Saturday, September 13, 2008

When you least expect...

First, I should update everyone on what's been happening... This summer I decided that I would finish college and would need to move back to Missouri to do so... 650 miles and a new battery later, I'm back and moved in to an apartment close to campus. My parents still have a farm about 45 miles from campus and my remaining sheep live there... Well, I received a call on Friday from my mom and she announced that I had a new sheep.. a newborn lamb! Well this was a bit surprising, as I THOUGHT that Shetlands were seasonal breeders and rarely bred in the spring. I put a ram in with the ewes after shearing due to lack of ram pasture..

Well the surprises were only beginning.... I drove to the farm Friday afternoon and checked on the new baby and mom, Hopper, and found that Kaya was also pregnant.. I then emailed my ewe buyers from this summer to inform them that there could be a chance of lambs. This morning I went out to the barn to discover that Kaya had lambed! Then... I received an email from Mary that twin lambs were born that very morning... AND may have more on the way... I have also heard from Nichol, who has another pregnant ewe.



The first and second photos are Hopper's moorit smirslet boy.. with two socks- on the same side. His face markings look just like his sire Joaquin!

















Here's Kaya's girl..












Kaya and her black smirslet ewe.
This was by far the quickest and most trouble free lambing season I've ever had.. as well as the most unusual!