My dear sweet orphan lambs, except Gina, the Icelandic, are penned separately within the ewe pen so I could keep an eye on them and whilst doing so, tame them so they are comfortable and easy with me. Next will be to halter them. Three of the lambs are purebred Shetlands, one is Icelandic, one is Cotswold and one is Jacob. These lambs were selected to stay on the farm for their very fine fleece and their mother's natures and abilities as well as hardiness. Thus far, I am so very pleased with the little angels. 
At first I would catch a lamb and sit her on my knee, stroking her head and fleece, and speak softly to her. This went on for three weeks. She would slowly sink into my embrace, close their little eyes and sigh deeply. My heart would hold them dear for a few minutes and then they would be set down, but not freed. Standing close to me was a little difficult for them at first, though as time passed, they also relaxed enough that bolting was not the first choice. 
Then I brought some tasty treats, alfalfa, new grass, weeds and dandelions, and held it for them. The Shetlands were already comfortable enough that they came immediately. Gina, the Icelandic did not come at all. I caught her and held her again and it was as though she suddenly realized she was safe, and she gave in to her instincts and became my friend. The next day all of the lambs came to me running! 
They will still require more work, and haltering will be a process, but then the lambs will remain tame and calm for the rest of our lives. They will be easy to shear, easy to milk, yes milk, and their lambs should also have no fear of me because their mothers will be so calm. Although this process will take a couple of months and twice daily visits, the results will last a lifetime for me, or rather the rest of my shepherd career. 
Sitting peacefully among nature, holding a lamb, stroking its fleece and listening to its heart beating, has to be one of the most tranquil events one could behold, and I get to do this daily. I am so blessed here on the Fat Ewe Farm. I wish you were here to share this joy!

Enya is a purebred Jacob ewe. She has had a lamb last year, so is an experienced mother. But today, she was totally confused. 
Enya knew she was in labour. She started running around talking to all the young lambs already born. Last night, Obe, had twin ewe lambs and Enya decided one was hers. She would not let Obe near her and was licking her and talking to her. But, she had a little nose and two little feet protruding from her back end. Enya would not relax enough to actually have her own lamb. 
I dragged Enya out of the shelter with Obe and she was frantic, thinking she was departing from HER lamb. I would not let her in, so she went to another newborn lamb in another shelter and began the same ritual of licking the lamb and claiming her, then not letting the real mother near her. 
So once again, I dragged Enya out of there and locked her up in her own world. She was frantic once more, thinking she was leaving her lamb behind and she fought me and tried hard to get away and out. She continued this crazy behaviour for about 15 minutes when her true labour began all over again. She would not settle down to birth her baby and I could only hope for the best. I believe the baby was beginning to be in danger, protruding a little for so long. 
But Enya pulled through. I guess the contractions were strong enough to slow her down and she laid down and went into labour in earnest. The little beautiful lamb was born and Enya began the arduous task of licking her to clean her and nuzzled her up to nurse. It was just then that Enya was down again. 
Her second lamb was born and I put some clean straw in with her for the lambs because is has been raining incessantly hard for 2 days. Enya birthed the second lamb and began eating the straw instead of cleaning the lamb. She more or less was ignoring him, encouraging the first to nurse and eating. This erratic behaviour was very uncustomary and I thought intervening again best.
I grabbed the first born and went into the house. I had been outside for several hours in the pouring rain and was soaked to the skin anyhow. The lamb was with me for about 15 minutes to give Enya time to bond with the second born. When I brought the girl back out, Enya was cleaning the boy and still eating straw. The little fellow was stronger and was trying to nurse.
Jacob sheep are a primitive unimproved breed. Their instincts are intact and they seldom need interventions for lambing. I have never bottle fed a Jacob lamb either. This behaviour was just very strange. There were lots of lambs being born in the last 2 days. I can't blame that on the full moon because it was 5 days ago. I left Enya with her little ones and went in for a cup of coffee and to get dry clothes on. Lunch is way past time, so I am going to look for something for dinner instead. Then I will go back and check the babies and moms and hope that no more strange behaviours surface.
On a good note though, Enya has two lovely big babies. Jacob sheep are a rare breed and the gene pool is shallow in Canada. These are premium stock. Enya was born here on the farm and bred to a large, beautifully conformed four horned local ram, which I purchased. My Jacob sheep are going to two stewards of the breed to continue the breeding program and promote the breed. They are almost a perfect sheep, smaller in stature, but hardy and smart. They seldom ever require assistance lambing and nurse and care for their young with diligence. The fleece is amazing, soft and spins or felts into beautiful garments. I have not eaten Jacob lamb meat, but it is purported to be delicate and divine.
Thank you Enya for your gift to me on Mother's Day! Bless all those little lambies and their silly mothers everywhere! 

