THE "DIVA" AND THE "ROCK STAR"...

Ladies and Gentlemen,it is with great pride that I present: "Diva" and the Rock Star!

Introducing "Bluff Country Rock Star" (aka: "Rocky") 7 pound, moorit & white, flecket ram lamb out of Sheltering Pines Diva. Mother and son are doing WONDERFULLY!

Shetland People..

Before I get swept up in the events of today, I want to take a moment to thank some very dear people. I had quite the scare, yesterday, when my beautiful little "Diva" (moorit & white, HST that I bought from Stephen Rouse, last summer) started acting VERY strangely. She laid on her side, tossed her head about, strained and then flipped over on to her back, seemingly struggling. I couldn't imagine what was going on but I knew this was not any kind of normal labor. And, indeed, Diva had been fine just moments before.

Diva repeated these acrobatics several times and I was panic stricken. I lured her to the barn (my sheep would WALK THROUGH FIRE for animal crackers!) where I gave her some NutriDrench (a vitamin/mineral/energy source supplement) and a bunch of animal crackers. Diva ate a bunch of 'cookies', nibbled on the molasses mineral tub that I give the girls the last couple of weeks of their pregnancies, and then wanted back outside. She seemed fine so I let her back out. She returned to grazing and would occasionally lay down and contentedly chew her cud. I of course, continued to be a basket case...

I posted to the Shetland Breeders List and dear Marry Ellen Kelly (aka: "Bo Peep") was kind enough to CALL me to offer whatever assistance & expertise she could, over the telephone. Mary Ellen has been breeding Shetlands for years and is the woman who first introduced me to the breed. She assured me that although Diva's behavior was not typical, it was within the range of normal for a first time mom. Mary Ellen felt that since Diva had responded so well to the NutriDrench and now appeared fine that it is probably case of Diva being a "Diva" and not liking the signals she's getting from her body...her lamb has dropped into position for birth. I felt much better after talking with Mary Ellen.

Last night Stephen called. Stephen is one of my very favorite Shetland people. He is kind and funny and generous and truly loves his sheep. Diva is the second lamb I have got from Stephen's farm "SHELTERING PINES" in Michigan. Stephen is like "the guru" of Spotted Shetlands in the Midwest. Mr. Guru assured me that Diva's behavior didn't even surprise him! He pointed out that her grand dam is "a screamer"!!! Oh GOOD! Just what I wanted to hear. I can't wait to see how Diva handles actual labor if this is how she deals with her lamb dropping into position for birth... Anyway, Stephen also assured me that I had treated the situation appropriately and wished me luck with the upcoming event...

I also got a wonderful e-mail and offer of support and advise from Bill Stearman, in Canada. Bill & I met, through Stephen and he owns a Bluff Country HST ewe: "Zha Zha Mikaela". Bill also offered his support, council and shoulder. Bill is owned by an incredible flock of exquisite Shetlands at "Willow Garden Shetlands" in Prince Edward County, Ontario. If you visit Bill's web site (which I HIGHLY recommend) please drop him a note and ask him to fix the link to MINE...... ;-)

The last time I looked out the window, Diva was laying by the big tree in the girls pasture. She never lays there.

Flash's babies!

My beautiful Flash Flood surprised me, with twins (a ram & a ewe) when I got home from work the day that Alice had her triplets. In honor of Flash's Great-Grand-Dam: "White Diamond" (who died earlier this spring), I'm calling the black/smirslet ram lamb "Black Diamond" ~ he has a white diamond on his forehead. I'm calling his exquisite sister "Lacy" (she looks like she's wearing a lace bonnet) and thinking of something along the line of "Diamonds & Lace", or something similar...She is an VERY beautiful ewe lamb with awesome fleece and striking, smirslet markings. A definite spot carrier.

