Rose's twins

We were expecting that more of the ewes would be delivering lambs this weekend. However, this morning they were all out waiting for grain. After they were grained, watered, and hayed we went in for our breakfast. Sundays, during the winter/early spring we tend to be more relaxed about our day. We don't have to rush to get chores done to get out the door. After breakfast, we took a quick trip to Middlebury to get a few things. When we pulled back into the driveway less than 2 hours later, Gabrielle went over to the sheep pasture and realized that we had 2 new natural colored lambs. 

Rose just delivered the second twin when Gabrielle entered the pasture. What perplexed us was that she didn't go into the lambing jug as she has in the past. She lambed in the middle of one of the upper pastures. It was sunny and in the mid to upper 30's at the time...So, we let her finish cleaning them off and the lambs feeding for the first time. After that, Peter and the girls dipped the umbilical cords in iodine and weighed the lambs. The ewe lamb, Milky Way, was 9lbs. and the ram lamb, Reese, was 8lbs.Then with the girls each holding one of the lambs they slowly backed towards the lambing jug. Rose followed her lambs into the jug where they will stay for 24-48 hours to bond. 

Rose and the twins

Milky Way

Vera's lamb

Vera is one of our natural colored crosses that we bred to our natural colored Romney ram, Marley. This is her second time lambing but, we weren't expecting a lamb from her for at least another week. Last year she gave birth to a single white ewe lamb, Venus.
So far this year, it looks like a single natural colored ewe lamb. Natural-colored is another way of saying a black, brown, silver, gray, or another color besides white.
In the video below, Vera is cleaning and drying off her new lamb. This is how she bonds with her baby and gets to know her scent. The lamb is getting ready to feed for the first time, her first drink will be the colostrum.

Vera and her lamb

Gabrielle doesn't have a name for this lamb.  However, she will have one by morning, as her theme this year is Harry Potter.

Snow, but no new lambs!

There is a layer of snow on the ground with more falling as this is written. Looks like we are finally getting a blast of winter, no matter how short lived it may be...spring is just around the corner, with all of its wonders! Spring is a time of new beginnings not only here on the farm but everywhere around us.  

Last week was busy here on the farm. We started with a single lamb born of February 20, followed by 3 sets of twins on February 23, February 25 and February 28. There are eight more ewes getting ready to lamb starting next week. Some are first time moms while others are not. We have one ewe named Flo that was not pastured with a ram for breeding because of her age (12). She will however, be gracing us with lambs in the next few weeks. Apparently, the old adage, “where there is a will, there is a way” holds true in this instance.
Each year the girls use a theme for naming their new lambs. Last year Riley named her lambs after the night sky (constellations, moons, and planets). Gabrielle used Greek Gods and Goddesses. This year Riley is using cookies and candy bars as her inspiration. Hence, the names Oreo, M&M’s, Skittles, Twix, and Snickers. Gabrielle on the other hand is going with her favorite book series Harry Potter. Her first sent of twins are Ginny and Harry. With the possibility of up to 16 more lambs it will be interesting to see what other names will be used.

Harry & Ginny

Skittles

Snickers  

Ginny

Nelina has twins!

This morning as we looked out the window, Peter started counting the lambs and realized that there were two more than last night. Therefore, at 7:10 this morning we went outside and met the newest additions to our flock. Nelina our Romney ewe, who is 4 years old had twins sometime early this morning. Nelina is known for having single lambs this was an unexpected surprise. She had one ewe lamb that weighed 8lbs. and one ram lamb that weighed 7lbs., in the past her single lambs have been 14-15lbs.The biggest dilemma is naming the lambs. Gabrielle said that she has not picked out a theme yet for naming her lambs this year. Riley's theme is cookies and candy bars for this year. So, Gabrielle won't use that theme for her lambs. If anyone has suggestions for a theme please post it below.

Twin 1 and Twin 2

Another set of twins!!!!

Tulip our other Border Leicester ewe started labor just before 6pm tonight. First, her mucus plug discharged and then about 20 minutes later she started grunting and pushing. After approximately 22 minutes the first lamb was born. Tulip immediately started to clean off and bond with her lamb. Then at about 7:50 pm she started to grunt and push again...We did not expect another lamb as Twix weighs 13lbs. That is an amazing weight for a single lamb and completely astounding for a twin. Snickers was born shortly after 8pm, he looks to be about the same size as Twix. Below, there is a short video...we will post pictures soon of the newest editions to our flock.

Tulip with Twix

(just born)

Twins!!!

Well, I was right...we did have lambs today. Just not from Nelina or any of the other one's that we thought were close. Instead it was one of the Border Leicester's Lady Slipper. She had twin ram lamb's that Riley named M&M's and Skittles. They were born at approximately 9:30pm, minutes before Peter found them in the lambing jug with their momma.
Here are a few pictures...

Lady Slipper with her lambs

M&M's drinking from Mom 

Skittles just born

Is today the day?

This morning was foggy with alittle bit of snow falling from the sky. It is still winter here in Vermont, even though we haven't had a real snowstorm since Thanksgiving. It is the perfect day for more lambs to be born on the farm.
Two years ago today Nelina, our oldest Romney ewe had her second lamb during a massive snowstorm. Sunshine, was a beautiful ewe lamb that Nelina took incredible care of....Sunshine was our only lamb that year.

Nelina in the lambing jug

Today as we went out to check on Oreo and Spitfire we noticed that Nelina might be in labor. Gabrielle is ecstatic because she would love Nelina to have her lamb on Sunshine's birthday. Nelina has been alternating between a ram lamb one year and a ewe lamb the next...if that holds true than we should have a ewe lamb from her this year.

Spitfire is an attentive momma that is taking wonderful care of Oreo. We let them out into the pasture yesterday after we weighed Oreo. He gained 2 lbs in 48 hours, bringing his weight to 11 pounds. He is a joy to watch out in the pasture with the other sheep. He is inquisitive, yet never very far from his momma.We love watching him run around jumping and kicking up his hooves. Spitfire let's the other sheep sniff and walk around Oreo but she is always ready to protect him if necessary. Spitfire even lets the girls pick up Oreo. However, she is standing right next to them making sure that Oreo is never out of her sight.

Oreo & Spitfire