Sheep and goats and cows have horns for a good reason. Not only do the horns offer some protection from predators, but they are their cooling system. When it is hot outside, the blood flows through the horns and cools down the animals. When it is cold, there is a shunting of the blood through the horns, conserving heat. So, I do not poll, or burn off the horns of my animals. I am sure having the skull burned either with acid or heat has to hurt and there is no need for it, other than some people believe an animal will be more manageable without horns. Actually, they are most manageable with horns. I use them as handles, careful not to grab the tips, which could break off , especially in young animals, but the base near the skull. Once a firm grasp is on the horns, a small animal is easy to handle. The large ones, like Gunnar, the Icelandic ram with a fine set of horns, would be difficult, but he is a gentle natured ram, so he is easy too. 

Feeding the horned animals takes a little practice. Kylie, the Highland cow, can eat from whatever most other cows can, now, but as her horns grow, she will be best fed on the ground as nature intended. The four horned Jacobs cannot stick their heads through a feeder opening, nor can they easily glean hay from the side of a feeder, so they are best fed on the ground as well. Goats are a little different, preferring to eat from the top down, so a horned goat is happy to climb vertically up a feeder to eat hay there. I have yet to discover the perfect feeder for all the animals, and then hope it will also keep the vegetative matter out of the fibre and wool . 

Today one of the little rams was fighting with another little ram. Unfortunately, as boys are boys, one of the rams was less fortunate and that being the little Jacob, he lost a horn at the base. Poor guy. Horns have a huge vascular supply, so there is red freshly oxygenated blood all over his face and fleece and on some of the other rams too. Close attention must be paid to situations like that to be sure the bleeding does stop quickly or the ram can lose too much blood and be very weak. 

Some people keep horned animals just for their horns, for trophies on their walls. That one, I will never understand. I do not want the skull or stuffed head of a dead animal anywhere near me, let alone as a trophy on the wall, showing that I had a gun and he did not. Grrrrrr! I even wrote a letter to a trophy hunting compound where they raise animals with horns to be hunted within the fences. Barbaric. I digress. 

Anyhow, animals with horns are attractive, interesting and usually easy to move around, except if they are large and have large horns. Breeding season fast approaches this farm at the end of the month, and I will be moving some of the ewes with horns myself. Then I will thankful for the handles for sure. Til then...

The Fat Ewe Farm is a rare breeds permaculture farm. Most of the animals on the farm are not "regular" everyday livestock, but they are unusual, rare or sometimes endangered breeds. The idea was to promote the breeds and interest others in helping them stay alive, rather than go extinct in favour of huge monolithic critters that produce more; more meat. more babies, more money. 

The Jacob sheep may very well be one of the oldest sheep on the planet. They are virtually unimproved, too, which means they are hardy, forage well, subsist on marginal feeds, have easy lambing, raise twins on a regular basis with no issues, and are naturally pest resistant. No sheep is truly pest resistant, but they can manage their pests without human intervention for the most part, IF they are given the proper growing room and feed. Sheep are ruminants and were never meant to eat grain. Primitive sheep, like the Jacobs, do just fine on grass hay and pasture with no supplemental feeding and certainly no need for grain. 

I have not eaten a Jacob, though their meat is reported very delicious. This fall, if the 75% Jacob ram lamb has not sold, I may get my first chance though. He is never going to be a true Jacob, though he looks just like one with his black and white coat and body build. His mother is Karakul/Jacob and his father was a purebred Jacob. Even when bred 'up' that is continually bred to a Jacob so the offspring percentages increase, the sheep are never considered Jacobs. 