"BLUFF COUNTRY BLACK DIAMOND"


"BLUFF COUNTRY DIAMONDS & LACE"



I'll try to update pictures of all the babies tomorrow. That will be somewhat dependent on how my night goes. I'm thinking that Diva may be in early labor and I want to keep a close eye on her so I'll be setting my alarm and getting up to check on her...(waving DPNs, prayers & positive thoughts appreciated!!)

All's Well...

Sorry for the break. I was totally overwhelmed and just didn't have the time or energy to post. I'm afraid I don't handle lambing all that well...

Fortunately, my GIRLS handle it MUCH better than I! Now, where did I leave off? Oh, yes...Alice's triplets, early Thursday morning...Is this little guy cute, or WHAT? He's a dark moorit (brown) ram lamb. Alice always gives me more boys than girls but I don't mind a bit because they are always of such excellent quality that I have no trouble finding good homes for them. Both the boys are moorit. And there's a beautiful, musket (will end up "oatmeal", like her mom ewe lamb who has stolen my heart. I'm calling her "April". I don't know if that name will stick or not, but it's what I call her ~ and SHE COMES up to be petted! I want an Alice daughter (to keep) SO badly, but really, REALLY want her to be solid color ~ not Ag (genetically fading from black to grey or brown to musket). I don't know. I'll have to see what else I get for girls.

Things have wild around here. After going into work 2 hours late because of Alice & her triplets, when I got home from work, Thursday afternoon, I found FLASH FLOOD in the barn with new born TWINS! I'll post separately about them. BEAUTIFUL lambs! I want to keep the little girl (so what ELSE is new??????)

ALICE WATCH...

I'm late for work! Details later.... ;-)

TWO beautiful boys!

At 7:30 tonight, KitKat delivered first one and then another moorit ram lamb. I can't say that I'm not a bit surprised (not really disappointed because at least she had two healthy, handsome lambs ~ but surprised, none-the-less) that Kit Kat has STILL not given me a Katmoget lamb. The Katmoget marking is supposed to be DOMINANT! Maybe next year. ;-) Mom & sons are doing wonderfully. And with Paco as their sire, these handsome ram lambs both carry a recessive for HST markings(as evidenced by the faint white spotting on their heads), so I'm more than happy with them. KitKat does not carry spots, so I know I'll never get a spotted lamb from her but I love the Katmoget marking and she has the most exquisite fleece AND her lambs will carry spots. The boys were bouncing around before I even got them all into a jug. Tomorrow I'll get a closer look and more pictures. I'm grateful to KitKat for letting me milk out a little colostrum to save for Phoebe's lamb/s when it/they arrive...

ON THE ALICE WATCH....My lovely lady is getting close. You can see how sunken she appears around her hip bones and tail head ~ indications that her lambs have dropped into lambing position. Could be any day now. I'm still surprised at how slowly lambing has started this year! Since I witnessed 4 ewes being bred on the day I put the breeding groups together, I expected a mad rush of lambs. NOT that I'm complaining! I'd much rather have it go slow and have a break between deliveries. I'm too old for this much stress........ ;-)

Cute pictures tomorrow. I'm going to bed!

KitKat's in Labor!!!

Just a quick "heads up!" to those of you watching for lamb sightings ;-) KitKat is either in early labor or doing her part to help with the energy crisis. She's been out back, digging, ever since I got home from work. No sign of actually straining yet (which means it could be a L-O-N-G night) but she's either in early labor or digging for oil. My bet's on labor. Alice doesn't appear to be terribly far behind. Either that or she has adapted the premise of "keep your friends close and your enemies closer" as she & Kit Kat are staying quite close to each other. Haven't seen Alice dig yet, so for the time being, I'm just a basket case about KitKat.....

Better Pictures...

After spending last night and this morning in a "jug" (small pen) I decided that Zest and her beautiful babies would benefit from a little fresh air and sunshine. So, I moved them to the nursery barn/paddock and they spent the afternoon exploring and grazing.

This is a VERY striking ram lamb. I love his 'leggy' good looks and 'look at me' attitude!




