Dear Mr. Glen

Dear Mr. Glen,

Yes, sir....I have indeed taken one of your shedding clinics.  In fact, I have taken two of them.  I must have been getting a coffee refill when you mentioned "get out of the way".  I do appreciate the laughs from yesterday, if you ever fail at being a sheepdog wizard...you could most certainly make it on the streets of New York as a mime.  Okay maybe not a mime...how about a comedian impersonator?  I do see you are doing yet another shedding clinic, perhaps three's a charm. 

Regarding STOP..... I think I have found my issue with "stop"...perchance Bella has been reading Urban Dictionary that defines stop as:

Stop means Slow to only Pause



Stop sign most people only slow down instead of coming to a full stop

I've put a Webster's dictionary in her crate for night time reading......and Bella and I will have further discussion on the matter.....in the coming months.

Yesterday gave a vague sort of deja vu....same song, next verse, different dog. Next time I see you, my goal is to move on to a new song...k?

As always, thanks for the great lessons! 

Seize the Day!

The Glove Box

I started lambing 5 years ago.....well, six if you count that "free ewe that would do so much better on the valley grass".  That same ewe that lambed twins at home three days after I brought her over the mountain...and exactly as I crossed by Mt. Shasta on the way down to California for an agility seminar.  That same ewe that caused mondo marital stress as my suit clad husband went out to the ranch with my emergency bag of goodies...to meet my neighbor and a friend who took over the situation which left him traumatized for years! Since "that ewe", I have taken three lambing classes through OSU as well as an on-line sheep management class through Minnesota West.  I've had some good lambers and some that needed help.  One year, I did the deed I swore I would never do and called my vet out on a pull that I could not muster.  He cheated, by the way, and gave her an epidural, easily sorting out the big huge tangled mess I had made.

This year I bred 24 ewes.  I did indeed use CIDR inserts to induce heat.  My vet and a couple of knowledgeable friends have all assured me that CIDRs do NOT....NOT....NOT cause multiple births.  That was all luck in the form of one set of quads, five sets of triplets, three singles and all the rest as twins.  I have 38 lambs at the ranch.....5 others went on to be bummers with friends....and I lost 3 lambs that I know of not included in the ewe with listeria.  It most certainly was a year of "learning".  I had my first "mummy lamb" and the above mentioned listeria.  I also learned that breeding my blue face leiscter ram to all my shetland ewes, though fabulous in fiber, was not in my best interest!

I really did not pull many lambs by neccesity this year.  Of course Coyote girl got a free-pull pass.  One coop/blue face girl was a hard pull.  The quad mom was totally pooped out when she surprisingly passed the fourth lamb breach.  Shear exhaustion left her laying down when she might have gotten up, so I gave a helping hand to get the head out and into air.  A few other lambs were pulled as the moms were going and I had places to be.  I learned from the best that it is better to pull and have live lambs then to get busy, forget, and not.  It was those darn Shetlands and my plan for improvement in fiber and dog workability that used the glove box.  With some success and some utter fail, I pulled every lamb out of those Shetlands.  Today, I saw the end of lambing 2011....with the birth of these two beautiful lambs.

the boy

the girl

The boy was first and interesting how the hard pull on the first lamb created stress for the second lamb.  The yellow film on her white wool is from the passing of meconium from stress during birth.  Once I got the boy out.....I quickly went in and rearranged a front leg to pull the girl.  Another lesson I learned from this year.....pull one, check for more right away.

Another life lesson learned is that, though I really do love lambing, this is the beginning of a lambing break at Rocking Dog Ranch.  Not living where the sheep live make it really time consuming and hard.  Next year, I won't have the home help, with both boys being off to college...it is time.  Bitter sweet for sure but I have had so much fun with the making of lambing memories.  I promise myself to enjoy every lamb race this year.....I certainly have enough to make betting interesting.

Maybe next year some of my sheep friends will let me come and help lamb.....

Seize the Day!

She Was Indeed a Triplewide

The big wool ewe.....the one who had me up at nights worried she would need help birthing monster babies.....had just right sized triplets.

They are sooooo cute!  The one on the far right is taking a bottle from me....she is also the biggest. I will supplement her a couple times a day for a while and keep supplementing until she is on creep and they all are growing good.