Some people have been buying the Jacob sheep and exporting them out of Canada to the middle east. They believe that is where they belong because they are mentioned in the bible..Jacob's black and white sheep. But that is leaving Canada with a very shallow gene pool and with the US border being closed to importing sheep at this time, the exporting of the Jacobs is detrimental to the breed here. So I have acquired two new Jacobs, little ewe lambs from the BC interior. I now have 4 purebred Jacob ewes and 2 purebred Jacob rams. There is a slight possibility that I may get 1 or 2 ewe lambs from Ontario later this summer, too. The man who purchased my Karakuls has Jacobs and if the timing works, may be able to bring along two little ewe lambs when he comes to pick the Karakuls up. 

Then I will breed all the Jacobs to one ram and the offspring to the other. By then, hopefully, I can acquire a third Jacob ram and breed the third generation to him, while still breeding the first and second generation to the original rams respectively and increasing the Jacob flock considerably. There is a market for the sheep and as they become scarcer, that market will improve even more so. In the meantime, I am delighted with the new arrivals. They are pretty cute, right?

The farm is a busy place in the springtime. There are lots of babies being born, incubated, hatched and prepared for. The ewes are definitely becoming ready. While I thought Rosy Babydoll would be first, it now seems like Magdalene Blue Faced Leicester will beat her. Checking on the sheep regularly helps stave off problems that could occur. The lamb kit is ready: towels, colostrum, which is a thick, creamy yellow and very rich first milk essential for the newborn to survive.It has antibodies that the mother passes on to her offspring and protects them for several week and up to months, perhaps a lifetime. The goats are due as well, with 4 does looking extremely pregnant at this time. The barber pole worms enjoyed a very mild winter and have gone rampant. Two goats have had to be treated for overload symptoms and the worms can easily cause death if not tended to immediately. 

There are three geese already sitting on their nests, and two chickens as well. Baby chicks should be hatched in one week from the Chantecler hen, but if I do not remove her and her chicks to a safe spot, the ravens will eat the babies. I really need a hot shot hunter to take out a few of the ravens to deter them from dining at the Fat Ewe Farm, eating all the baby birds and bunnies and even lambs and piglets. They are terrible. 

The thaw came quickly due to the very warm temperatures and there is a waterfall over the road to the back section, with the water flooding the willows and the old dugout. Perhaps the beaver dam broke and finally the water is finding its old path again. I can go and look in a couple of days when more snow melts.

But with the new life, there is also life that is diminishing. Sofi will not see the sunrise of Tuesday for the decision to put her down has been made. She has stopped eating 3 days ago and is unsteady on her legs. I believe her new medication to help with the incontinence reacted with the cancer and caused it to grow at an unprecedented rate, robbing her of life. I have looked after Sofi, who is actually my daughter's dog, for many years of her life and she is very much a part of my extended family. It breaks my heart to see her suffering now and as hard as it is to say goodbye to her, it is time. 

Finally a possible solution to vending the fleeces has arisen with the offer from a woman to prepare the wool for sale, to box it and sell it and share the profits. This, for me, is an excellent solution to getting the fleece to those who want to purchase it for handspinning and felting. The lady, Vicki and her husband and I had a good day yesterday getting to know one another and working out details on selling the wool. 

Yesterday 3 piglets went to new homes, and so did one baby rabbit. Jake the new Jacob ram arrived the day before and the two Meishan sows came yesterday. Clara will not be bred again and will either be sold as a pet or made into sausage because she tends to prolapse when carrying her litters. The Meishan/Potbelly pork will be fattier than potbelly, which is very lean. Meishan pigs are famous for having and supporting huge litters of up to 20 piglets. They breed twice a year and eat a lot less than regular size pigs. They will be pastured once I get electric wire fencing in place to keep them in and the foxes, who love piglets, out. The meat will be sold and served at the bed and breakfast. 

There was a long, day long to be exact, meeting with the insurance adjustor and we are closer to a settlement. I will do the contracting myself and subcontract trades. I can tile and have a tile saw of my own and paint, so I just need plumbing, a tiny bit of electrical and a finish carpenter to put the baseboards up. Then it will take 2 months to unpack everything, so possibly by fall we will finally be ready to reopen, but that means we will have missed the busy summer season. There is nothing that can be done about that. 

