Jade and her girls

Jade 51W was bred this year to Sisko to create 50/50, Dorper/Katahdin lambs. She did not disappoint dropping triplets for the second year in a row. All three are ewe lambs (as were last years). This years girls are on the woolie side but are still cute as can be. She will have her hands.. uh hooves, full with these 3 as they are extremely independent. Before she could even finish cleaning them they had taken off out of the shed to see the world and run (not walk) around the pen. Here they are taking a much needed nap and climb on Jade. Weights are 8.6 lbs, 11.0 lbs and 7.6 lbs. Jade is a happy mum .. just look at the smile on her face. Way to go Jade!

48U and her Twins

48U had her twins April 22 and boy do they know how to grow! Here are some pictures of the happy family. First picture is ram lamb 500Z and second picture is ewe lamb 92Z with mum 48U. I must say I am looking forward to seeing the rate of gain on these two. The ewe lamb has a nice full butt on her already. Dad is Odo Win 12X making these two purebred Katahdins.

21R and her twins

21R is a good ewe that is large and gives good babies. Here she is with this years lambs. They are very cute and  will be good to watch grow. 21R has a tendency toward large lambs with good growth and proud dad is Odo WIN 12X.  Ram lamb 507Z is at the front and ewe lamb 106Z is behind. Mum has finally started to shed now that she has her lambs.

New Additions!

Here are some photos of some new additions that arrived in last day or so.  First photo is 20R and her ewe lamb. The lamb weighed in at 11.6 lbs and arrived at 8:40 pm last night. 20R is a Dorper / Katahdin cross and the baby daddy is Odo Win 12X.  This girl can always be counted on to drop quality lambs.

Our next photo is 44X Freckles, with her twins. She had a lovely ewe lamb weight 7 lbs and ram lamb weight 8.6 lbs. Freckles is a first time mum and did everything right except chose a good spot! These little guys were born at 4:00 in the morning. Both parents are purebred Katahdin though not registered. Baby daddy is Odo Win 12X.

The next photo is Holly a purebred Dorper with her little ewe lamb. Baby daddy is Buster one of the few lambs of his to hit the ground this spring. Baby has a bit of a problem with her knees on both front legs but should grow out of that.

My Sister's Visit

We had a lovely visit from my sister Margaret on the weekend. She was introduced to some chores that are enjoyable. She helped feed and name a little bottle lamb, she held Eva, and even fed the cats some goat milk in the barn! We hope she enjoyed her visit as much as we enjoyed having her!

Below a picture of Margaret feeding "Star" her little rock star. This little guy is still on mum with his sister but is getting a bit of supplementation while his mum is being treated for a mild case of mastitis. She is showing signs of recovery and her milk supply is increasing again.

Merlin remembered that bottle lambs equal bottle milk! He loves to have a helping for himself!

Then it was off to the goat pen where little Eva was given a cuddle and quickly fell asleep in Margaret's arms. That is just too cute!

46U Cocoa has a lovely set of twins

46U is a Katahdin and her little ones are crosses from our Dorper ram Sisko. The little girl weighs 8 lbs and the boy 9 lbs.  Nice job Cocoa. Below a picture of the little family.

Below a closer look at the ram lamb. Nice sturdy little fellow it will be interesting to see how he turns out. This is Sisko's first year being used as a sire.

65Y Sadie and her ram lamb

65Y "Sadie" has a nice ram lamb, the little fellow weighs in at 8.2 lbs. Nice job Sadie! Sadie is a Dorper/Katahdin cross.

68Y and ram lamb

This is 68Y and her ram lamb. She is a first time mum and has a nice ram lamb that weighed in at 8.8 lbs. Good job 68Y

Lambing has started! 85Y has twins!

85Y gave birth to twins. They are a little early at only 143 days but they are feisty and look like they will be fine. 85Y is a triplet yearling out of 304T (Katahdin) and Buster (Dorper) and has her mothers great mothering abilities. She birthed these little ones with no problems and did everything right. Black and white is a ram lamb weight 5 lbs. Little white one is a ewe lamb weight 4.4 lbs. They are very tiny and teeth are not yet fully erupt but they are lively and sucking well. I will need to keep a close eye on them.

Sophie had a little girl!!

