The Lambs Keep Coming!

Dorset #116 With Twin Ewe Lambs Just Before Midnight!

We had a very busy day again on Saturday. To make it more interesting, the weather was rainy and the temperatures dropped into the 40's. A regular patrol of the pasture is a must. The dark picture above is Dorset ewe #116 and her set of twin ewe lambs. They were just brought in and the ewe had done a nice job cleaning them off. She followed right up to the barn around midnight and I heard banging on the barn doors. I told Mr. WRF to "wait until I get the doors unlatched!". He came back with, "that's not me, it's the ewe!". Old #116 (remember her triplets last year?) knew where to go and was probably saying "Hey - hurry up & get us out of the rain!".
At 5PM, the ewe that lambed just prior during the day was Rambouillet #333, a skittish 1st time mother with a single lamb. She had to be hazed/driven up towards the barn and didn't want to follow if her lamb was carried.  She settled down later as she figured out what to do after she was penned up in the barn.
Total for the day was 1 single & 4 sets of twins.
Timing? 5:30AM - 6AM - 11AM - 5PM - 11PM.  The ewe that lambed at 11AM actually had one in the pasture and delivered one in the barn as I watched.  It's always amazing to see the birth and the ewe's attentiveness. We got in a run after lunch to Tractor Supply to buy a few more buckets, bungee cords, and a livestock wire panel to build more pens.
We'll try to get some sunny scampering lambs pics soon. Time for a nap! :~0

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 ...

Singles Today

View From Kitchen Window Through Early Morning Fog

Today was a day for singles at Wild Rose Farm. We started with Rambouillet #405 in the front paddock at 7:30AM. We spotted her going into labor - the closest one we've been able to watch from the house this spring.  There was no rain, but it was a foggy, misty morning. It didn't take her very long to deliver a single ewe lamb.

Wild Rose Farm #405 With A Big Ewe Lamb

The fog started to burn off and we brought them up along the driveway to go to the barn.

Ewe & Lamb Resting Along Driveway

Later during the afternoon check at chore time, we found 2 other ewes with single ram lambs in the main pasture group ... That's probably it for today!

Catch Up

No lambs were born today, but we did get caught up on ear tagging lambs and some other chores around the barn. We've got to keep the pens cleaned out & rotate the ewes with lambs into the mixing pen as we wait for more lambs to come ...
Here's another fleece ready to take to the Waynesburg Sheep & Fiber Fest on May 21st & 22nd!

Wild Rose Farm  #133 Dorset x Rambouillet Ewe Full Fleece

Wild Rose Farm #133 Dorset x  Rambouillet Fleece Close-up

Other Work To Be Done ...

Mowing The Lambing Pasture

Of course, there's other work to be done in between the lambs and the raindrops. Here we are mowing the part of the pasture where we have been lambing. In grazing terms, we "set stock" the ewes on an area that gets larger as we move the electric net fencing forward to provide fresh forage. The open area behind provides enough room for ewes to separate off of the flock when they are ready to lamb. Yesterday we back-fenced this area and moved the ewes on to a new section of pasture to start the process again. The dew finally evaporated and the field was dry enough to mow this afternoon. This mowing cuts off the seed heads forming on the pasture grasses. It also cuts back seed heads developing on weeds. The regrowth will be mostly leafy instead of old and full of stems & seed heads.
You can see how fast the grass is growing - the point of grass in the middle right is grazed regrowth that was back-fenced 2 weeks ago. :)  The grass back behind the white electric net fence hasn't been grazed yet.

Wild Rose Farm - Ewe #98 & Newborn Twins

We had another set of twins today from one of our crossbred ewes, #98. As you can see, she had to get up close and personal when we dipped the lamb's navels in iodine. Mama doesn't want you to take her babies and stays REAL close!

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 ... 

Latest Lambs ...

Enjoying Some Alfalfa Hay After Lambing!

Here are the 2 ewes that delivered in the late hours Thursday and came into the barn in the wee hours today. Today is almost over, so we're squeezing in this post before heading out for the midnight lambing check!

Wild Rose Farm - Rambouillet #328 With Twin Ewe Lambs

Here's what it looked like this morning from the house ... after a brief, light rain ... the long view!

Ewes Grazing As The Trees Green Up ...