I like to think that I have an indomitable spirit. Once when I was quite young, maybe a teen or early twenties, that was how I was described. It stuck in my memory for some reason, likely because I liked that idea. So, with that indomitable spirit, I formulated a plan, and set to work. Six hours later, I had done it! I managed to remove three huge rams and get them on the other side of the farm to their home, plus put medicine in all the sheep and a few goats, except one, Kara. 

Kara is a jerk! I am not sure why, because she was a triplet from Daphne, my best goat, and Daphne's kids are wonderful. Her twin sister, Kia, is sweet natured and curious and comes to me to get a little pat, but Kara heads for the other end of the pen, wildly screaming every time she sees me, as though her life is at stake should I come near her. She is on the sale list, though she is beautiful, an F1 (first generation cross) mini Nubian in a lovely fawn colour. She was bred to Wimpy the Second this year, a tri colour Nubian buck. The mini Nubians, except Marie, who decided she wanted to get bred by Stevie Wonder, not Wimpy and somehow got herself out of one pen and into the other, rather miraculously, are going to have 3/4 Nubian babies. I am hoping they will be hardy enough to this climate, since Nubians do struggle with the extreme cold. Anyhow, I will have to work on Kara today, plus the other goats in the other pen and the rest of the rams across the driveway pen. Not many, compared to the hundred or so I managed yesterday ALONE!

I broke the cuboid bone last week in an unusual way. It is the bone that the metatarsal attaches to and it is a hairline fracture, nothing much really, and does not require casting or even bandaging. But yesterday, a big ewe stepped on it, and after that I was walking like Festus from Gunsmoke (you will have to look that up if you are not very old). Today it is swollen and painful all over again. I was out to check on the critters this morning. Bob Cotswold had his big head stuck in the feeder, so I rescued him and other than that, the plethora of ravens eating the dog scraps, was dispersed because I picked up the raw bones and meat bits. Anyhow, that broken bone still makes me hobble around in pain, but I will definitely have to treat the goats and the rest of the rams. One untreated animal with lice can reinfect the entire farm and I do not want that! Fortunately, sheep lice do not live on humans, but they can bite humans. Gross! I only got one bite from yesterday, whew! 

Today is beautiful! It is warm and melting, the usual January thaw. It snowed last night, enough of a dusting, maybe 3 centimeters or for those who better understand inches, around an inch and a little bit. But the snow is squishy and soft. I am just finishing my second cup of coffee and will have a cup of bone broth with fat before going out. There is an inch of beef fat on the bone broth in the pot and in the cup, I would say the fat, melted of course, covers the broth. I am attempting to reset my leptin using the Keto diet. 

Speaking or resets, yesterday, after wrangling those sheep, my knees were so painful that I could only hobble. Couple that with the broken bone in my foot and I felt a hundred years old! I have been reading a lot about cold thermogenesis and healing, so I put ice packs on my knees and left them there an hour. The pain and swelling disappeared with no medication and lasted through the night. Today, there is little swelling and little pain. I think there is definitely something to the idea. Long ago I happened to catch a short documentary on open heart surgery in a remote area of Siberia where they had no medication for pain. They used ICE!. The person was put to sleep and then covered in ice until the skin temperature was a certain level and they operated and closed and continued the use of ice until the person was well enough to gain normal function, which was not long and the recovery was nothing short of miraculous. I tucked that tidbit away in my mind. There is an American doctor who is promoting ice therapy, cold thermogenesis, and used it on himself after surgery for a speedy, pain free recovery. I must say, it worked on my old knees! 

Have a wonderful cell phone free day! Ha! Imagine that! Let's see tomorrow if I manage to get the rest of the critters on the farm medicated today. Toodle doo!

Whew! The last week has been filled, well over-filled with a bunch of too busy days. Some days as many as ten different people came to the farm for one reason or another. There is the John Deere lawn tractor to fix, the smart car got sold, a few looking at the two trucks I have for sale, my new solar fridge arriving, people coming to buy goats and bed and breakfast guests. Some of those days I got up earlier than I would have normally to make breakfast for my guests. And of course, the third to last goat had triplets and today alone, 3 sheep had lambs with one set of twins. Rosy needed help with her single HUGE ram lamb. My goodness he is big! The sire was a Babydoll/BFL and although the lamb looks Babydoll, he is as large as a big Blue Faced Leicester lamb. Too bad it is a boy though. I don't usually make wethers out of the sheep, but I think that one would make a great companion ram for those who have just one breeding ram. I cannot find my elastic applicator though! 

