Lambing Update/Lambing Recap for 2011 ~ April 28th

At around 11:00 am this morning, Helen gave birth to two huge ram lambs weighing around 9 lbs each. Helen is the mother of my ram, Lenny and I was hoping that she would give birth to another Moorit mouflon lamb just like him. My prayers were answered. The other lamb is pure white with no pheomelanin . . . . he looks alot like his grandsire ~ Noison.


Tuesday morning, I found Sammi with her newborn 7 lb moorit/grey ewe lamb. This is Woden's only girl this year (we have had almost 75% ram lambs born this year!!!). I will be keeping her.

Lambing Results for 2011:

Here is our breakdown of lambs this year and what is available. Please note I am only selling the BEST of my ram lambs for breeding stock. This year I have 5 awesome ram lambs for sale. The rest will be sold for my meat customers.

Lenny (FKR 10W):

Pepper: 3/29, 1 Ram (Available for breeding)
Liz: 3/29, 2 Rams (One Black/Grey Ram Available for breeding)
Fang: 4/13, 2 Ewes (One available)
Sarabella: 4/15, 2 Rams
Pumpkin: 3/26, 1 Ram and 1 Ewe (Ram is available for breeding)
Tolkie: 3/27, 2 Ewes (One ewe available)
Elena: 4/14, 2 Rams (one assist - head only presentation)
Manon: 4/2, 1 Ram (assist, backward presentation)
Pip: 4/15, 2 Ewes


Hun (FKR 21W):

Saltie: 3/31, 1 Ewe and 1 Ram (Ram is available for breeding)
Helena: 4/6, 1 Ewe and 1 Ram (Ewe is Available)
Snugs: 4/16, 1 Ewe and 1 Ram (assist for ram lamb, backward presentation)Ayn: 4/11, 1 Ram (Ram is available for breeding)
Penny: 4/4, 1 Ram
Spike: 3/27, 1 Ewe (assist - pull as big single, normal presentation)Saltina: 4/5, 1 Ram
Lil' Snugs: 4/9, (Both ewes are available)


Woden (LF 458X):

Helen: 4/28, 2 Rams (One Moorit Mouflon Ram available for breeding)
Panda: 4/15, 1 Ram
Co-Co: 4/14, 2 Rams
Bee-Bee: 4/14, Full term stillborn, large ewe lamb single
Sammi: 4/26, 1 Ewe
Hunnie: 4/13, 2 Rams

We are so pleased with the quality of our lambs this year. Our lambing was nearly 100% successful. Most importantly, all of our ewes were bred this year and out of 37 lambs we only had one stillborn. Our lambs were very large as our hay quality was very high. I think this may be the reason for the four assisted births. Look forward to some lamb photo's and even video in future posts!

Please let me know if you would like me to reserve either a breeding ewe or ram lamb. The best way to contact me is by phone at (207)726-4765.

Buy local . . . . . eat well . . . . . .

Lamb Update ~ April 19th

Co Co gave birth just how it should be done - in the sunshine and on pasture on April 13. Both are beautiful boys who weighed about 6 1/2 pounds each. One black/grey mouflon and the other is a beautiful black/grey. This is the second set of twins by our new ram, Woden.



Fang gave birth on the evening of the 13th with two flashy black spotted ewe lambs. Both weighed about 6 pounds each. I am keeping one of these beauties. Fang has one of the finest fleeces in my flock and these two seem to have inherited her fleece quality.



Morning chore time on the 14th I found Elena with one of her newborn ram lambs. The second lamb was coming but was presented head only. I quickly intervened and carefully brought both feet and legs in position for a regular birth. Both boys weighed about 7 3/4 pounds . . . which is big for Elena. Hoping for ewes this year as Elena has given me four sets of twin ram lambs for the past four years. These should grow to have a classic meat conformation. One moorit/grey ram and one solid moorit.






Evening lamb check on April 15th had Sarabella and Panda standing out in my lambing paddock with their lambs at their sides - up and nursing. I decided to leave them with mom and moved them to separate lamb jugs in the morning. Sarabella gave birth to two well built chunky ram lambs who weighed about 8 pounds and Panda gave birth to a gorgeous solid black ram lamb who weighed about 6 pounds. All three ram lambs are available.




Snugs showed labor signs on the morning of April 16th. I don't know why but I had been worried about her pregnancy. We were expecting triplets as she was so huge and her udder was massive this year. As the day progressed Snugs grew more and more restless and finally started to push in the afternoon. The labor was not progressing well so I had Mark hold her while I examined her. It was a backwards birth and I knew that I had to pull the lamb immediately as I saw meconium in the amniotic fluid.

I pulled the lamb and it came out fine until I reached the shoulder area and then it appeared to be stuck. I was frantic as I knew the lamb would begin to breath any second and sure enough it was struggling in my hands. I followed the neck of the lamb and when I finally made it up and inside where the head was - I realized the problem was the lamb's HUGE horn buds were caught on the pelvic bones and the cervix. Instinctively, I covered the horns with my hand pushed down and pulled the head through the birth canal. The lamb was floppy, limp, eyes half closed, tongue hanging out . . . . I thought it was dead. I cleared out as much of the fluid around the mouth as I could and placed him in front of Snugs.

She began to clean him off and within two minutes his body began to shake and spasm and he began to revive. Snugs ram lamb is so beautiful and big - nearly 10 pounds! His sister was born shortly afterwards ~ a gorgeous black badgerface who weighed only 5 pounds. Both of these gorgeous lambs are available.




