Calves 2014

As promised, here are a few pictures of this years calves. They look great so far!

 

 

Ewe lambs making an impression

I am thrilled at how this years ewe lambs are lambing out. They have been excellent mothers right from the start and their lambs are looking really great. It is reassuring to know that we are improving our stock year over year.

20140510-123425.jpg Here is an example of one of the lambs.

This lamb is so nice I double checked his tag the other day because I thought he must be in the wrong pen. It was nice to find out he wasn’t! His mother is the ewe right behind him.

Spring Recap

Wow, hard to believe it is already the beginning of May! I had planned to post on the website more often but time has slipped away and now it’s been a few months since the last post. This winter was cold and lasted well into spring. Even now we are still experiencing cooler than normal weather. The very wet and cool April made extra work during lambing and calving trying to keep the newborns dry and making sure they got a good start. We purchased some biodegradable Shearwell rain jackets for the lambs, and they helped to keep them dry. The rain jackets either fall off or I removed them once the weather cleared up.
20140510-115442.jpg Here is a lamb with one of the jackets, looking quite comfortable.

The wet weather also meant more sickness in the lambs, mainly pneumonia. I have had fairly good luck treating it if I catch it early on but lambs tend to hide sickness very well. The sheep are now out on pasture, but still have access to hay until the grass gets taller. It is also important not to leave them too long in a pasture or they will harm the grass.

Calving is finishing up as well, with about 15 cows left. It went well, with few problems despite the weather. They are out on pasture as well, grazing some of our early pasture. I will get some pictures posted of the calves soon.