stonehavenfarm.com

We have too many rams! We have looked carefully to see who can be sold, without losing the important genetics that they carry…very difficult decisions.

In all honesty, we needed reduce the numbers before I brought back a new ram-lamb from Cedar Haven farm, fall-out from my trip to the BSG. And Stephen Rouse has finally conceded to sell us Sheltering Pines Constantine (a gorgeous moorit gulmoget ram), and he will arrive next week!

So although it is painful, we need to trim the numbers of rams.

Stonehaven Robin Goodfellow (S 23465)
Grey flecket…spots now faded into grey
By Stonehaven Connor
Out of Stonehaven Nightingale
$325

Robin was put to ewes for the first time last fall, and gave us a group of lovely correct lambs with very nice fleeces. The horns of his 2 sons look good, and one of them will stay to fill the “hooves” of his grandfather as the flock’s musket ram. Robin’s mother recently gave birth to two promising ram-lambs, and with the genetics of his line assured, we have decided that Robin can be sold. He carries excellent conformation and horns….and spots.

____________________________________________________________________

Stonehaven Duncan (S 16861)
Fawn katmoget
By Bitterrroot Percy
Out of Stonehaven Eva
$400

A couple of months ago, when we thought about reducing the ram flock, we listed our Duncan at SSS&T on the Shetland List. But Duncan is such a special ram, that I lost my nerve, and didn’t advertise him anymore. But increasing ram numbers do make this seem like the “right” thing to do….we can’t part with a half-brother who is out of our dearest old ewe, Puddleduck Eva….so Duncan is really for sale.

Duncan has faultless conformation and horns, a soft single-coated fleece which is uniform from front to back, and has lots of crimp. He is a gentle soul, and very respectful…a little shy (not a bad quality in a ram), but very easy to work with. Duncan passes along all his best qualities (as a true herd-sire should) to his lambs. He is of Dailley katmoget lines, and has maintained his markings well.

Today Viola, now two years old, had her first (and the 2007 seaon’s last) lamb. The mothers and their lambs were turned out on a new grazing today, and Viola rushed out with the rest, but shortly decided that she didn’t feel like standing and grazing. As she began her labor, she continued to grab mouthfuls of grass in the lulls between contractions.

She did get down to business eventually, and birthed a big single ram-lamb (NOT the best choice for a first-timer), but with a little help at the end, Viola did fine. She quietly lay there with her lamb for quite a while, nuzzling and licking him, as the llamas each came over to greet the new arrival:

And Finn, our youngest Border Collie, watched with fascination from the other side of the fence:

When it came time to bring Viola and her lamb into the barn to a jug, she obviously didn’t want to come, even lured by her lamb….so we left her to graze for another half-hour or so. Then she happily followed along, and now is all snuggled in with her new lamb.

This was a line-breeding (grandfather to granddaughter) in an effort to secure the soft, fine fleece genetics that Nicolas carries. Viola is very special in her own right; her soft long single-coated fleece is also quite fine (22.7 microns, only 14% over 30).

Now dry, this ram-lamb has a soft and dense, plush-toy sort of fleece. He will be a grey, and only time will tell if he carries the modifier. Most importantly, we have to hope for good horns!

My name is Lois Moore and I am a sheepaholic….

Well, the trip to the BSG gave us a net increase in ram-lambs…not what was supposed to happen! Cedar Haven Maximillian came home to live with us. I met him a couple of days before the BSG when Lynne and I were schmoozing with her sheep the night I drove in from Halfway…and I loved him on sight. Stunning fleece and great conformation, lovely horns and a sweet personality!
What could I do???

When I told Brook on the phone that I was bringing another ram home, he said “Oh no, Lois!” And then I told him that he was a lamb “OH NO, LOIS!” We have often talked about how one really can’t tell about fleece or horns until at least the second year…..and it is so much smarter NOT to buy lambs as breeding stock. But I felt that this one was too special to pass up. At the BSG, Letty Klein liked him too, because she gave him second place in a big class of ram-lambs!