And this little lady has captivated me! She has the tiniest, little tail, straightest, strongest rear end and curliest fleece... And she wags her tail, when I pet her, to boot!!! I've already started calling her: "Mia Bella" (My Beauty)

ZEST & BRAVO HAVE TWINS!

After a LONG day (I found Zest, in early labor, at 1:00 in the afternoon and she delivered these beauties at 7:30 last night!) Zest presented me with twins, sired by Bravo. An awesome HsT (only three white stockings so he gets a 'lower case S' ~ indicating an incomplete expression of the marking) ram lamb who weighed in at 7 pounds, 12 ounces! Quickly followed by his little sister: "Bluff Country La Mia Bella" ("my beauty"), 6 pounds, 6 ounces of absolutely gorgeous, black/smirslet ewe lamb with "obvious at birth" - outstanding conformation and beautiful fleece! What a doll. I'm even thinking about keeping her for myself!

I have to admit, I almost feel sorry for the people who have ram lambs reserved from my girls. It's going to be mighty hard to select and we've only got two so far!!! ;-) I took the day off work so will have more/better pictures this afternoon when I let Zest and her twins out into the nursery paddock...

After the rain...

It rained all day here in the Bluff Country. That's OK, the grass is growing as fast as the lambs ;-) It finally stopped around 6 o'clock tonight and I went out and sat with my pregnant ladies. Here's my lovely ZARIA resting her head on my lap. My fingers are dirty from giving back rubs to my girls....

HAPPY EASTER!

I don't know if you can see it or not, but Alice is WINKING in this picture! Did you know that if you click on a photo, you can see the full sized version? I think Alice has a few days yet. She always carries her lambs low but her udder is not engorged yet.
In the meantime, Savannah and Zerox/Kokomo ??? are thriving ~ HELP! I don't know what I want to call this ram lamb! Any suggestions?

And then, there's our beautiful "bottle baby" WHISPER. She is doing very well, under the watchful eye of her step-mom, Phoebe. Unfortunately, Phoebe wasn't thinking ahead when she stole Savannah's ewe lamb. Phoebe still hasn't lambed (she's getting close, I noticed last night that her babies are dropping) and her milk has not come in yet! Therefore, we have our very first bottle baby.

In spite of the artificial feeding method, Whisper is doing very well. I milked out Savannah, four times, on Friday, so Whisper was getting her dam's milk (and colostrum). I'm sure that Savannah fed her at the time she was born because Whisper's tummy was quite round when I found her.

Whisper continues to try to nurse from Phoebe, who stands like a loving mom...I think Phoebe's milk is beginning to come in because Whisper has not finished her bottle her last three feedings and her tummy is still nice and round. Of course, if Whisper gets all of Phoebe's colostrum, I'll be milking out my other ewes to provide colostrum for PHOEBE'S twins. I sure hope that Phoebe has learned her lesson and won't try taking anyone else's babies in the future!

My oldest daughter and her handsome husband and my 3 wonderful grandsons are coming out for Easter Day with Don & I. I'm so excited to have family around for the Holiday. Unfortunately, it's raining, so the Easter egg hunt will probably be in the house and garage.

I'm thinking KitKat will be the next to lamb...

Too tired for pictures...

I just realized: Savannah was NOT in Paco's breeding group. She was in Zorro's! So Zorro is the sire of our first HST ram-lamb of 2006! I can't believe how forgetful I'm becoming!!! As my dear friend, Kim, pointed out to me; there's no way that Savannah & Paco could have produced a black lamb... Duh! I know that.

That changes the name possibilities. Although I've given up on naming all of Zorro's offspring names that start with the letter "Z", I was saving a special name for Zorro's first HST ram lamb: "Zerox". "Bluff Country Zerox" What do you think? Like the copy machine. I know it's spelled wrong, but I ignore proper spelling. I've always wanted to name a Zorro son 'Zerox' but wanted him to be an HST and this is the first ram lamb that Zorro has sired with his markings.

I'm putting my weary bod to bed, before I FORGET!
Don's doing "nanny duty" while I work tomorrow....

