I love this photo of No. 10 following The Farmer across the field this morning. We are only raising two bottle lambs in the barn (and No. 84 at our house). No. 10 certainly thinks The Farmer is his Mama.
This morning we had to take care of a ewe who has a vaginal prolapse. She's a two year old and is raising a nice lamb. Unfortunately, she's got this condition which as a woman, I can only imagine how awful it is. She is stubborn as all get out and the hardest part of the whole procedure was getting her into the barn. I won't bore you with the gory details. I could but I think everyone of you would head for the hills unless you were a nurse, doctor, or used to farm life. We used this tool called a bearing retainer to push the prolapse back in. She is now out and about but we will see how she does. All I can say is I never thought I'd be doing this kind of thing early in the morning on February 4, 2010 as a young girl growing up in NJ. It's great to be alive.
Lambing is slowing down somewhat. Most of the mature ewes have already had their lambs. Today, there were two new singles born to young ewes. They both did good and seem to have natural instincts and are caring for their babies just fine.
The lambs are growing so quickly. I took some nice little portraits of sweet faces for you all this morning.
The lambs are starting to get interested in hay and continually pick around the bales and try it out.
This little guy must have eaten something considering he has a blade of hay hanging out the side of his mouth.
The sun is getting so much higher in the sky and I can actually feel winter coming closer to disappearing into spring. Soon the woods will be full of people checking their "lines" making sure everything is all set for the sap to run and sugaring to begin. I can only imagine the work that is being done at the different little sugar houses that dot the countryside. Williams Farm is opening the end of February for their annual stint of pancakes and boiling sap into syrup. It never gets old.
19 comments:
Hopefully No.84 is doing well and growing still?? How do you get the ewes to look right into the camera - they are soooooo cute!!!
Why do I have this overwhelming urge to start talking baby talk?
"Ohhhh wook at de widdle biddy wambs!!!"
All Creatures Great and Small - now there's a book series for ya - lots of prolapse this and that throughout. The BBC series leaves even less to the imagination. Purty lambs!
Wendelene said it!!
--Elizabeth
Those photos are wonderful!
Love
Lyn
xxx
That last little fellow looks like quite the farmer!
Wonderful photos! As a girl, I helped my dad fix prolapsed sows. After having children myself, "ouch!"
Wonderful photos!
I'm also enjoying the lengthening of the days. December is always the worst for me...
They are so cute! You can see a big difference in their faces. That makes sense since you used different rams.
Thank you so much for taking these photos!! they mean the world to us "unfarm" girls. It is so kind of you to take the time to share your life so beautifully with us.
As always, great pictures. The lambs are so cute and they grow so fast. I did follow the links for the vaginal prolapse and hope you managed to get some coffee before you helped the poor ewe.
One of the things I love about your blog is the farminess of it. My life is a beef farm so I love seeing your babies and marveling at the universality of cuteness. I appreciate the unloveliness too. It's yucky, painful, necessary and so worth it when it works out (your No. 84 and my little calf, Very Cold). We start calving in January and My Farmer diligently checks those expectant mamas throughout the night. You're right about this being a great life. I too wouldn't have dreamed I'd be pulling a large backwards calf out in the middle of the night and watching the absolute miracle of bonding between mama and baby. Thanks Kristin. And thank Mark too, for his wonderful thoughtful answers earlier.
I have just found your blog and love it. We keep a small herd of Angus cows here in SE Iowa, and March/April is our busy calving season. Each year I set up a NICU unit in our mudroom for the calves that get in trouble. Calves in the bathtub! I cover them in old towels and use a hairdryer to thaw them out if I have to. It's always rewarding to see them get up on their own and wobble around. Kind of hard on the tub though. !
What is about lambs? They are so sweet! This makes me want to visit a lamb farm.
I just love you lamb pictures. Here in Iceland thee are months until we get to see lambs.
One of these days I'm going to bring the pixie over to see the lambs! I already cleared it with Mark on the phone.
Just thought I'd let you know that I love your blog and enjoy all the farm and lamb info and your pictures are wonderful!! Thanks for taking the time to share with us.
Kristin,
Cathy and I were planning to sell the city home in Southie and move to the country and raise sheep.......
until I saw all the physical problems sheep had and you and the farmer had to deal with!
We kept sheep on our hobby farm growing up. Thanks for the memories! They are SO cute!
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