The Fat Ewe Farm and Bed and Breakfast
The Fat Ewe Farm and Moose Hills Inn
Organic Permaculture Farmin' for
the Lazy Ewes
  • The Fat Ewe Farm
  • About Us
  • Blog
  • The Fat Ewe Farm Store
  • Livestock Breeds (click here to see all the breeds)
    • Angora goats
    • Icelandic Sheep
    • Jacob sheep
    • Old English Southdown Babydoll Sheep >
      • Babydoll Sheep on the Fat Ewe Farm
  • Contact Us
    • Photo Gallery (click here for some awesome photos or watch the slideshow) >
      • Video Slide Show
    • Phone Number
    • Map
  • Sale Barn
  • Recipes From the Fat Ewe
    • Old Stuff
  • How Much Meat Do You Get?
  • Ukrainian Easter Eggs
  • Moose Hills Inn

Surprise, Surprise!

3/9/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
Lena and her brand newly born girl lambs, two little ewes. The father was a Jacob ram lamb, unrelated. The babies are stirong and healthy and very beautiful.
Picture
The little white ewe lamb is very friendly.
Picture
The little ewe lamb saying hello to the border collie Robbie. Robbie gave her a few tender licks. He is tender and excelllent with baby animals. When they are in the porch, it is his job to babysit them and he licks them clean, keeps them clean and is so gentle.
Picture
Karin Llama is saying hello to the newborn.
Wow, what a surprise, well, two surprises! Two little ewe lambs wrere born to Lena, the Karakul ewe, sometime late this morning. I had been out to check on the porbelly piglet earlier and did not notice the babies. They were mostly cleaned off and dry. Fortunately the weather cooperated and it was 8 degrees and sunny. Lena had her lambs out in the open in the corner of the pen on nice clean hay spilled over from the feeders. She had a choice of the calf shelter, a small old granary or the barn, all of which have nice clean fresh straw in them, but typical of primitive sheep, she chose to be outdoors in the open. The first lamb she had was in January in the middle of winter three years ago and she had it in the snow. 
Lena is an excellent mother and had the babies nursing and their tummies full. 

It took me quite a while to unravel who the sire is, though. The ram was not put in with the ewes until December 1. That means the earliest lamb to be born full term would be five months later on May 1. These lambs were definitely full term and well developed, strong and healthy. So, then, I tried to remember if any of the rams somehow got in with the ewes and to my recollection none had. So, then what? 

The lambs were born in May last year as well, May through June actually. They were separated and weaned from the ewes at five months old, or so, in mid October. The oldest would not have been quite six months and the youngest closer to four months. While it is not unheard of, it is also not that common for a young ram to breed so early. That is the only possible solution for the mystery of the sire for these babies. The Jacob ram lamb was the largest and early born of the boys. He was a single and grew very rapidly with all his mother's milk for himself. His colouring matches the black and white ewe lamb almost exactly. The other trait is the tail. Jacobs have long tails and Icelandics and Finnsheep have naturally short tails, or rat tails. The ewe lambs born this morning have long tails. So, by deductive reasoning, the sire of the lambs was the Jacob ram lamb at five months old. There could be other babies born in the next week or two, but then the timing would be off because the rams lambs were already gone by the next cycle. So, if no more babies come in this week, the next ones would be expected by the Jacob ewe, who was bred a full month earlier than the others, if she took. The ram was sold and left with four Jacob ewe lambs, but she was put in with the Blue Faced Leicester ram. If she has babies in the next two weeks, they are purebred Jacobs and if they come in May, they will be BFL crosses. 

I am absolutely thrilled, though not prepared, for these babies. I am going to the store tomorrow to get a lambing kit, nipples and bottles, in case, a tube for tube feeding, also in case, disposable gloves and colostrum, all in case. The tails will be docked tomorrow, if not today, and the lambs will get a vaccination shot. They do not appear to need selenium and vitamin E, which prevents white muscle disease. 

Welcome little girls. You are a delight and so precious. I just want to hug you to bits, little ones. 
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    All
    Airstream Land Yacht 1964
    Alpacas
    Alpine Goats
    Ameraucana Chickens
    American Buff Geese
    Ancona Ducks
    Angora Goats
    Angora Goats
    Angora Rabbits.
    Babydoll Southdown Sheep
    Babydoll Southdown Sheep
    Bed And Breakfast
    Berkshire Pigs
    Blue Faced Leicester Sheep
    Blue Swedish Ducks
    Boer Goats
    Border Collie
    Border Collie
    Bronze Turkey Standard
    Bronze Turkey (Standard)
    Canadian Horses
    Canadian Horses
    Cats
    Chickens
    Cotswold Sheep
    Crafts And Hobbies
    Cream Legbar Chickens
    Dorset Sheep
    Ducks
    Embden Geese
    E'st A Laine Merino Sheep
    Farm Life
    Farm Life
    Farm Store
    Finnsheep
    Flemish Giant Rabbit
    Flowers
    French Lop Rabbit
    Galloway Cattles
    Gardening
    Gotland Sheep
    Guinea Fowl
    Herbs
    Holstein Steer
    Icelandic Sheep
    Jacob Sheep
    Japanese Bantam Chickens
    Jersey Cow
    Kahaki Campbell Ducks
    Karakul Sheep
    Kiko Goats
    Kilo Highland Cows
    Light Sussex Chicken
    Livestock Guardian Dogs
    Livestock Guardian Dogs
    Maremma Sheepdogs
    Maremma Sheepdogs
    Meishan Pigs
    Miniature Nigerian Dwarf Goats
    Moose Hills Inn
    Muscovy Ducks
    Norwegian Red Dairy Cow
    Nubian Goats
    Nygora Goat
    Ossabaw Hogs
    Partidge Chantecler Chickens
    Pekin Ducks
    Permaculture
    Pied Guinea Fowl
    Polish/Ameraucana Bantam Cross Chickens
    Polled Dorset Sheep
    Potbelly Pigs
    Pygmy Goats
    Recipes
    Rigit Galloway Cows.
    Romanov Sheep
    Romney Sheep
    Rouen Ducks
    Saddleback Pomeranican Geese
    Saxony Ducks
    Sebastopol Geese
    Sheep And Goats
    Shetland Sheep
    Silver Spangled Hamburg Chicken
    Soap And Hand Made Cosmetics
    Standard Jack Donkey
    Sustainability
    Swiss Blackneck Goats
    The Llamas
    The Llamas
    Toulouse Geese
    Tunis Sheep
    White Chantecler Chickens
    White Danish Geese
    Wool

    Author

    Fluffy writes daily about the experiences on the farm and with the bed and breakfast patrons. 

    Archives

    October 2020
    September 2019
    June 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013

    view old blog site

    RSS Feed

Contact Us
Home

The Fat Ewe Farm 

All text and photos are the sole property of The Fat Ewe Farm  and may not be used without written permission.