They have tiny chocolate dipped ears....well, okay maybe their ears aren't very tiny. This one, the middle sized sister, has a beauty mark on her hinny.

I don't get very much done in a day right now.  Every now and then I have to just stop and watch the lambie antics.  My last katahdin ewe went today giving me twins in the form of a ram and a ewe.  This marks the very end of my experiment with CIDR implants and a 21 day lambing season.  The four Shetland ewes are bred to Sam the ram ala naturale`....and should begin to lamb any day now.  But they are Shetlands and have minds of their own.....and hopefully can get the job done without help from me.

Now its time to start thinking about taxes.....or maybe tomorrow would be a better day for that!

Seize the Day!

Triple Wide and Litter of Lambs

Yesterday was quite the day!  It started at 4:30 with the big huge katahdin ewe having a small lamb so I knew there were more in her.  The huge woolly girl was telling me she was having her babies too but I told her "show me the money".  I went home to kick off the day for the family, grabbed the dogs and headed back to the ranch at 7.  Thank God I jugged the katahdin as she had produced 3 flashy ram lambs while the wool ewe had a small ewe and another katahdin decided to join the fun and had a small ewe herself.  For the next two hours it was very chaotic in the birth barn....lambs showing up everywhere...to the end tune of two sets of triplets and a set of quads.

These quads weighed in at 7-8 pounds a piece...30 pounds of lamb in that poor ewe. I sent one of the strapping boys home with my friend, Denise.  I also nabbed the small ewe lamb from the katahdin triplets and she went with Denise as well...the mom was being a little ornery to her.  If I can get one of the boys from the first set of triplets on a bottle, I will probably pull him too. Three lambs seem to create a lot of stress for first time moms.

The big woolly girl really was a triple wide!  She had three beautiful ewe lambs.  I went and bought a bottle and some milk replacer today.  I'll supplement feed them and see if I can keep the ewe raising the lambs.  They are very cute...and their tiny nappy curls look amazing!

One more katahdin and four Shetlands left to go.  I think I see a light at the end of the tunnel.......really, I do.

Seize the day!

Short Sleeves and Tail-less

Yesterday, I saw the sun!  I actually sat in it and soaked in as much vitamin D as I could.  I think I am deficient to say the least.  I even took off my hoodie and let my arms think about turning brown!  Then I grabbed my camera and took photos of a few of my favorite things.

I love it when the lamb's behinds become cute baby butts!

One tail off and one tail on:

I also love it when the lambs find the creep feeder.  They know they are so special when their moms can't get into their crib and eat their stash of the BEST food!

I also find smiles in the beds the lambs make....
                            

However, the best beds in the house belong to the woolly lambs...

I came home this morning to feed the family and grab the dogs.  One ewe had produced a small single so I am thinking she will have at least another lamb on the ground by the time I get back. And two other ewes were looking like they meant business today.  It is beginning to wrap up!

Seize the Day!

First Flashy Ewe Lamb

This is my single ewe lamb from yesterday....my first flashy girl!  I love her ear....must have been tight quarters.  She is absolutely full of herself and I just might put her ear tag in and release her from the jug before she causes too much mischief.

I had twins right before bed last night.  Two boys.....and today it looks like 3 ewes want to have their lambs for me!  Past the half way mark gives me hope.

Seize the day!

Better

Today's five a.m check revealed a tiny single white ewe lamb.....all cleaned up and starting to nurse.  Ewe beaming with pride and me thinking "gosh you are fat for having such a tiny single.  Best be thinking about culling you next year" as I lured the ewe into a jug with her carrot baby.  I fed and was on my way home to start breakfast for the family and make certain all was ready for my son's first state playoff basketball game.

As I walked into my Christmas wonderland barn at 8:30, strolling over to the new lamb jug....when, what to my wondering eyes should appear....

TRIPLETS! 

Two flashy boys.....

and the tiny white girl!

I think the mom will be taken off the cull list!

Much better way to start the day.  I'm still waiting for the necropsy report....vet thinks Listeria.  Just to give him pause, I'm betting polio.  However, I do think my vet is right and I'll be glad he did not take my double or nothing bet on the bill.

Seize the Day!