Here are pictures of Sophie's little girl she is just over an hour old in these pictures. Born today at noon. Cute as can be. She is trying out those legs with some hops and jumps. Landing can pose an issue and she lands on her face or butt. She is spunky and just keeps trying. I just love those long Nubian ears. She will make a fine addition to the milk goats to help produce for the lambs. While the majority of our sheep are great mums there is always the chance for issues. Last year we had bottle lambs due to weather (chilling) and due to triplets in a couple of mums that can only feed 2 and just couldn't keep up with triplets. This brought about the purchase of our first milk goat and now I will be keeping a couple or three girls around (they need each others company) and a buck to cure the bottle lamb milk replacer issue. This little girl is not related to our buck so she will work out just fine.

New Goats on the block

Here is a picture of Candy and Sophie. These are our 2 new dairy goats. Both were exposed and Sophie (black one) appears to be due soon as she is bagging up. Candy appears pregnant but only time will tell. They are only yearlings so I hope they grow a little more as they are a bit on the small side. Their owner said they were a bit wild but already they are coming up for a closer look and letting me touch their noses. They are very curious girls and I am sure they are going to be friendly given a little time.

20R Also getting big

20R gave us Incredible Hanna last year. She is getting big and is coming due May 5th - 11th. Looking forward to seeing what she gives us this year. She always drops healthy big lambs. Would love to get another girl from her.

29U getting big

29U gave us beautiful triplets last year. She is responsible for Ebony our all black ewe lamb from last year. 29U is getting big and her due date is not until May 11 - 17th. I wonder what she is working on for us this year.  The sheep are cleaning up an old bale that we threw to them. They have nice hay sitting in the feeder but are picking through the old to see what goodies it might hold.

Capella's twin bucklings

Capella has had her kids! Our Toggenburg dairy goat gave birth this afternoon to two healthy little boys. I was amazed as one of the little guys at an hour old managed to climb into his mums big blue hay feeder! I rescued him from his predicament but did not have the camera out in the barn yet to capture that moment. Here however are some pictures of the new little arrivals. It is our plan that mum will help to reduce or eleminate the need for milk replacer for orphaned lambs. She will raise her boys but we will skim a little off the top and freeze it for future use.  Here is the happy little family. The little guys are 5.4 lbs and 6.4 lbs.

Mineral Tubs are for . . .

The lambs really like the mineral tub! Of course they like to play in it as much as munch on it. Here we catch Missy inside while her brother just relaxes beside a grain feeder. Funny thing is the big sheep really prefer the loose minerals to this tub for some reason.

Junior Mint and friends check out the bench.

The sheep really like the benches that are in the main sheep areas. Junior Mint just has to see what all the fuss is about. The benches get a lot of use by the human factors as they double as storage and great places to just hang out and watch the sheep on good days. Junior mint checks it out along with Buddy and one of the girls.

15U and her Twins

We sold 15U (Dorper/Katahdin cross) exposed to our Ram WIN12X Odo (purebred Katahdin) to Karma Creek Farms of B.C. They were kind enough to send us pictures of her twin ewe lambs that were born early this morning. They are very happy with the little girls and will be keeping them to add to their flock. Below is a picture of 15U (MooMoo) and her twins.

A closer look at Twin number 1 in the next 2 photos.

A closer look at twin number 2. Both of these little girls have really cute markings. I can't wait to see more of Odo's little ones hit the ground as so far they are looking good.

Nice 50/50 Dorper/Katahdin

This little girl WIN68Y is developing that nice Dorper butt. She is a lovely half and half that I had considered selling. Glad I changed my mind and decided to keep her!

Then and Now Ruby!

Ruby in 2010!

Ruby Now

She is a lovely girl. Her horns are different sizes as she broke one when she was a youngster.

Yummies

PAS29U is starting to get big with lamb even though she has until mid May to go before she is due. Here she  enjoys a little peace and quiet while sunning herself. This nice girl gave us triplets last year ... hmmm I wonder if this will be a repeat performance!

Emma's Twins come along and discover PAS29U laying in the warm sunshine with hay leaves on her back. How yummy! Don't move ... we will help you get rid of those yummy leaves.

She wonders what these too little mischief makers are up too and tries to find out without getting up.

She was fine until Junior Mint desides he really wants to climb on up for play time. So much for relaxing in the warm sun.