There have been moments of planting some things in the flower beds, painting some new planters, ensuring the sheep and goats do not stay out long on the first green grass of the season and then last night, I stepped on a 3 inch nail. Ouch! I soaked it in the tub along with my old bones and went to the hospital for a tetanus shot this morning just after 9. I got out of the hospital finally , at 12:30. The doctor was in a clinic and only came over for emergencies, my situation, not being considered anywhere close to emergency. So, I visited with my friend Alan, who has brain cancer. He was making plans for his funeral and I tried to cheer him up, but when I arrived he did not know who I was. Sad. 

There will be a few more of these crazy days before life gets settled down somewhat. Once the two trucks are sold, and the old fridge I was using is also gone, and the goats and lambs, then the animals can go out to their summer pasture and life should be quieter. Except there will be gardens to plant and yard clean up to finish, and it goes on. The thing that is not getting accomplished, that always gets pushed to the last, is my own little hovel. It desperately needs a day of cleaning and organizing, but somehow all those other jobs are taking the priority. 

I soaked my foot again in the tub along with my bones, as I do every night and sleep calls. Sweet dreams all. 
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There are a lot of different rare and exotic sheep breeds on The Fat Ewe Farm and 11 different rams. The logistics at breeding time can be quite a challenge. Who will go in which pen where? 

Friar's group of Babydoll ewes were in the middle pen which has large openings. Friar was alert and is a good breeder. The smallest ewe lambs were in that group, though I did not think they were old enough to cycle. None of the yearling lambs have ever bred in the past, so I was not too concerned. They could get out of the pen and run around in the main pen if they wanted and they did on occasion. 

So far 3 of the purebred Babydoll ewes have lambed, one black ewe lamb, one white ram lamb, and twins, one male and one female. Today Lily lambed and she does not have a purebred Babydoll lamb. It seems that the Blue Faced Leicester, who is a tall sheep, twice as tall as Lily, was busy through the fence. Darn! Darn! Darn! Although I am grateful that the lamb is healthy and strong and Lily is a great mother and is doing well, I am a little perturbed with the breeding. It will be interesting to see how the lamb grows and what the fleece will be like. Lily has very short fine fleece and the Blue Face Leicester sheep have one of the finest quality wools possible, not particularly long, but longer than the Babydolls. I am wondering if I should whether the youngster or not. I do not usually do so, but unless he is chosen as a breeding ram for a little backyard miniature flock, the only other fate is lunch. And he is adorable. 

This year was not a very successful lambing year with 5 ewes being bred in the fall by ram lambs and then the poor quality feed resulting in lots of singles and tiny lambs, strong and healthy, but very small. And now this! That pen is too close for comfort! I sold Quinn, the ram, and the rest of the Blue Faced Leicesters to a family from the south of Alberta. Good thing!

Anna, the beautiful little Babydoll lamb who was abandoned by her mother after a very difficult birth, was sold to a new home today. I cannot lie and say I did not shed a tear. I raised that little lambie, got up and night and cuddled her when she was lonely and loved her so much. She slept with Robbie, the border collie, and he kept her bottom clean with the tenderness of a loving mother. He is really good that way. 

The folks who bought Anna also took a young black ram and they wish to have little Anna's of their own. Anna was exposed to the ram, Tuck, this year, and is likely bred. She does have a bit of a round belly on the underside, but it is early to tell. She may not be due until June at the latest, depending on when the ram visited her.She did not want to be bred though, and ran away from him every time I observed them together. 

There will be a new crop of little Babydoll lambs born in a few month. Rosy is already very big. She was a twin and her sire was a twin, so there is a good chance she could be carrying twin Babydolls. I am looking to trade my mature rams, Friar and Tuck, for two new boys that are unrelated so they new daughters can also be bred in the following years. 