Besides his obvious good qualities, the deciding factor for me was that this handsome lad is going to be an interesting color. He is registered as a moorit, but his fleece is growing in with a particular sheen, and he has a little lighter wool around his neck…and a latte-colored nose. He is not an Ag sheep, but a solid (Aa/Aa). Not a regular moorit though, and he isn’t a mioget; he will at least be a light moorit, but I think that he will become fawn as he matures. Perhaps he carries one copy of the Mm (modifier that gives mioget, shaela and emsket). I can’t wait to see what his lambs will look like, but since he is a lamb this year, we will have to wait…sigh.

He is living in the paddock next to the house with the lambs and yearling ewes that went to the BSG, isolated for a while and greets me, even ahead of the others, when I come in….feeling very much at home.

So polite and so affectionate….and so beautiful.
Brook thinks so too….

I am home from the BSG, and had a wonderful time, despite a cold virus that took advantage of my tiredness. I held it at bay with all sorts of immune supports, and now, at last, I can rest…well, almost.

I have benefited from “lamb therapy” though since coming home, and THAT can make any illness or stress melt away! Brook (bless him) lambed 3 ewes while I was gone, and all the moms and lambs are doing so well. They are Nicolas’s lambs, bred to preserve his super-fine, soft fleece…Brook takes all the credit for this decision. It was an 11th hour choice, and so the lambs are late in arriving. I will post photos soon. But there are only two more yet to lamb….

The Black Sheep Gathering was, as usual, a very special time, full of the joys of being with old friends again, and meeting new ones. It is hard to say what I enjoyed the most; the days were rich with sheep talk, and wool talk, and I took such delight in being in the company of like-minded folk….and the children!

Best of all, dear little Clancy (our foster-pup) went with me to Eugene, to a wonderful home with Tom and Tracy Livernois…where he will be loved and treasured for the beautiful spirit that he is.

Parting with him was so hard for me, but there is NO doubt that this is the “right home”. I was relieved when T & T told me that Clancy seemed to know that he was “home” immediately…so relaxed that he said “Lois who?”

We have been fostering the BC cross mother and her pups for almost 6 weeks now. Three pups have gone, and as I get ready to go to the Black Sheep Gathering, I am mindful that the remaining puppy (who was also the nicest one of the entire litter…IMHO) needs to find his forever home. Clancy is now a house dog (along with our 3 BCs and the pup’s mother)…too many dogs!

As it is, Brook will need to keep Clancy in his awareness all the time…puppies have a way of getting into mischief. But he will also have pregnant ewes to watch, and likely one of them (Heka) will lamb while I am gone.

In addition to these things, Brook has irrigation, animal care, fencing, and a zillion other projects that will fill his days…not to mention the (the receding) hope that he will have time to work in the guitar shop. He has 3 (or is it 4) guitars in various stages of completion, and hasn’t been able to find the moments to work on them for several weeks.

Clancy is a love, and “dog congestion” is the only reason he can’t stay here with us…yes, we have come to adore him! He is nearly house-trained, and very well behaved…and one of the most loving dogs we have known (besides our own darlings, of course). He tries to understand whatever we tell him, and wants only to please…and to be near.

And he must have some Labrador blood in him…he is an invererate packer.

There is a (dog-less) family in our valley whose son wants a pup and I have suggested...more than once, actually…that they come (without their son) to see Clancy. But that hasn’t happened yet…and I don’t want to be annoying. I don’t want him to go to just any home, but the “right’ one. If only the person(s) who need this sweet dog in their lives would please come forward!

If only the Border Collie would tell us where our mothers are….he MUST know.

This is one of the most difficult times of the year for me; yes, it’s very routine…lambs get weaned. But how sad the voices from the paddock next to the house, and in the distance, from the upper pasture.

We are will be leaving next week for the Black Sheep Gathering, and some of Robin Goodfellow’s April lambs will be going along. And for the welfare of all the mothers, this entire (small) group has been weaned. Today finds them grazing a bit, feeling a little better from that first sad day.