That evening on April 16th, I heard Pip calling to her babies. Oh, what beauties they are too. . . two ewe lambs. A moorit/grey mouflon badgerface and a light moorit spot. Both weighed about 7 pounds. I am keeping both of these girls.

Only two more ewes left to lamb . . . . . then I can sleep again:)

Buy local . . . . . eat well . . . . . . .

Lambing Update ~ April 13

Our first lambs out of Woden . . . . and our first lambs out of Hunnie. Such beauties. Both appear to be black/grey badgerfaces. I did not get close enough to see if they are rams or ewes when I took the photo (they look like twin ewes). I watched the birth of both through our kitchen window.

If twin ewes - I am keeping one. Hunnie has such a sweet disposition. Her brother is our beautiful ram ~ Hun who is also very easygoing and has a gorgeous conformation. One ewe or ram lamb is available.

Update: Both lambs are gorgeous boys and are available (Noi, Flotti, Liefer, Lodi, Peli, Aboti, Hunn and Ari genetics behind them).

Lambing Update ~ April 11

On the evening of April 9th, Lil' Snugs was found with one gorgeous black mouflon ewe lamb in the barn. The white ewe was out of the barn and calling for momma. After a chase in the dark I finally coralled everyone into a waiting lambing jug. Both pretty ewe lambs weighed about 6 pounds. Both are available.



This morning, I walked out to do chores in the rain to fine Ayn had just given birth to a HUGE black mouflon ram lamb. He weighed nearly 11 pounds! Check out his huge horn buds His back hoof was injured and it needed to be splinted. I think his hoof got caught and strained during the birth process. This is Ayn's first lamb and I am so glad she was able to give birth to this big boy unassisted. This ram is available.

Lamb Update ~ April 6

The birth that I have been very anxious about took place sometime between 6pm and 8pm last night. Helena developed a vaginal prolapse a few weeks ago and had to have it stitched into place by our vet. I cut the sutures on Sunday ~ a little too soon but she was okay and did not prolapse again. This birth was a case of "go with your instinct and not the textbook". Helena had her water bag out for several hours yesterday and since she was not distressed and having contractions I decided to wait and see what would happen. My lambing guide says a baby should be born from 30-45 minutes after the waterbag presents . . . .If not, then there is probably a malpresentation. Nope . . . . not in this case. Helena just decided to go easy and take her time having her lambs.

Her current prolapse is due to an extremely difficult birth two years ago when she was a ewe lamb. Her lamb Bee-Bee was huge and became stuck overnight. By morning when Helena was checked the lamb's head was swollen and sticking out. Helena had tried so hard to give birth, she had begun to prolapse. I managed to pull Bee-Bee out - it was a miracle that Bee-Bee survived! Helena's prolapse healed but it recurred this year.

I was thinking about culling her in the fall but decided last night not too. She gave birth to two of the prettiest lambs this year. An 8 pound ram lamb with HUGE horn buds and a moorit spotted 8 1/2 pound ewe lamb. Her spots are on the leg so you can't see them in the photo. I am thinking about keeping the ewe but the boy is for sale. Both have beautiful conformations and will be finely fleeced (Helena is a Noi granddaughter).

Lamb Update 4/5

Manon had a very large single black/grey mouflon ram lamb ~ he weighed close to 8 pounds and came out back feet first. This was a tricky pull as I had to do it super fast because the umbilical cord would be pinched causing a "gasp" reflex in the lamb. Some lambs drown and die immediately when this happens. To complicate matters the hocks of the lamb were locked and needed to be straighted. Since Manon has "always" given us twins, I became concerned that there was another one stuck. I caught our vet just leaving her office and she came over to give Manon an internal check just to be sure. Nope - this year she gave us just one big single. I needed penicillin anyway and I was out of lubricant so it was a good thing that she was able to stop by and help out . . . . . Thanks so much Dr. Church!

Yesterday evening during lamb check, Mark woke me up to say that there was a lamb in the paddock but it was too dark to see who it was. I went out and saw that the lamb was up and nursing and Penny was the mom. Penny is a grandaughter of NMI famous ram "Tolkis". This was her first lamb but since she was doing well and all the other pregnant ewes were sleeping in the barn - we decided to wait until morning to move her and her lamb into the lambing jug. She gave birth to a beautiful 6 1/2 pound black mouflon ram lamb with huge horn buds.

This morning at lamb check Saltina had just given birth to a beautiful black/grey badgerface ram. He was up and nursing and weighed about 7 pounds. His dad is Hun - who has been giving us some beautiful lambs this year. All three ram lambs are available for sale.


Buy local . . . . . Eat well . . . . .

We Made The News!!!!

On Thursday the Bangor Daily News came out to do a story on our farm. Here is the link to the article:

http://new.bangordailynews.com/2011/04/01/news/making-maine-home-urban-professionals-carve-out-a-farming-life/

Thanks so much, Sharon for the great article . . . . the photo's were wonderful . . .

Buy local . . . .Eat well . . . .

Lamb Update 3/31

Saltie gave birth in the middle of my barn paddock early yesterday morning to twins just as the sun was coming up. Lambs were up and nursing in minutes even though it was in the mid-20's. The boy is a very splashy and cute moorit spot and the girl is a black badgerface. Both are very long-bodied like mom and are available for sale.

Buy local . . . . eat well . . . . .