So, with the goings on and Sofi being ill, there has been little time to even think and when night comes, I fall into bed and sleep well. This morning a man called about a goat for sale at just after 8 am. People think because I am a farmer I am up at the crack of dawn. I should call them when I go to bed, which was 1:15 last night. I try to sleep until 9 if I can. Stay tuned for lots of photos of new babies which will be coming soon. Happy spring, everyone!

Darn those precocious breeds of sheep anyhow!

There was another ram lamb born today, a four horned all black half Shetland, half Jacob, born to Jean, my four horned Jacob ewe. I was so set on breeding her Jacob and building some Jacob stock back up. The young Shetland rams had other ideas it seems. Jean's little fellow will have four horns and will be half Shetland. That in itself is a little rare. I am thinking I should castrate him, making him a wether, and keep him for a pet and for his fleece. It will be very interesting to see a four horned half Jacob who is all black. His fleece should be quite wonderful, I am thinking. 

So, upon a very very close inspection, I noted that there are several ewes further along than they should be in their pregnancies, if they indeed were bred to deliver in April and May.  There is over a month to go and the Tunis sheep has a developed udder and is ready to deliver any moment. She is not overly large this time, which makes me think that the entire flock is destined to have singles only. 

I am very disheartened with this knowledge. I had so very much counted on the purebred babies to help along the flock development. If the Babydolls are going to have cross bred lambs, and I suspect Rosy for sure will, as she is very large for the predicted due date of being bred to the Babydoll ram, then a whole year of breeding is somewhat wasted. There are 7 Babydoll ewes, though the ewe lambs may be too young this year and if all of them are bred to those little Shetland baby boys, what a terrible waste of this year. 

We do learn from our mistakes and this is a huge one for me. 

I think I am done testing out the sheep breeds, except I do have some new lambs coming this fall, Romneys. The Romney breed is an old English breed reknown for their fine wool and larger carcass, so a dual purpose sheep. They tend to be slower growing than some of the new breeds that reach 120 pounds in 100 days for market lambs. Some of my adult ewes are not 100 pounds!

Of the breeds though, I defiinitely like the unimproved, primitive ones best, particularly Jacobs. I don't know how all Jacobs are, but the ones I have had are smarter than most of the other sheep except the Icelandics, hardier, better mothers, a little wary but not skittish and have nice wool Really there is not much not to like except they are small in comparison to the meat breeds. Since my goal was never to raise sheep for meat, that should not matter. 

Today was a good example of how smart the Jacob sheep is. I let the sheep out and then opened up the bush. They love the bush. It has new leaves and tender shoots of grass and tasty weeds. It was not very well developed because we have not had any rain and little snow over winter, but they have no pasture either, so it is the best there is. Another bush area is being fenced for them this weekend. The shep were in the pasture beside the gate and divided by a fence. The sheep ran to the corner of the fence to get in the gate and baaad loudly when they could not. I can understand the young lambs not figuring out that they had to go back, but the adult sheep should have gotten the idea. 

So, who is the leader? Yes, the Jacob ewe! You can see her in the first picture leading the way. Her lambs did not follow her and were left in the corner looking for a way in. Once Jean Jacob led the way, some of the other sheep followed her, but some were just too sheepish and remained in the corner and Robbie and I had to go shoo them back to the gate to come down to the open area. Gotta love that Jacob though. Perhaps instead of keeping different varieties of sheep for their unique wool, when I decide to cut back, I will just have Jacobs and Babydolls, maybe the Romneys too, but I don't know about them at all yet. Thanks for thinking Jean Jacob. You are awesome!

Livestock guardians and older ewes are great babysitters for young lambs. They are tolerant of the lambs and allow them to play on them. Dora, the Karakul sheep, has never had a lamb. She has a very wide fat tail, as her breed is supposed to have, but the rams have never been able to figure out how to breed her. She is here because she is Karakul, a rare breed and has true Karakul fleece. She will live her days out on the farm. Mikey, the dog, is a wonderful, gentle and calm livestock guardian, raised with lambs and sheep. Although he is only a year and a half old, he can be trusted with the lambs. Never has he displayed a tiny bit of rough play or agression with any animals he is protecting. 

Soon the other lambs will begin to be born and then a most wonderful time happens. The lambs run for the sheer joy of being able to do so. They run in one direction and they run back. Once they are a few weeks old, they love to explore away from mom, but not too far. I love the little lambs, Dora and Mikey. What a life to be a farmer - such joy every day. 