The folks that have Anna are a young couple without children and I am sure Anna and the black ram will be well loved.I will miss her, most certainly. She would always return my call with her baaa. Sheep remember their mothers for their entire lifetimes if they are allowed to live in family groups. Good bye my sweet Anna. I love you and miss you already! Thank you for our two years of joy. 

There are some things on this farm that I cannot do alone. Moving the breeding groups of sheep, especially the rams, is one of those things that I need help with. Today, I was blessed with not one, but two helpers and am certainly grateful for their assistance in a little job, but one that takes some stamina and patience. 

The Babydoll sheep were the last group to be set together for breeding. There are two groups, one for Friar and one for Tuck. The little girls from this year are likely not old enough to breed, but they are exposed to a Jacob ram lamb this year, just in case. They can neither be bred to Friar or Tuck, since they would be related to them in one way or another. 

Friar has just two mature ewes to breed. The girls have not produced twins, though both of them are twins. This will be their second lambing, so I am hoping for twins. Tuck has two purebred ewes and one crossbred ewe. The purebred ewes have twins in their backgrounds as well, but have not had twins so far. My fingers are crossed. 

One group of ewes had to go clean across the farmyard. Most of them cooperated, but not Zoey. She laid down and kept laying down. Caitlin, one of the helpers, suggested a wheelbarrow, and sure enough, it worked like a charm. Once she was laid in the wheelbarrow, she made no fuss and was delivered right to Tuck. 

Tuck and Friar have already taken a strong interest in the ladies. They were beside two different rams, so they are likely cycling and ready to breed, as they did stand for the ram. This is great because having the different breeds in different pens is a pain. Everyone needs to be watered separately and fed separately. I will leave the sheep together until the end of December and then move everyone back to their places. 

When breeding rams are returned, they sometimes ram each other and fight hard. To help prevent any major casualties, they are penned in a tiny area so they can barely move. That does not allow them to back up and ram their neighbours, at least not hard enough to hurt them fatally. Usually within 2 days, they have settled down enough that they can be let out and they will not hurt one another. Once the smell of the ewes is more or less dealt with and done, they are fine. 

I am thankful to have friends that I can call on for help. Certainly, they are well appreciated and their kindness is taken note of. Christmas is coming and I think there will be something extra in their stockings this year for being good girls! Thank you Caitlin and Gail! Much appreciated. 

Old English Southdown Babydoll sheep are naturally miniature sheep. At one time they were the common sheep in England, but as people desired larger cuts of meat, they fell out of favour and were almost extinct. Robert Mock found some isolated flocks and created a registry for him, one that his daughter continues today. Unfortuantely, the gene pool for these amazing little fellows is rather limited. 
I crossed some fo the Babydolls with Jacobs last year. The crosses look identical to Babydolls with the exception of a little more open fleece and a brockle face, that is a face wtih mottled black and white. They are the same size and shape as the Babydoll sheep. For an untrained eye, one could not tell the difference.  One was bred to a Babydoll ram this year and her offspring, 75% Babydoll, is absolutely like any other Babydoll sheep. The genes are strong and dominant obviously. 

Every morning I let the sheep out to graze in the pasture. They are kept close to the house in the night pen because of the high predation in this area. There are livestock guardian dogs with the sheep and more around the farm with the other critters. So far, there have been no losses except one baby goat to the fox. Every morning the Babydolls stop and wait for me to scratch an ear or under a chin and they look into my eyes. That moment where eyes meet eyes is one of absolute trust and is priceless and precious. When they come in for the evening and I am about to shut the gate, they stay where they are resting, relaxed in my presence. This is so for some of the other sheep, but the Babydoll sheep are born friendly. They are hardy and parasite resistant and though I have not eaten any, they are a meat sheep too. But I love them because they love me. 

And, they are so darn cute! Right?

