Watching & Checking For Lambs!

Wild Rose Farm Snow White Isn't The Only One Watching!

The one constant thing about lambing season here at Wild Rose Farm is the watching and regular checking for ewes in labor.  Or ewes with newborn lambs since the last time we checked.  Or a white plastic bag that blew into the pasture and looked like a lamb left behind by an errant ewe under the pine trees ... yikes!  Yes, that happened yesterday to Mr. WRF & he was not happy ... "luckily" it was a bag.  But look at the picture above and enlarge it to see another watcher.  This was taken at 6:30AM today when I thought I heard a noise coming from up above. Yes I did!
Closely scan the skyline and you'll see either Otis or Lotus - one of our goat neighbors - watching from atop the Goat Mahal Annex!

Dorset Ewe #117 With Newborn Ewe Lambs

 Here's another reason to keep a close check on the ewes. Today our Dorset ewe #117 had a set of twin lambs under the pine trees. When we went out to pick them up, one of them had crawled or rolled around and was head first partially in a groundhog hole!  If several more hours had passed, that would have been a disaster. As Roseanne Roseannadanna used to say, "it just goes to show you, it's always something!".  She and her lambs are safely in the barn now.

Sunshine, Twins, & Grazing!

Sunshine At Wild Rose Farm, Finally!

After several rainy, cool, & windy days, we've got sunshine!  The ewes really enjoy a fresh section of pasture and it's not so "washy" to eat. In the rain, we stepped up the pasture checks to every 2 hours to make sure that we got the lambs in to the barn before they chilled. Mission accomplished.
We had 2 sets of twins born in the rain & 2 more sets of twins born today ...

We Were Born In The Rain, But We're Fine Now!

We're Nice & Dry In The Barn ... And Now The Sun Comes Out! 

Wild Rose Farm Dorset Ewe #118 With Twin Rams Born This Afternoon

Hey - What's Going On Down In That Sheep Pasture???

We're grazing in the pasture below our neighbors and the Goat Mahal. Of course, the goats come down to the fence to check things out!  When we moved the net fence this afternoon, we saw a doe leave for the back of the field. She probably has a fawn hidden in the pasture so we were careful not to cause too much disturbance.  It's probably gone by now. We've noticed that does will take advantage of the relative safety behind the pasture fences.    

Brown & White

Glenda Shows Off The New Fence & Gate

Brown & white ... that's the color scheme for the season. Dreary brown when it gets unseasonably warm, followed by blasts of snowy white as we go in and out of single digit temps!  Here's brown & white Glenda next to the new interior fence line. Notice the brown and white of the Loafing Shed in the background and our neighbor's white vinyl rail fence on the other side of the road.

Descending From the Goat Mahal!

We passed our neighborhood goats on the way back to look at the water tank. Always curious, they tromp down from the Goat Mahal to meet us at the fence line. They've been clearing the brush for the last year or two & not much has escaped them!

The Brown & White Goat Is The Smaller One ...

 The new replacement water tank is making water just fine ... note the deck hanger hardware holding the boards in place. The idea is that we can move the divider if we have to work on the tank and the electric high tensile wire can also be separated over the tank if need be ...

New H2O Tank

A few days later, we went back to several inches of snow and a mini whiteout while we were hauling hay over to the ewes behind the Loafing Shed. We're using the tractor now since the ground is too soft for our skid steer with the tire chains. Tire chains on the tractor are a different story though!

Back To White - It's Snowing Again!

It got back up to almost 60 degrees and here's a different look at brown & white ... snowdrops flowering on February 5th ... easily a month early around here.  I took this picture after we did some pruning on our apple & pear trees.  I discovered them blooming while patrolling the front yard with the loping pruners looking for winter damage ... oh my.

Snow Drops on February 5th

We'll see what happens next. Didn't the groundhog say we'll have 6 more weeks of winter?!?