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Friday, January 23, 2009

First lambs of 2009

The first set of twin lambs was born Wednesday, the 21st. You can see what an excellent job the mother did with cleaning them up. In these photos, their navels are still wet which means they were born a few hours earlier. Isn't that a cute white cap on the one lamb? These are Shetland sheep mixed with other breeds; so you never know for sure what you will get for coloring. Sometimes a mother will have one white wooled and one black as she did last year but this year, both are black with that cute little white topper.

I am not sure what the relationship of the ram was to this ewe and lambs. More than likely he is her lamb from two maybe even three seasons ago and he has stayed with her. Whether he is also the father (which you can inbreed a generation or two like that and not have any problems), he was very protective of the babies and mother.

One advantage of raising animals in herds, such as we do is watching the interaction of the different ages. This isn't a machine out here to produce meat. It's a living organism of animals and their relationships, and it's a joy to watch.

Sometimes too much joy as we can never lose track of the fact that some of these lambs are raised for food. That's a tough one. But you know without accepting that fact, there would be no new lambs. The ewes would be reduced to eating and living without their own joy. For me, it's a tough part of ranching to accept the purpose behind it.

12 comments:

robin andrea said...

Those black lambs are really quite adorable. How many lambs are born there in a season?

clairz said...

Thank you for these photos! When we lived in New Hampshire, no matter how snowy the winter we always knew spring was a real possibility when we saw the first lambs. Love the little white "hat."

Anonymous said...

Such sweet little lambs! Everyone looks healthy!

Anonymous said...

Such sweet little lambs! Everyone looks healthy!

Carol Murdock said...

It is such a pleasure to watch the new born babes on a farm, feels somewhat close to parenting ! Your babes are beauties!

Sylvia K said...

I love the photos! Just makes me want to go hug one! And I love the little white hat! Never seen that before.

Ingineer66 said...

Nice photos. I finally do a new post on my blog since people are teasing me about such old posts and then I see I have been removed from your list that shows how old my postings are. No need to put me back on the A list. I am not very regular at posting.

Rain Trueax said...

That's funny, ingineer, because I always notice if people take me off their lists. I had you on More Good Reads because I thought you might not be posting but since you are, you are back on the first list. I am feeling my way through this :)

Kay Dennison said...

How adorable they are!!!!

donna said...

A bit early for Imbolc -- spring must be getting earlier. We have idiotic birds nesting already here...

Dick said...

They are cute but I think almost all babies of any species are pretty cute. And I also hope this means that spring is close. I'm tired of winter!

Mary Lou said...

Oh they are sooo cute!! How does their wool spin up?