Cosmos is a purebred Old English Southdown Babydoll ewe sheep. She had Anna last year, but Anna's delivery was very painful and difficult. Anna was born with her two front legs facing backwards. The little Southdown Babydoll's have large heads for little sheep, and once her head was out, the mother, then a first time mother, could not get past the shoulders. I called the vet for assistance many times and eventually got Anna out, thinking that I killed her by breaking her neck because I had to really pull hard by the head. The vet said it was the only way to save the mother, to sacrifice the lamb. But I didn't think Anna was alive. She didn't move or make any sound so I picked her up by her hind legs to dispose of her and she sputtered. Cosmos, her mother did not want anything to do with her, no matter what I tied. I did get Anna to nurse from her for the first three days by flipping Cosmos and allowing Anna to drink. After that, Anna was my baby and I bottle fed her and she still comes when she sees me and wags her little tail. So cute!

So, needless to say, I was a little worried when Cosmos was ready to deliver. She segregated herself in the shelter and stayed there for several hours. I checked on her, did chores, checked, had coffee, checked and did some more chores and then finally she was laying down in labour. 

The hooves both presented with the little nose between, perfectly for the way sheep are supposed to be born. Since Cosmos had given birth previously, she also knew what to expect, but she did not mother her first born, not lick her off to clean her or nurse her willingly or anything. Her little lamby was born beautifully with no stress. Then Cosmos got up and walked away. She did not come back so I grabbed a towel and cleaned her mouth of fluid and the amniotic sac and toweled off her head. The baby still did not move, so I picked her up by her hind legs and swung her back and forth a little to clear the fluid from her lungs. Finally she sputtered. Cosmos heard the baby and came back. She did not lick her at first though and I thought she was going to leave again, but she sort of hung around. 

She did leave and I cleaned the baby up pretty well, but Cosmos did not leave the shelter. So, at that point, I thought maybe my presence was disturbing to her and I left. Robbie and Karin Llama were watching too, and I made them go away. Cosmos slowly began to lick her baby. I went in the house for a while and when I came back, she had bonded to her and was calling and talking to her baby, thank goodness, but she had not nursed her. I knew that because the teats have waxy plugs and they are sucked off by the baby when she nurses, but they were still there. So I flipped her and allowed the crying lamb to nurse. If they do not nurse very soon after birth they become weak and cold and it is imperative that they do. Once they nurse they are usually strong enough to nurse again on their own, even if the mother is a little standoffish, which Cosmos was. 

So, after the baby was fed, I left mother and daughter again and came back a few hours later. Cosmos had the little girl out of the shelter and was calling to her. Baby was able to crawl under Mamma and nurse too, which was a great relief for me. So, finally Cosmos was a real mother and the little lamb, another little girl just like Anna, is doing well and is healthy and strong. Welcome to the Fat Ewe Farm, baby!

The babies came fast and furious today. Celia finally had quints, but one was stillborn I think, though I missed the brith. I just went in for supper and by the time I was done, she was done. She has 4 beautiful baby girls and the one that passed away was a girl too. The quads are black and white, but Celia is brown and white. They are adorable. 

But that was not the only birth today. Obe and kaon, the Shetland girls had little boys, both by themselves. They went into the barn, most likely because when they first arrived that is where they lived for 2 days and it felt like a safe spot. They had their babies, cleaned them off and had them nursing in five minutes total. The Blue Faced Leicester, on the other hand, which is a man created breed, needed assistance. One leg was back and she was not able to get the little gaffer out, so I pulled him out. She did lick him clean but would not let him nurse. I left them to be in a stall in the barn and when I checked later, he had managed to nurse. I brought her food to distract her and make her stand still and the rest was up to him. It seems to have worked. 

But then, just as I thought I was going to bed, I checked the sheep pen and one of the wild things had a teddy bear. She was bred to Tuck, a coloured Old English Southdown Babydoll and she is part Icelandic. The baby is white and black spotted and absolutely adorable. The mom is wild. I don't know why. Some sheep are, almost no matter what you do. She will teach her baby to be wild too. The baby is a girl. Her only saving grace is that Babydoll sheep are born friendly, so perhaps once she is weaned she will tame down. Her mom is going to be sold or go for meat, even though she has a lovely fleece.

So finally, it is nearing midnight and I can go to sleep. I am pretty sure there is no one in labour at the moment. I will be up early to check again. I don't have any more man bred sheep to deliver, thank goodness, so the rest of them should be fine on their own. One of the quads that Celia had is very small and weak. I tried to bottle feed her and she did not want anything to do with me so I left her with her sisters and mom. 

