Cute Lambs!

Wild Rose Farm Mixing Pen

Here's a glimpse of the "mixing pen" where the ewes and lambs are hanging out now. The only ones not out here are the two ewes with triplets, #129 & #142.  They are doing quite well, but we'll likely keep them in the barn rather than turning them out to graze. That's been our "MO" - method of operation - once we get triplets successfully born and coming along, we don't tempt fate & send them out to possibly lose one!  The ewes are taking great care of them and none are being supplemented with a bottle. They have access to their own lamb creep feeder and will start using it more as each day passes …
Here's an interesting side note - blog statistics are showing that the largest portion of our "audience" right now is coming from Italy.  Hello to all of our Italian visitors and best wishes for your good health!

Another Set of Triplets at Wild Rose Farm!

Wild Rose Farm #142 Cleaning Her Ewe Lamb!

Both of the ewes that we put in the barn last night had lambs early this morning. When we went out to the barn around 6:30 AM, ewe #142 was standing there with her head in the corner. Hmmmm ... that means she's thinking of something! We let both of them out into the hospital pen and after about an hour of grazing they separated. Ewe #142 went into labor and within an hour had delivered this first lamb in a nice clean grassy area. Here she is earnestly cleaning her lamb and "chuckling" the whole time.

Wild Rose Farm #142 Tending to a Second Ewe Lamb!

In a little over an hour, she delivered a 2nd ewe lamb. At this point we can see that there will be another lamb coming as she continues to work on the two lambs that she has now.

Wild Rose Farm #142 Turns Her Attention to the Ram Lamb!

Within 15 minutes of delivering lamb number two, a third lamb easily joined them! Wow. We were very lucky to have a trouble free birthing on clean pasture to such an attentive ewe.
All three were moved up to the barn and are doing well as of 9PM tonight.
Meanwhile, as we moved this group to the barn, companion ewe #152 was restless and starting into labor nearby. Her she is circling & then laying down to deliver the first of what turned out to be a set of twins.  They are also doing well tonight!

Wild Rose Farm #152 Just Before Delivering Her First Twin

We've Been Busy ...

Wild Rose Farm Sunny Pasture Scene Today

We've had several sets of twins born since our last post and today was no exception. The weather has been mostly "decent" and no one has tempted fate by lambing outside in the rain.  Snow White & the ewes can take shelter underneath the pine trees and they do have access to the barn if we expect a heavy rain.

Wild Rose Farm #141 & Her Twins

Around noon today we found one of our crossbred ewes, #141, in the pasture delivering a ewe lamb. She looked like she was going to have another lamb and we moved her up to the barn. Checking on her later around 2PM she hadn't delivered a second lamb, so an investigation was in order. Yep, there was another lamb in there and he was presenting back feet first. It was time to put on gloves and the long OB sleeve to help and pull the lamb. This must be done carefully, but very quickly. Once the umbilical cord breaks, it triggers the sharp intake of breath in the newborn and the head must come out and be cleaned off immediately ... all's well that ends well! That's him on the left after we wiped him off and now the ewe is taking over. It's also a good idea to towel some of the birthing fluids from him onto the first born lamb to make them both smell similar to the ewe.
By now it was around 3PM and it was time to make the daily pasture fence shift ...

Wild Rose Farm #129 & Her Triplets!

I was puttering around in the barn working on getting a couple of the pens ready when I heard a call from outside. Mr.Wild Rose Farm said that there were more lambs & to get a pen ready while he brought them up. Whoa! Our crossbred ewe #129 had delivered and cleaned off a set of triplets sometime after we brought in #141 and I took that banner picture above.
She followed right up to the barn and into the big corner pen that we have reserved (just in case) for triplets.  She has two ewe lambs and one ram lamb and is taking care of all of them. As time goes on, we'll watch them carefully, but for now they're all active and nursing.
Since the whole flock followed the triplets up to the barn, we did some other work with them & replaced a couple of missing ear tags.  Then we sent them back out to pasture for the evening with Snow White.
The temps are dropping overnight with high winds, so we have 2 ewes that look to be very close to lambing up in the barn tonight … you never know!