Oh my goodness, new lambs are cute and the last four born on the Fat Ewe Farm are indeed among the cutest. Jacob lambs are always black and white, but there are lilac ones too, which is a greyish colour and white. Primarily, they are black and white and they are small when they are born. The new lambs born last week have grown so much already. They were a bit larger to start with than the pure bred Jacobs just born, because Karakul lambs are good sized, but they are also half Jacob. One has the markings of his father, but his body is black, except for the tail, which has a white tip. The little white ewe lamb is just like her beautiful Karakul mother. 

Today, Jean the Jacob had brought her babies out to meet the flock at a distance. They had already learned the safe place was next to mother and Jean is excellent at calling them to her. I put them in the barn tonight because it is snowing quite hard and the ittle ones are so new, they cannot regulate their body temperatures as well as the fully insulated mother. Though she is very instinctual, she did not want to keep them in the barn or shelter out of the snow, so I locked them up until morning for their safe keeping. 

This morning, though, the babies were out and Lena the Karakul was eating. Lena's twin girls were curious about the new comers and came prancing over. The all white girl is very bold and her sister followed her. Jean's babies did not want to meet the other little lambs though, and they sniffed eachother and then hid behind mother. It was absolutely adorable!

I love Jacob sheep, though currently I have only one mature 4 horned ewe, who just had twins, a girl and a boy. She was bred to a ram that was here for a month only, then was sold with the four ewe lambs born last year. Jean, the ewe that I have now, has given me the most beautiful strong lambs and she is an incredibly amazing mother. 

When Jean knew it was time to have her babies, she isolated herself to the small granary at the back of the property. In anticipation for lambing, the granary had been cleaned and clean straw was spread out about a foot thick. Jean created a berm nest to protect her young ones from drafts by pawing the straw into a low wall along the door side. The granary wall was on the other side. When she was giving birth, she stayed in the nest and delivered her twins in the safety of the shelter, away from the wind and snow. It was minus ten and snowing outside with a very cold wind. 

Quickly and efficiently, Jean cleaned her first born, the female ewe lamb and had her up and urged her to the udder to nurse. The little ewe was nursing a bit by the time the ram lamb was born. He was initially weaker than the female and marginally smaller, maybe by only about 4-5 ounces. Jacob twins are not large lambs, but they are strong with a strong will to live. Surival rates are extremely good. Jean quickly and efficiently cleaned the little boy so he would not get too cold and had him up and looking to nurse in a short time. 

It is essential that newborn lambs nurse within a very short time of birth to use the colostrum, or fist milk, as an internal warmer. Once they have this milk inside, even a small quantity, they do not remain feeling cold. Jacob lambs are very hardy and are born with an excellent wooly coat. The amniotic fluid dries quickly and a good mother will continue to clean the babies which also stimulates them to get up and nurse. 

When Jean decided to leave her shelter, she had to ensure her babies had bonded to her and were able to follow her and come to her calls. She spoke to them constantly so they knew her voice and her sound and smell. A mother sheep will check the smell of a lamb to identify it as her own. 

Today the lambs were out of the shelter, Jean was eating alfalfa in the barn where she had taken them and they were following her without problems. There is snow on the ground from last night and the lambs are robust and playful. Their tails will not be docked, but they will receive vaccinations for basic illnesses that could possibly be life threatening. No other interferences are done or are necessary. Many shepherds routinely give the mother shots of vitamins, selenium, calcium and so on, and also give the babies selenium and vitamin E shots. This is not required with Jacob sheep. The sheep at the Fat Ewe Farm are strictly grass fed and are wormed primarily with herbs and garlic. All sheep are given some copper as well as research has demonstrated the need for copper, especially in primitive unimproved sheep such as the Jacobs. 

The wool of the Jacob sheep is very soft and spongy, felts readily and also makes excellent wool for hand spinning. The pelts tan into beautiful sheep skins, too. A Jacob sheep can be milked, however; Jean has twins and I feel that she will need all the milk she can produce for those two little rascals. 

Welcome little ewe and little ram, welcome to the Fat Ewe Farm and thank you Jean, my beautiful Jacob sheep!