OK, ONE picture:

WHY I LOVE "HST"

Meet Savannah & Zorro's 12 hour old son (who I am refraining from naming ~ although I like "Kokomo" ~ pending his potential new owner's input). This is why I breed for HST markings. See how striking the white on the HEAD, SOCKS & TAIL is? This is the second year that Savannah & Zorro have given us an HST lamb (Zaria ~ bred to Paco, is the big sister!) I couldn't be happier.

Well, that's not quite true...

This is our handsome little guy's TWIN SISTER. Isn't she adorable? Sorry folks, I couldn't resist. Her name is "Bluff Country Whisper". She's one of our, typical, HST-carrying, solid color with a "whisper of white on their heads" lambs. ;-) unfortunately, it appears that Whisper was the first-born of Savannah's twins and that while Savannah was busy delivering number two, Phoebe decided that Whisper needed a more attentive mother! SO...Phoebe is raising Savannah's daughter. By the time I got out to the barn, both lambs were cleaned off and dry and had obviously nursed. They were also quite apparently bonded to their respective moms! I tried putting Whisper back with Savannah & Mr. HST, but she wanted by Phoebe ~ who was outside the barn, bellering her head off. Savannah didn't exactly reject Whisper ~ she was just more concerned and focused on her son. Whisper would not even try to nurse from Savannah. She just kept calling back to Phoebe. So, since I was supposed to be at work anyway ~ and it was obvious that both lambs had already nursed, I decided to reunite Phoebe and the ewe lamb she had stolen. Seemed like a good idea at the time...


more later...(by the way, I love my black "with a whisper of white on their head" lambs, and moorit lambs and EVERY color of lambs just as much ~ it's just that I like how striking looking the HST's are) ;-) Off to Farm & Fleet ~ more details later this afternoon.

LAMBING HAS BEGUN!!

Details tomorrow (sorry but I'm EXHAUSTED!!)

Really boring post...

I'm sorry. This is going to be a very boring post. I'm so tired I can't even think. I have managed to drag my weary body out to sit with my ewes the past two nights. That's about it! I wish my husband would take some pictures when I'm sitting out with the girls. They're so funny! They literally cuddle and snuggle. They kind of shove each other out of the way and crowd in, close to me, to get petted and scratched and rubbed. Last night I sat out there for a good hour and had two almost laying on my lap and four others standing around me nudging me to pet THEM. I need more hands! Even after I went into the house, the girls stayed in the backyard grazing. I went back out and sat in a lawn chair with my feet on the bench to the picnic table ~ now, you've got to try to picture this...I'm sitting in one of those reclining lawn chairs, in a mostly upright, but slightly back-leaning position...I've got my stubby little legs stretched out in front of me, using a bench from the picnic table as a footstool. I've got two sheep (Zest & Zanex) standing on the other side of the footstool/bench, and I'm rubbing their necks with my bare FEET. The bench kept them from coming up onto the stone patio I was sitting on so they stood in the grass and I scratched them with my toes. Talk about SPOILED sheep ;-)

The girls are getting bigger. This should be an exciting weekend....

A Perfect Day...

What a glorious day in the Bluff Country! With a sunny, blue sky and temperatures around 60 degrees, it was a great day to spend lots of time with my pregnant sheep. I got lambing jugs set up and the girl's barn freshly bedded with clean straw. Everyone was enjoying the rapidly greening grass and I spent several hours just sitting and petting my girls. They are getting SO spoiled!


Here's our lovely Alice, contentedly chewing her cud. She enjoyed numerous belly rubs and grazing in the back yard today.


I can't imagine that Flash Flood is going to make it another week before she has her lambs! She is really getting round and her udder is looking quite full.

The boys have been feeling a bit left out of all the attention. So, I spent a little time with them today too. Paco is his usual, obnoxiously friendly self. Five of the girls are carrying his lambs. I'm getting VERY excited.


