OK, the lambing is officially done at Wild Rose Farm. Our last Dorset ewe had a ewe lamb on Tuesday. Both are doing well. We put the rams in on Thanksgiving weekend and don't take them out until a few weeks before lambing. It keeps them from being a separate chore to feed & water and of course, they like to be in with a group of ewes. The other aspect of this plan is to cover exactly what happened here. This ewe didn't get bred in the normal 1st 17 day breeding cycle, but probably on her 3rd cycle. By keeping the ram in longer, we get something, & it's not a total waste. Here we have a good mother who kept stamping her foot at me when I got close to her lamb. And you know that we like protective ewes!
Speaking of protective, look who else was "beside themselves" while I was checking on the new lamb ..... these barn swallows were swooping back and forth. They resigned themselves to perching here because I was too close to their nest. The photo is grainy, but getting closer was impossible and the barn was pretty dark. We have quite a few barn swallows this year. They're supposed to bring good luck we hear! They swoop over the sheep in the evening grabbing the insects that the sheep kick up while grazing.
No comments:
Post a Comment