Happy Birthday Maple!

Last year on this date I walked into the barn only to hear the screams of a frantic lamb! This was our friend Maple! Her mother did not know what to do with her and wouldn't let her nurse. She was chasing after her mother and another ewe that was in the pen with them. We tried covering her in maple syrup to try to convince her mother to love her, but she really only wanted the syrup not the lamb. Thats where she got the name.  It took a few days and a few bottle feedings until her mother finally accepted her.

Here she was on day one....

Today she is still here on the farm, and still the most loud and persistent sheep that I own. I guess I can't blame her. She has been screaming and carrying on since the second she was born, and I guess it worked, because she lived and fought for that milk in those first few days. Sometimes you just can't please her and then I threaten to sell her and any other full blooded sisters that might be born this year. Her mother currently looks like a soccer ball on stilts and she is not budging. 

Today I fed her a timbit and she loved it. Happy Birthday Maple, you are such a bonehead. 

I didn't take a picture of her today (Maybe I will tomorrow) but here she was a few months ago showing her true colours.

Puppy Surprise!

Lately people have been asking me why I am so excited to have all the ewes lamb, and why I am getting frustrated waiting. I have decided it is because of this.....

Puppy Surprise!

When I was a kid, and these things were all the rage, I got one for my birthday (I also got kitty surprise the following year)! Thanks Grandma! Basically it was a stuffed dog who was pregnant. When you got it home and took it out of the box you got to rip open the Velcro on its stomach and see how many puppies she had inside!!! I think the options were 3, 4 or 5! I could not wait to get this toy out of the box. After 2 years of this my Grandmother was disgusted with the whole thing. I will always remember her saying she would not buy anything like this for me again. She never did. 

So, it happens to be very close to my birthday and there is 6 lamb surprises waiting for me out in the barn. I am so excited to see what they are hiding inside that I can hardly stand it!

ps. I found this picture on another blog I follow! I couldn't believe it because I have been thinking about this toy for weeks!!

pps. Gosh, they were kind of ugly.   

Still waiting?

Tonight MIGHT be the night. Only because they said it is supposed to be -2 degrees and damp. Crap. I don't care though I am prepared with my heat lamp so bring it on girls. I am tired of waiting around for you. :)

The Campbells came by today to see the 3 babies that are getting bigger and bigger everyday! Here are some pictures that they took!

Also, Last night Erin came over again to try to convince the girls that we needed some more action. It didn't work obviously but she did get me some pictures from the morning that the twins were born! Here they are all wet and sticky still. 

Thanks to everyone for sending me their pictures!

Daily dose of lamb. But still only three!

Today Was the first day that all three lambs were allowed out together. It was a bit rough at first, but after they learned which udder they could drink from all was good. Still 6 more girls waiting to have their lambs!! I'm hoping for some action tonight! I am getting pretty tired of waking up in the middle of the night just to have them look at me like I am crazy!

The video is of Fools Just foolin' around. His sister April is the one under the wheel barrow and Una is the other one that he pisses off! April is quite the little adventure seeker! This morning she was found in the pen with the yearlings! She obviously found the one hold the she would have had to leap through to get in there! She was just sitting there with them not looking concerned at all. When I got home from work she was trying to show the other two that she thought that if they tried real hard they could slip through the wire gate and get out onto the lawn!! I hope she grows fast so she can't escape as easily. Her name may be switched to Artist, as in, Escape Artist! 

Here is April Aka The Artist!

Waiting on more lambs.

I have the day off today. I love having a Saturday when I don't have to work. I don't think there is any better feeling in the world. Sure I have other days off, but they don't have the same calm feeling as a Saturday. The dog and I went on a long walk this morning. There is an auction near by so the boys all went to that.

We walked up the road and the neighbours cows took a real liking to U-D Dog.

At the top of the next road we got a great view of our farm. This is usually the part in the walk when I wonder why we walked so far. 

When we got home we checked on the sheep again and found some signs that spring is coming!

Possibilities for the rest of the day include: Napping, Cleaning the house, Making Chicken Paprikash and hopefully to trump all of these, Lambing!

April & Fools!! This ain't no joke.

This morning I checked the barn at 7am and realized that after all this time I finally knew what the books meant when they said that a ewe will look concave just before she goes into labour. My ewe AFFECTIONATELY known as Fatty was definitely going to have a lamb. So I called Erin who was off like a rocket from her house so that she could see the birth as well. We all stood around and patiently watched as Fatty gave birth to her first lamb ever. She did a great job but seemed tired, so I went in and moved the lamb up to her head so that she could start cleaning it off. Then all of a sudden my father-in-law announced that a SECOND was on the way and out it came! I couldn't believe it! I had only expected her to have one. I mean, there is a reason I call her Fatty! She didn't seem that much larger than before. They were both good size lambs and soon they were clean, up and drinking. A ewe lamb first and then a Ram. Good job Fatty! We named them April and Fools. I wonder why.

Here are some pictures that I took tonight. I am sure that Erin has some she will pass along from this morning. I will post them here when I get them.

Our friend Una also wanted to show you a glimpse of her new trick:

The lambs have started!

This week we had our first lambs of the season! The first was on Wednesday morning. I went to check the barn at 3am and there she was, still a bit wet and a bit cold but I helped dry her off a bit and made sure she knew where to get a good long drink and she was just fine. Sitting in the barn at 3am I was not exactly at my sharpest and I named her Una. It went something like...Numero Uno...wait that isn't a girls name...I'll just call her Una instead, that sounds cute and I'm sure that it must have something to do with the number 1 somewhere in the world. She will after all be wearing the number one tag (I didn't tag the lambs last year because there was only 3). Later in the house I looked up Una and found out that it does mean a few things...

 - "Una" (song) a song by Sponge Cola, A Philipino Rock band. Look it up on YouTube. Not a bad song. Hit the top of the charts!
 - Una (genus), a genus of butterflies
 - Una, a love novel by Momo Kapor (1981)
 - Una (doll), a Japanese doll


So I guess it does mean a few things and none of them are bad. So that's it. Her name is Una. 


Here are some pictures of her and her mother Red.

Photo Credit to Erin, My very excited lamb watch assistant.