Tomorrow is my first day starting work at 6:30 a.m. I'm already dreading hearing my alarm clock go off...I'll be getting up at 4:30! **yuck** I wish I could just stay home and play with my sheep...

One week to go!

Sorry Pam....
You too, Katie... ;-)
(Pam & Katie are my daughters who are just a tad embarrassed by the rear view photos of my pregnant sheep).
Alice is doing wonderfully! She is friendly and getting bigger every day. Don asked me today if I think she'll have triplets again. It's too early to tell. She's got at least a week before she's due so I know she's going to get much larger yet.

As per special request, here's a picture of DIVA with Zest. Diva's such a tiny little thing. She looks great for a first time mom. Not much of a 'bag' yet but I don't think she's due for a few weeks. Zest (solid brown) on the other hand, is among the group that I expect to lamb first. She definitely looks like she'll have twins again. Zest is Paco's dam and is bred to Bravo, so I'm very excited about her lambs... Diva (my adorable little moorit & white, HST ewe) is bred to Zorro. Can you imagine what they could produce???? We won't have to wait much longer to see.

And then there's my surprise for the day. I was taking pictures of my girls and suddenly realized that Flash Flood is HUGE! She had a big, single, ram-lamb, last year but looks like she'll have twins this year. YEAH!!!
Flash has really bagged up in the past couple of days. I wonder if she won't beat some of the girls who are supposed to lamb first!

It should be a very happy Easter here in the Bluff Country.....

The Countdown continues...

I still think Alice is SO beautiful! She continues to be very friendly and LOVES having her back scratched and belly rubbed. I am continuing to give Alice, Zanex and Diva alfalfa pellets, by hand, to keep them in good shape as they get closer to lambing. The rest of the girls are plenty fat.

I was so pleasantly surprised to come out of work, this afternoon, to glorious sunshine. It was raining when I went in, this morning. It's supposed to be sunny and nice all weekend. I'm starting to let the girls out into the back yard for short periods of time to graze on the rapidly growing grass back there.
Needless to say, they were quite happy with that treat! I only left them out there for five or ten minutes because I don't want anyone to bloat from the fresh grass. I'll let them out a little longer tomorrow. I do have 'rumen buffer' (baking soda) available for the sheep, free choice, at all times, so we don't usually have problems with bloat but one can never be too careful with pregnant ewes!


And this is my beautiful "Flash Flood". You may remember her as the one with the "face like an angel" from my post on March 23. Here, she's closing her eyes and completely enjoying having her chest scratched. I love happy sheep.... ;-)

Am I losing it?????

I could SWEAR I had another post up here. One where I mentioned my daughter being embarrassed by the udder shots of the sheep? I SWEAR I remember SEEING the post, at work yesterday. But now it's not here. I didn't delete it. I'm confused....

New post, after work, today.

Day 4 (my favorite time)

All's quiet in the Bluff Country. This is my very favorite time of the year. The girls still have a while before they're due to lamb, so I'm not wracked with worry, yet. The grass is turning green and my ladies are SO friendly. They love to be petted and scratched. I sit out with them for a while, after work, and they all gather around wanting to be petted. They tip their noses to the sky, as I scratch their chest or backs, or burp and wag their tails as they contentedly snuggle in for a little extra affection. It's amazing how happy a pregnant sheep can make me... ;-)
Alice appears to be getting bigger by the minute! She especially loves it when I scratch her withers. In fact, she 'scratches me back!' (using her teeth to rub against my arm as I scratch her shoulders. I got some great pictures today but will save them for a rainy day (we're supposed to have several, soon). If you look closely, you can see that her udder is enlarging (that's her, in the middle, she looks like she's carrying an extra "wide load"...