Fun With Girl Scouts!

Wild Rose Farm - Watching Ewes & Lambs Coming In!

We had fun this afternoon hosting a group of Girl Scouts, leaders & parents, and of course, little brothers who came along. The 3 sets of triplet lambs in the barn were a big hit ... a couple are being supplemented with a bottle, so they are easy to catch & everyone got to pet a lamb. After a discussion on lambing, wool, & yarn, we went outside and called up the ewes & lambs.  It's an impressive sight to see them all streaming up. Snow White was also front & center since she was trying to figure out who all of the people were and what was going on!

Glenda Has A Fan Club!

After the sheep wandered away, attention was turned to Glenda.  She stood just out of reach and wouldn't take a treat, but she seemed to be fascinated by all of the kids looking at her. I explained how donkeys have to think everything is their idea, so having her come up and enjoy the attention was fun. Alas, she also got bored, turned, walked away, and then rolled in the dust. No one had ever seen that before, so it was another teaching moment.  :)

Into The Sunset & Off To Get Ice Cream! 

Nest of Triplets!

Wild Rose Farm Ewe #50 & Her Triplet Ewe Lambs!

It's not easy to try & sneak up on a ewe and her lambs!  Here is WRF #50 and her triplet ewe lambs seconds before they jumped up to nurse.  They were napping in a little corner nest. Two sets of twins & a single since the last blog post. That should leave 3 ewes to go if my math is correct (and I'm not too sleep deprived!).   

The Last Two Days ...

Snow White Watching In The Misty Evening

Here's what it looks like in the pasture at night. Snow White is usually in a position to oversee everything and of course she watches my approach. Doesn't she remind you of that famous Loch Ness Monster photo?!? Nothing was happening during the night, but starting in the morning on Thursday & then throughout the day, 4 ewes lambed, including Rambouillet #403 with a set of triplets.

Rambouillet Ewe #403 With Her First Triplet - Still More To Come

Today was another busy day with 6 ewes having lambs spaced out from 8AM to 8PM.
Around 1PM, ewe #136 had a set of twins and was followed in towards the barn by ewe #50, who didn't want to be left alone in the paddock. We also noticed a distant gaze, which made us think that she was going to lamb today too.

#136 With A Set Of Twins & # 50 Thinking About It ...

It turns out that #50 did finish lambing around 8PM, along with #134, our easily recognized horned ewe.

Wild Rose Farm #50 With Triplet Ewe Lambs

Wild Rose Farm #134 With Twin Ewe Lambs

So ... those are the highlights of what has been going on for the last 2 days. Today the ewes with the oldest lambs were given access to the hospital pen along the driveway. It was their first outing and they seemed to enjoy jumping and stretching their little legs ...

It Was Mother's Day For Sure!

Wild Rose Farm #401 With Triplets & "Granny" Ewe #404

We had a beautiful, sunny, mid-60's day here at Wild Rose Farm. It turned into a Mother's Day celebration in the pastures!  It started off with Rambouillet ewe #401 having a set of triplet ewe lambs by 9:30AM.  She was accompanied by "granny" ewe, Rambouillet #404 from the pasture up to the barn. We've learned to just let these granny ewes come along with the lambs and then separate them off once we get the real mother & her lambs penned up in the barn. An experienced granny ewe moves in on newborn lambs and tries steal them from a young ewe. In this case, with another experienced ewe, she sticks right there cleaning off the lambs, but #401 doesn't let any of them get taken away from her. Readers may recall that #401 raised a set of triplets last year too!

We separated #404 off and sent her back out to the pasture, bleating loudly for a baby lamb. In the barn I got knocked down as I backed out of her way and suffered a bruised elbow, bruised ego, & a bump to the back of the head on the wall when I hit the ground ... it was not graceful, but I was back on my feet quickly.  Sheesh.

