It is hard to believe at the time of my last post we didn't have any babies and in just a few short weeks our barn is overflowing. The great news is that we have several really nice lambs in a very short time, however the drawback has been a brutal couple of weeks filled with sleepless nights and a lot of hard work. Fortunately we only have a couple of ewes left to lamb.
Lambing season with Natural Colored sheep is a bit like celebrating Christmas in February. You never know what you are going to get until you take off the wrapper. This year was no exception and with the wide variety of breeds it makes the process even more interesting.
We started the season with a really nice set of twin Romedale lambs born to a first time mom. You would have thought she was a veteran as I found the lambs healthy, happy and nursing in the morning. Both lambs have a nice CVM color pattern and will be nice lambs to take to the national show to be held at the Estes Park Wool Market in June.
After the initial babies we were inundated with a few days of what I like to refer to as a "lambing storm". There were so many lambs in such a short time that I can barely remember which order they came in. It was a time when dinners went cold and my husband really came to the rescue on several occasions to make sure my daughters didn't think they were orphans. In addition to the high influx of babies the weather turned crazy. For the first time in flock history we had to make a "nursery annex" in the hay barn. The new lambs thought this was a great idea as they had a warm place to play and it turned out to be a bit like McDonald's playland on a weekend with babies going everywhere:)
We have had a few sets of triplets and a couple of singles, but most have been nice twins delivered with little extra work on my part. In my opinion, this year's lamb crop is an exceptional set of lambs! We used several new rams this year and so far they are yet to disappoint.
I really like the Natural Colored (NCWGA) lambs by my daughter's ram lamb Diego and out of a set of Forest Grove FFA ewes we have used for a few years. Diego is out of a Southwest Sheep Company ewe we purchased a couple of years ago.
I am also really happy with the lambs we have by Horton, a ram lamb purchased from Burns Montadales in the spring of 2008. These Montadale lambs have some of the best breed character I have seen on a Montadale in years. They are like peas in a pod and they are great!
So far I have been excited by the two sets of Romedale lambs in the barn. They are both by a home bred ram lamb named Calico who is out of a Kristie ewe "Star" and by a Custom Colored Critters Romedale ram by the name of Gabe. The lambs are healthy, vigorous lambs who seem to get the job of life done on their own. All of them have an amazing growth rate. I think the term "butterball" might be most fitting in this case.
Our newest addition to the flock are the bred Lincoln ewes I purchased from Reister Farms this winter. I came home to find my newest "hippy sheep" born in the pasture with mom doing her best to clean her off. It was a really nice Valentine's Day surprise! The little "fuzzball" as my father commonly refers to her is growing well and adds a great bit of character to the flock. She is definitely unique in personality and has stole all of our hearts.
As we move into the end of February, I will try to take a moment to post about my new Lincoln ram I purchased from Penny Dodds, as well as start to post pictures of shearing, and hopefully talk about the history behind some of our breeds.
I have included pictures of some of the babies from today. It was a beautiful sunny day where the lambs stretched out for a nap and spent much of the day soaking up the rays. I will try to post more photos as I take them.
Feel free to email me at ktjones@crestviewcable.com with any questions or comments.
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