ALICE WATCH ... day three

There she is. Looking pretty good! She's still got at LEAST two weeks before she's due to lamb. Unfortunately, I deleted the software that I stored all of my sheep information on, so now I don't have actual due dates recorded. :-( But I know that Alice is NOT among the first of my girls due to lamb. I witnessed four of them mating on the day we put them in with their respective rams. Alice was not one of the four. Savannah, Zest, Kit Kat and I'm not even sure WHO else (I'm thinking maybe Zanex?? I better dig out my notes!) could all lamb on the same day. EARLY LABOR????
SEE? That's what she does when ever she thinks I'm looking at her! Seriously, the reason I worry about Alice is because she gets SO huge and has such big babies. She's just now beginning to 'bloom'...you wait ~ you'll see. And she gets an udder like a Holstein cow! At the same time, Alice tends to look "sunken in" in the loin area; just in front of her hip bones. That makes me worry that she's too thin. Maybe she just carries her lambs low? She looks HORRIBLY sunken, immediately after lambing. We're fine for now. Alice is just beginning to "bag up" (her udder is enlarging). I can relax for a while...

In the meantime...Here are a couple of the ladies who should have their babies BEFORE Alice:That's "Kit Kat". She's my beautiful, fawn, Katmoget ewe. Alice's arch rival. And this is "Savannah" (my little Savannah Banana). Savannah's the one I showed in the fleece processing post. Check back a couple of weeks and you can see her in full fleece. I'm thinking both Kit Kat and Savannah could be carrying twins. Knock on wood! If they are, this will be the first time I get twins from either one of them. Both are bred to Paco. Alice is bred to Zorro. She always twins (or triplets!).
I'll keep this updated with photos and signs that I watch for. Your job ~ should you decide to accept it ~ is to keep your eyes on my girls and alert me to anything I might be missing, as well as wave your knitting needles, say your prayers, cast your spells, or WHAT EVER you can do to bring them good luck for safe lambing and healthy babies. Thank You!

Welcome to the 5th annual "ALICE WATCH"

These pictures were taken last Spring when Alice delivered twin lambs, Zola (grey & white, ewe lamb) and Zahara (moorit, ram lamb). Both lambs were minutes old in these pictures. It's foggy and raining here today, so I haven't had the chance to get a current picture of Alice, 2 weeks before she's due to lamb. In spite of the fact that Alice is a good-sized ewe who has never had any complications during lambing (in fact, delivered a full-breach lamb ~ Zahara ~ last year/ without assistance, and triplets the year before!), I always worry about her, as lambing time approaches. Maybe it's because she becomes less friendly. I may be heading that one off this year ~ I've been giving Alice and Diva alfalfa pellets, by HAND, for the last week. So, they both follow me around when I'm feeding. The rest of the sheep only get hay. I know. I'm mean. ;-) The real reason that Alice and Diva get the extra is because Alice always looks thin the last few days of her pregnancies and immediately after lambing. Plus, she always has such big lambs! In 2004, she had triplets weighing 6 pounds, 6 pounds-10 ounces, and 7 pounds! As usual, she did it unassisted and cared for them all, herself, too. She's such a great mom. But I always worry about her getting Ketosis. Diva's just a baby, herself, and still growing, so I give her the alfalfa pellets so she has the extra energy and nutrition she needs for herself AND her lamb...She's becoming QUITE obnoxious!

I got some awesome pictures of Alice IN labor, last year. Unfortunately, I can't FIND them! I'll keep looking ~ and try to get a good shot, showing how big she looks, later this afternoon....

Thanks to all of you who join in the "Alice Watch", every year and offer me moral support and encouragement. Keep my girl in your thoughts and prayers again, please.... ;-)

APRIL 1st...

I almost forgot!!! Here I am ~ about to head to bed and I realized that I promised the 2007 Calendar photo for each month would be posted on the first of every month. So, I guess I better put April up here! Because we always start lambing in April, I chose to put pictures of lambs on the April page. Featured are: 2 of the triplets that Alice & Zorro had in 2004, baby Zodiak & a chicken having a stand off, and our Champion ram, "Bluff Country Apocalypse" (Paco) as a week old lamb. The 2006 little ones should be joining us in about 2 weeks..... I better get some rest ;-)