Summer finally appears to be here though it seems like just a short time ago I was bundled in my winter gear. OK so it was just a short time ago I was bundled in my winter gear. There were a few nights in the barn during lambing when I had a few layers on to keep warm.
Our ewes had their lambs between May 6th and May 23rd. We have 24 healthy lambs who are growing like weeds. Lesson learned this year; don't feed the ewes as much protein before lambing. Some of our lambs were huge... like 14 lb twins and a 17 lb single. All arrived safely save one but I spent much more time with my arm up the back end of a ewe than I would like either for my sake and for the sake of the ewes.
We had our first set of triplets this year and while the mom is handling them well, I am just as happy with a set of healthy twins. I am not interested in sheep that produce litters since I figure that bottle feeding just about kills my profit on a lamb, plus it is hard not to get attached to the little lambs if you are hand feeding them three to four times a day.
We are bottle feeding a single ewe lamb.... Little Girl. She is still with her mom but because of past problems with mastitis, the ewe does not produce enough milk for the two lambs. She knows her name and will come running out of the flock for her bottle.
We are heading into haying season and somewhere in between I need to plant my veggy garden. WHAT HAPPENED TO SPRING?
TTFN
Laurie