And so to bed. Another day comes tomorrow. 

It is rather amazing the trouble sheep can get themselves in. Little Zoey, a Babydoll/Jacob cross who looks like a purebred Babydoll Southdown, can stick her head through the fence to get what is dropped from the bigger ewes at the feeder. So, along came one of the other little sheep who stuck her head through the fence too, then proceeded to stretch the wire just enough so that neither she, nor Zoey could get out. The Icelandic cross has no name as she is not going to be a permanent resident on the farm. She is part Barbadoes and part Icelandic, but looks neither except for her lovely wool coat. The Barbadoes ewe was not friendly, very skittish and very wild. She could jump over my head if I tried to corner her in the barn and she was no more than 30 inches tall at the withers. Amazing. But her babies are wild just as she was. She would scoot them to the far reaches of the pen as soon as she spied me, keeping them well away from any contact. So, when this little lady got herself stuck, she was in full panic mode. I attempted first to put her in kneeling position and promptily got kicked with those hind legs for all she was worth. She is pretty strong for a little thing. That was also the closest I have been to her and I thought I should trim her hooves while she was captive, but didnt want to stress her even more and decided against it. Zoe was bound by the tension on the fence wire caused by the bigger ewe. The only option I could see was to clip the wire around the bigger ewe, which of course would then release Zoey once the other was free. So, I did and yes, Zoe backed out and shook her darling little head wondering what on Earth that was all about. She is such a sweet little girl. 

Most of you might be too young to remember an old song entitled, "Stuck in the Middle With You". I did and it seemed amusing to me when I saw the silly sheep exactly in that situation. Silly ewes. 

There are three purebred registered Southdown Babydoll rams for sale or trade, Friar, Tuck and Jackson. Friar is a couloured ram and is positive to sire 50% coloured lambs if bred to a white ewe. Tuck is considered 'white' as is Jackson, though both of them have some colour to their fleece and have colour on their legs and a little around their faces. Friar and Tuck are mature rams, 2 years old, and are proven breeders. Jackson was sired by Friar. More of these little sheep are sprining up in pockets around Canada, but the gene pool is fairly limited. Some breeders have imported rams from the USA to increase the genetics of their flocks. Friar and Tuck could remain on the farm and continually breed the same two ewes, who are not related to them. Jackson could breed two of those ewes as well. Then the daughters of their breedings would have to be sold or a new ram brought in. The easiest is to find some one with different genetics who desires to trade. Coloured rams are quite in demand and are more costly than white ones, as are the coloured ewes. 

Babydoll Southdown sheep evolved to be miniature and were not bred down. There is a specific registry for all Babydoll Southdown sheep and registration is encouraged, especially because the sheep are still rare. Crosses are not permitted to be registered and the sheep must be a certain height in order to qualify. Those that are too tall at the shoulder or too short as well, cannot be registered. Ewes must be 24 inches to the top of the shoulder. If they are smaller, lambing is more difficult. The lambs have large heads and wide shoulders. Easy lambing is a trait to be encouraged and ewes who continually require assistance should be culled. That is hard to do when the ewe would have cost $800 t0 $1000 dollars. Obviously she would not go for meat! Those ewes would be best sold to a small hobby farm or petting zoo at a slightly reduced price with the instructions that they should not be bred. The trait is not desirable. 

The sheep are friendly and very easy to handle because of their small size. They were once bred for meat, but people started to want larger cuts and more meat per animal and the breed nearly went into extinction. Fortunately, Mr. Mock had a liking for the little guys and began to collect them from wherever he could find them and started the registry that now still exists. 

Friar is $800 and Tuck is $1000 because he is coloured, and the ram lamb is also $800. I do know a few breeders of these fine little sheep and will send some emails out to see if some one would like to trade. In the meantime, they are my joy and come to me for little scratches and pats whenever I am out with them. Even the rams are quiet and friendly. 
If you are a small holder and are interested in a breed of sheep, I strongly encourage you to take a  look at the Babydoll Southdowns. I am grateful to have them on the Fat Ewe Farm.