beauty

Shearing Day Part 1

Yesterday was shearing day, which for us as breeders focusing on wool quality, this is the culmination of all our hard work and effort from the entire year.  Those three hours when you watch the fleece peel from the sheep to the buzz of the clippers are the most exciting and stressful hours we endure all year.  Very happy with our results, a couple came off pretty choppy due to the rise but those will be happily processed by me and turned into lovely batts or yarns for my knitting and spinning friends to enjoy!

Today's blog I'll provide photos on the preparations.

Ready for the day

The four ram lambs from last year brought in from their outside pen to be sheared.  Looking forward to Oberyn's fleece (the black)

The boys waiting for the shearer to arrive.  It was pretty cold in the morning.  Actually the whole day was cold and miserable.  I think they look like they are ready for their album cover.

Our wonderful shearer Aaron getting his equipment set up.

The cool shoes he wears when he shears.  Keeps him from stomping on a little lamb foot with work boots.

Me an Will.  Will came home from college to help out.

Hannah did all the documentation and record keeping.  I printed her a list of all the sheep with ear tags, sire and dam info, she was in her element.

Andrew was the grabber.

Close up view of the counter he uses to keep track of how many sheep he's completed.

OK, lets get this party started!