This year’s lambing season started almost a month sooner than we anticipated. The sheep have a metal shed to get out of the weather on the east pasture. It was raining and icing on February 24, so Rick went over to encourage the sheep to spend the night in the shed. While he was in the shed, he heard branches breaking off, so he led the sheep to the barn near the house, instead. The next morning, the metal shed was in shambles. Two large branches broke through the shed. Actually, we had branches all over the farm. The ice and sun made the whole farm glow. It was beautiful. We lost power for half a day; others lost power for several days. We were so happy all of our sheepies were safe in the barn. We spent that cold day preparing the barn and getting things set to manage the sheep.
February 26, 2007 – Rick went out to the barn to check on the sheep in the morning and found Sophia away from everyone else. She delivered a single white ewe, we estimate, around 8:30am. The ewe lamb was a large 12.5 pounds. She is white and her sire is Colwyn.
March 2, 2007 Rosemary looked like she wanted to deliver when I checked on the sheep before bedtime. At about 11:30PM, she started her roosting, so I waited until she delivered at 1:30 AM. She had a large single white ram. He was 15 pounds. Our son, Anthony named him Calvin. Calvin’s sire is Cowlyn.
March 6, 2007 Anxiously checking for lambs each morning nowadays, I came out around 6AM today and found Ede cleaning up her ram. After a little while, she delivered her ewe. Both are white and sired by Colwyn. The ewe is especially friendly and has a face of an Angel. That is why I named her Angel. The ram was 10 pounds and the ewe was 8 pounds. That is a lot of weight for my little Shetland ewe. Ram sold to Dave in Grinnell, IA
March 7, 2007 Got home from choir practice and Rick told me Elly started to go into labor. I changed shoes and went to the barn to observe. Rick said she was in labor for at least 20 minutes, but when I got there I didn’t see her making much progress. After 30 minutes, she wasn’t pushing much, so I gloved up and checked things out. At first, I discovered her lamb was large. After a few minutes of struggle, I felt around and noticed the lambs second leg was back. I helped the lamb’s shoulder get over the pelvic and almost 40 minutes later, a large white ram was finally delivered at 9:30PM. I thought that was it for Elly since she is not a large ewe, but after a while of cleaning her first ram, she delivered a grey/black ram. The first ram was about 13.5 pounds and the second was 12.5 pounds. Both rams sold to Dave in Grinnell, IA
March 10, 2007 I found Olivia with a white ewe and white ram this morning. She was still cleaning the second lamb, so I estimate birth time to be around 7AM. Both ewe and ram were 7.5 pounds. Their sire is Colwyn. Ram sold to Dave in Grinnell, IA; ewe sold to Darlene in Lamar, MO.
March 23, 2007 Found Crystal this morning with a white and black lambs. When I got closer, I noticed the white ewe wasn’t moving. She was cleaned, but not living. The black ram has white spots on this head and small ones on his body. He looks to be silver. Rick named him Christopher. His sire is Colwyn.
April 2, 2007 Tilly listened to my request and waited until I got back from my trip to have her lambs. After I got back from the airport, I checked the barn and found Tilly cleaning her lambs. Both are basically brown, but the ram is lighter underneath. They were sired by Basil. Ram sold to Dave in Grinnell, IA
April 4, 2007 Sybil twinned while I was visiting the barn during the lunch hour. She had a ewe and a ram. Both are black, but the ewe (Gretchen) has lots of white spots on her head and neck. It looks like she will be grey as she ages. They were sired by Colwyn. Ram sold to Dave in Grinnell, IA
April 18, 2007 Found Milly this morning in labor and her bag has already broke. I don’t know how long she has been in labor, but she wasn’t making any progress while I observed her. I gloved up again and assisted her with both of her lambs. She had a ram and a ewe. Both are white, but the ewe has two brown spots towards the back of her left side. Ram sold to Dave in Grinnell, IA