Ewe #131 With Twin Ewe Lambs

 Next up was ewe #131 with a set of twin ewe lambs at 11AM ... she kept scratching her bedding into the corners as you can see above.  Then we worked with ewe #141 around noon. This is her first time lambing and she had a nice set of twins - one ewe lamb & one ram lamb

Ewe #141 Following Nicely After Her Lambs To The Barn At Noon

Meanwhile, in the pond paddock, Rambouillet ewe #404 - the granny! - had delivered her own set of twin ewe lambs. No wonder she was so eager to mother up the other lambs in the morning! 

Rambouillet Ewe #404 Following Twin Ewe Lambs To The Barn

We let her bond with her lambs for a while in the grass since it was such a nice sunny day. You'll notice in these pics, I'm following along or leading while closing & opening gates and doors ... :)

Wild Rose Farm Rambouillet Ewe #404 Cleaning Lambs

Last, but not least, our #99 ewe had a set of big twin ram lambs in the pasture around 3PM. We had been watching her since late morning when she started to separate herself off from the other ewes.

Ewe #99 Coming In With Her Twin Rams

Tonight we also replaced a missing flock ear tag for #99 and we painted numbers on all of the new lambs to keep them straight with their mothers.  That's it until the midnight check ... 

What The Well Dressed Ewe Is Wearing!

Wild Rose Farm #135 Wears A Lamb Shrug ...

We had a set of twin ram lambs waiting this morning at the 6AM pasture check. Crossbred ewe #135 followed right up to the barn & was penned up with her lambs. A check later in the morning found this little guy hanging around her neck ... it must be warmer there!
We sorted off a group of 6 ewes last night and put them into the pen along the driveway. These ewes look pretty big and 2 of the 6 have had triplet lambs in the past. With the slow start to the lambing, it feels like everyone will come at once. I feel better with several of them in another group closer to the barn, especially if there is the potential of triplets ...

Four of the Six "Big" Ewes in the Driveway Paddock

And Mother's Day It Was!

Wild Rose Farm Rambouillet Ewe #401 With Triplets

Wow, what a day it was!  Mother's Day started at sunrise with a set of triplets from #401 and a large single lamb from #47.  Look closely in the picture above in the distance.  You can see Mr. WRF and #47 heading to the barn with her lamb.  Also notice that one of the triplets is quite content and resting.

Why We Closely Watch Triplets ...

As I was taking pictures, #401 started ambling off towards the barn herself.  The lamb who had recently nursed and was resting could be left behind as the ewe walked off happily with 2 lambs at her side!  This is why we keep a close eye on triplets and have them penned up much longer than twins or singles.  We might need to supplement with a bottle and keeping them close helps with the observation.

Ewe & Triplets At The Barn

I used a lamb carrier to cradle one of the lambs and lead #401 ... the other two lambs followed at her heels all the way to the barn.   It helps by suspending the lamb right at the nose height of the ewe.

Handy Dandy Plastic Lamb Carrier!

That was just the morning exercise though.  Between 3 PM and 7 PM we had five (5) more ewes give birth!  Two ewes with singles and three ewes with twins.  We didn't get back in the house until 9 PM.
Happy Mother's Day !!!

Newborn Lambs This Morning!

Wild Rose Farm Rambouillet Ewe #404 & Triplets

After 2 days with no new lambs, we found a set of triplets & a set of twins this morning!  The weather was a pleasat 55 degrees or so in the morning & these triplets were already cleaned off and dry at 6:30AM.

Wild Rose Farm Rambouillet Ewe #416 & Twins

The twins were big 'uns from Rambouillet Ewe #416 and she was taking excellent care of them ... they were a couple of hours more recent & were still being cleaned off ...

Ewe With Nursing Lamb

Meanwhile, watching the proceedings and maintaining the status quo, #135 nurses her lamb as the sunrise slants through the barn doors ... the strange mark on her hip is from when she jumped as I was painting on her ear tag number ... what the heck, she just has a single ... forget about it!  LOL.