Some Sheep photos from November 2018

We were (rightfullly) concerned that the sheep put on so much wool last fall.

Did it mean we were going to have a hard winter?

It wasn't too bad until after the first of the year.  But here they are, turning grass into wool.  That's their superpower! 

Let the wailing begin

 One of my least favorite times (well, really my VERY LEAST favorite time) on the farm is weaning day. 

Everyone is gathered up, and moms go into one pasture and babies go into another.

 Our friend Nancy G. came over to help.  We coincided the weaning with ear tags for all the babies. 

You see, in order to take an animal off our premises, it MUST have an ear tag.  The Shepherd got a rather nasty letter from the feds for taking a couple of ram lambs to the auction without them last year. 

The feds want to know where our sheep are at all times.

Hmm - too bad they don't feel that way about immigrant babies.  Sorry, I digress...

   So, we have 22 sheep, 12 babies, 6 mamas, 3 yearling ewes and one auntie who is a non-breeder.

The have all been screaming ever since Friday night - the lambs wanting to know where there mommies were - the mommies, whose udders were getting tight, wanting to know where their babies were - and the teen-aged girls and Auntie Donna wanting to know what they were missing out on...

 Hey, you, where'd you put the lambs? 

Actually, the moms and yearling ewes have quieted down significantly, but the baaabies - Not so much -

I'll be very glad for Monday this week. 

Moooommmmm, mooommmmm, where are you? 

Here they are

Here is a first picture of the tribe.  Two ewe lambs and a ram lamb who will soon become an "it" . They are all doing well.  Mama's udder was a little blocked from being so distended for the last week, but the lambs had pretty much taken care of that by this morning.  He bottle fed some colostrum and will get some milk replacer for the littlest one just to make sure she thrives. Vanessa didn't seem to mind and even gave the babies a face washing afterwards. 

There was a reason.

Everyone kept saying, "is she having triplets?"  But we didn't think so, never have had triplets born on our farm.  Well we have now.  The Shepherd just called me at work and Vanessa had two girls and a boy this morning.  Pictures soon! 

One good thing

Boys went to the auction last week so now he has a separate little pasture to put our yearling ewes in while we have lambs coming.  It was kind of like weaning all over again (crying lambs into the night) but in the long run it will be calmer in the big barn.  Lambing should start next week. 

Also dreaming of summer...

The sheep are dreaming of summer too.  They were happy to have a break from the rain. 

He got another pretty ribbon!

 Look who got the Grand Champion Colored Fleece at Fiber Fusion NW in Monroe WA yesterday.

This is The Shepherd with Jefferson's fleece.  The one that the judge at Black Sheep said felt like cashmere, and then forgot to move up to the top 10... Oh well, you win some, and you lose some.  This time he's the winner. 











At this rate, we're going to have to make a "Ribbon Board" for him :-)

Nothing would be more fun to make.

Hope you've had a good weekend. 

He's for sale - with prize winning fleeces in his background

 The Shepherd calls him #1 son, I call him Lamar - but we're both calling him "For Sale"  He even comes with a little brother wether buddy.  (that's a must) 

He has awfully nice horns and his fleece is like silk - Judith McKenzie said his dad's fleece felt like cashmere and he's inherited that fine trait.

So if you are interested, please leave a comment on the bottom of this blog, or you can email us at marietta_shetlands at hotmail dot com. 

We also have some ewes available - you'd need to talk to The Shepherd about which ones, but I know one of them is white. 

Meanwhile, out in the pasture

Did anyone see what happened to the month of July?   The lambs are bigger, the pasture is browner, but I sure don't remember the days going by...

I think part of it was the smoke.  About mid month, there were fires burning up north in BC.  The smoke, however, doesn't respect borders and soon our skies were filled with dirty brown haze.

Not only making it hard to see, but hard to breath as well. Happily it rained last weekend and the skies cleared. 

The Shepherd has been working on socializing his crew of lambs.  They are coming along quite nicely.  Next is halter training.  That is always fun to watch - (not for The Shepherd, however)  Most of the time they will do the "flop" until they get used to having that weird thing around their nose.  He is taking them to Fiber Fusion in the fall and needs to have them halter ready to show. 

Here's Mr. Jefferson, looking Oh so Regal, and proud.  His fleece won blue ribbons at the NW Washington Fair in Lynden this past week.   

    
It is hard to believe that he is not even a year and a half old.  He's probably one of the nicest rams we've had, temperament wise - his mom Jennie did a good job when he was a baby. 

This is "Number One Son"  (what can I say, that's what he calls him)  He's looking for a new home where he can have his own flock of girls, since his dad has the job here all sewed up...

Some of the older girls, looking as brown as their pasture.  You can see the haze in the air - these pictures were taken during the time of the BC fires. 

Sorry for the long absence.  I have been more active on Instagram - you can find me there as "menolly44" - hope to see you soon.

Out and about

Here's Cal and A.J. on their first day out.  They are so cute!

A.J

A.J. is a carbon copy of her mom.  The Shepherd is very pleased.

Garnet and little ones

This handsome little guy is named Cal ,- he and his sister were born yesterday morning. 

Enjoying the sunshine

When I got home from town this afternoon I stopped out by the pasture to see all the babies.  They are still paired up with their sibs but soon they will be waiting for our neighbors to come home so they can race them down the way.  Two more lambs born this morning.  Pictures soon or you can find me on Instagram -  menolly44. We're off to dinner and groceries in a bit, I need to go  make lists

All tuckered out

The lambs had a big day today in the outside world.  They are so fun to watch at this age.

Stink eye, ha ha ha

I was getting a little too close to Angel and Big Al.  Mom was not amused. 

More lambs and trouble in the barn

This is Angel, one of the new lambs we have today on the farm.  Two moms, Frostiana and and Vikki.  Angel is Frosty's .  Sadly Vikki lost her ewe lamb (darn!) and we almost lost Vikki to a prolapsed uterus. 

Thanks to the great vet from Kulshan Vet Hospital in Linden, who put her back together.  We have to give her shots for the next three or four days .  Whoopee....

Allison

Allison has a very nice black fleece.  No white anywhere but on her head, and her tongue (often an indicator of the color she'll be, ie black tongue, dark fleece, pink tongue, light fleece,) is black on the top and pink on the bottom!  So who knows.  The shepherd did say she has a healthy set of lungs...

Proud papa

First lambs of the year born on Wednesday.  This is Jefferson's first "crop" of lambs.  So far, so good. 

Kayla

Kayla has a beautiful black fleece.  He will be taking it to the show in Oregon in June, so watch out.

Time for a haircut

It's shearing day at Marietta Shetlands.  Five down and five to go.