Yesterday would have been a good day, or the day before, but not tomorrow or the next day. We have had two glorious days with temperatures hovering around zero, not too cold to have a baby lamb or two. Tonight the thermometer is supposed to drop to minus 18 and the wind pick up too. The ewe is in a sheltered location and has a lambing box, but she won't go in it. I checked her before turning in for the night and she was resting peacefully. She is a wild sheep, a Dorset and she is in with a young Dorset ram who will be her sire for next year. This year's lamb is not related to him, so I am hoping it will be a girl. Dorsets have a good quality, tight wool that sheds vegetative matter, but they are kept for the meat.
What a time to breed a sheep for winter lambing. The breeder did have a big barn, but it was not heated, just protected. The ravens have been hanging around the other sheep like crazy, and I sure hope they do not find the newborn. Last year four lambs were lost to them. They peck their eyes out and then carry them away if they are small enough, or just eat them on the spot if they are too large to carry. Bad birds.
Anyhow, the pregnancy indicator is now swollen and facing up, which means she is due. Tomorrow goes back up to around zero, but the days that follow are very very cold. I may have to move her to the barn, if she does not deliver tomorrow, though she is wild and very hard to handle. My fingers are crossed for healthy babies tomorrow. Come on little sheep mamma, tomorrow please.
What a time to breed a sheep for winter lambing. The breeder did have a big barn, but it was not heated, just protected. The ravens have been hanging around the other sheep like crazy, and I sure hope they do not find the newborn. Last year four lambs were lost to them. They peck their eyes out and then carry them away if they are small enough, or just eat them on the spot if they are too large to carry. Bad birds.
Anyhow, the pregnancy indicator is now swollen and facing up, which means she is due. Tomorrow goes back up to around zero, but the days that follow are very very cold. I may have to move her to the barn, if she does not deliver tomorrow, though she is wild and very hard to handle. My fingers are crossed for healthy babies tomorrow. Come on little sheep mamma, tomorrow please.
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