It's so damned HOT......The SHEEP are sweating!

"Angus"

OK.  That may be a slight exaggeration but it is horribly hot here in the Bluff Country.  I'm still cleaning, packing and painting in hopes of one day having my place ready to show to potential buyers! 

"Jim Beam"

I seem to have finally regained my health, if not all of my strength, so I'm diving in like a crazy lady.  I told my realtor that I want to start showing the place NEXT WEEK.

"Mimosa" and "Kahlua"

My Dear friend, Katie W., came down to help this weekend.  One hundred degrees and horrendous humidity and that woman is a painting and cleaning terror!   Now I get to start packing the dungeon of Hell  the basement...

Dream says...

"At least there aren't any of those pesky no-see-ums in the basement!  Those suckers are driving us crazy!"

"P.S.  Guess who's getting FAT???"

She's not getting "fat", Dreamer!

Chance isn't fat she's PREGNANT!

(unlike some black & white, HST royalty who's name we shall not mention....)

 

Feeding Time at the Zoo...

Since I don't suppliment any of my lambs, I give ewes with Triplets a little "lamb creep feed" every day.  I figure it's got to be pretty nutritious and the lambs always "help" eat it.

 If you click to enlarge this photo, check out the fleece on the cheeks and poll of Duchess!

Her fleece is incredibly soft as well.

Alice, Duke, Duchess and Princess stand at the gate, calling for me every day to remind me to bring them their food.  It gets a little competitive at the trough/er ~ feed bowl.

Of course, Alice isn't the only ewe with Triplets.

Destiny and her gang also come in  for their creep feed.

I need to get another big pan! 

Look how tiny "Kiss" is compared to her brothers! 

And how dark her moorit fleece is!  She may actually be a dark brown...

After lunch, Alice and Destiny take their babes back out to the main pasture.

(look at the tails on those lambs!)

When I open the gate to let Alice & Destiny out,  poor Chance always rushes in looking for anything that was missed. 

I'm afraid it's pretty Slim Pickins'

That's OK.   Chance doesn't look like she really needs any extra feed!

Now, Charm (Bluff Country Lucky Charm) is another story:

She'll kick and drag that dish all over the paddock, looking for food!

Poor baby...

Fortunately, Charm and her beautiful sister, Serendipity, seem to be growing just fine.

DREAM says...

"Mom doesn't think we've seen the last of the triplets for this year!   Stay tuned to see if she's right.  It won't be much longer..."

Meet Chance's Twins...

Chance is a beautiful, fawn, yearling ewe.  At 7:30 this morning, she gave birth to twin  ewe lambs.  It had been apparent to me that Chance was in early labor, yesterday morning.    I've pretty much gotten to the point that I don't fret (too much) over my girls when they are lambing.  But, I like to keep a close eye on the "first time Moms".

I  did my last barn check at midnight last night and it was apparent that birth was not immenent so I went to bed and didn't bother setting my alarm.  I woke up (with a little help from my dogs) at 6 o'clock this morning;  made myself a cup of cappuccino and went out to the barn to check on Chance.  Her labor had clearly intensified, but she hadn't passed the water bag yet, nor was she pushing, so I went back into the house. 

I played on the computer for a bit but was having a hard time keeping my eyes open so I decided to check on Chance again, before laying down to take a nap.  When I got back to the barn, Chance was cleaning off a striking, little, black & white, HST ewe lamb!

Chance already had the head cleaned off and was enthusiastically cleaning off her baby's slimy body.  I  sat and watched. 

I decided not to take any 'gross' pictures.

A short time later, while standing up, Chance delivered her second daughter ~ a moorit (possibly fawn) ewe lamb with bold smirslet markings  and one white anklet.

This is the point where first-time Moms can get overwhelmed and forget to care for one of the lambs.  Chance immediately turned to her second baby and started licking it.  I took advantage of the opportunity and petted the first lamb.    Chance did a wonderful job of cleaning up both of her babies so I went back to bed...

ZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzz

My Name is "PRIMA DONNA" and I'm Staying...

The Shepherd says I've got the cutest ears she's ever seen on a newborn lamb and I get to stay! It didn't hurt than I came right up to her and love for her to scratch and rub me.

Shepherd/Mom also says I have very nice, straight legs and perfect markings and really tight, crimpy fleece so I get to grow up here with my sheep Mom and all the other beautiful sheep in the Bluff Country! I know that it's mostly because Shepherd/Mom already LOVES me. She took this picture of me, still wobbly, running up to her for loving. ;-)

Diva made me worry, but she came through! I thought sure that Dream was going to lamb last night so I got up at 4:30 in the morning to check on her. No babies from Dream but Diva was pushing everyone else's lambs away and making that 'chortling' sound that moms make to their new born lambs. Diva hadn't passed her water yet ~ at least that I could see; and her babies were still quite high (she didn't appear sunken). I was worried about a repeat of last year where she labored for 12 hours and needed help to deliver a malpresented lamb. I fretted for a while, and then came to the conclusion that there was nothing that I could do. I didn't want to attempt "going in" to check the position of the lamb when Diva wasn't even pushing yet. I can't afford to have an emergency vet call everytime Diva lambs. So, I went back to bed. Yes, I was scared. Yes, I felt guilty. And yes, I prayed. When I got up to check again, at 7:15 this morning ~ expecting the worst ~ Diva had just delivered a very goopy, moorit/smirslet lamb with one white foot. This is the first time, I've had a non-HST lamb from an HST ewe, bred to an HST ram. Actually Diva did give me one onther non-HST, but that one was a flecket. Interesting. Then again, Diva's sire is not HST ~ he's a Moorit/Krunet (Underhill Thelonius Monk). It'll be interesting to keep track of that and see if it factors in, in future breedings...



The important thing is: DIVA AND HER BABIES ARE DOING WONDERFULLY!
Did I mention that they are both GIRLS?????

;-)

And yes, I thanked "The Shepherd". Repeatedly. Enthusiastically. Sincerely. For I know that without Him, none of this would be possible.

CHANCE says...

..."I'm staying TOO!"

P.S. Dreamer's busy ~ EATING!
(Think BOYS!!!) I Can't believe I'm saying that!