I tell the lambs that their mothers ask about them, but at the beginning, they are inconsolable…

I tell the mothers that the lambs are fine, and that they are NOT gone, just on the other side of the farm. Most of the ewes have been through this before…but that doesn’t make it any easier. The ewe-lambs who remain here will rejoin their mothers later on, but I feel sorriest for the mothers of ram-lambs…because they will never see their sons again.

The day before yesterday, our Fiona began to show signs of lambing that day. She spent the morning in the shed by herself, but no pawing or restlessness…just lying down having a few mild contractions. Around noon, she was passing her mucus plug…it would be soon!

A half-hour later, she was passing some debris and yellowish fluid…not a good sign, and we thought that, at the least, she had a distressed lamb…perhaps a dead one. Just as I went in to check her, she produced her water bag..but I checked anyway, found the cervix open, but no lamb parts.

She had not been laboring as she should have been, so we gave her some CMPK. After another half-hour, Fiona was getting nowhere, and so we decided to go in, and deliver the first lamb.

It was breeched at the birth canal, butt and hocks tightly flexed. I straightened the hind legs and delivered a limp, but breathing ewe-lamb. The debris that Fiona had been passing was meconium from the breeched lamb! Over the next few minutes, the lamb rallied and was up nursing much more quickly then we expected.

I went in for the second one, and found that it was breech too, but presenting with both feet. She was a bit gurgly despite delivering her quickly, and took a little longer to get going.

We were exhausted…but relieved. The lambs are lovely, but even more so because they are living and breathing!

==================================================
THE ANTIDOTE:

Yesterday, Sacred Lily Towhee (a first time mom) looked like she would lamb any moment. But whenever I checked her, she was out grazing. Then at 6:00 in the evening, I found a sight to warm any shepherd’s heart:

Towhee was grazing intently and gurgling, between mouthfuls, to two beautiful ewe-lambs…both black (at this point). Towhee is an emsket, and Baltazar (the lambs’ sire) may carry the modifier, so time will tell.

One of them has Persian lamb curls:

The other has a longer silky fleece:

When I picked up the lambs, to carry them back to the barn, Towhee was focused up high, as I held them in my arms….no walking backwards, leaning over so that she could see them. She understood that I was carrying them for her, and ran by my side. She has always had such wisdom, and makes anything we have to do with her so easy. Much credit is due to Sana Banks who raised her with such love and care.

This past week has been filled with lambs…and intense lambing experiences.
Long stories tomorrow…today I will post some photos. First, the coveted photo of Lotte’s lamb…she is more beautiful each day. I hope Lotte will let me show more of her next time:

Sarah’s lambs are both handsome fellows. Sarah protects them from the Border Collies with furor…stomping, charging and even snapping at them! No photos of that action, but here are her prizes:

The little moorit ram is much too friendly, but also completely charming. He will be a challenge as he grows, and already is forcing me to use all my ToughLove principles every day

.

But I confess that when he isn’t asking for affection, I pick him up and cuddle him.

Dodge Cascadia lambed the day after Sarah, giving us two moorit lambs, ram and ewe.

She and Sarah treat each other’s lambs so gently, and often they are all together…good friends and their babies….

Cascadia’s ewe-lamb is a little minx…always into trouble. Cascadia’s approach to this is to stoically ignore the bad behavior!

Tonight is the 13th, regardless of the calendar on my blog…we have had 4 more of Baltazar’s lambs in the past 24 hours. One carefree lambing…and one NOT. But all is well!

Though the sheep have been on pasture for weeks now, finally the April lambs are doing some real grazing on their own. And they are thriving on the lush pastures we have had this year, as you can see in the next paddock to be grazed, behind Amelia (one of our guardiennes):

Hopefully this will take some pressure off their mothers…even with the extra groceries that we give the nursing and soon-to-lamb ewes, they are JUST able to maintain their weights. It will soon be time to wean them as we get ready to go to the Black Sheep Gathering around the time of the Summer Solstice. Usually we don’t wean lambs until they are 3 months old, but we want to not add weaning stress to the built-in stressors of traveling, and we will have quiet contented lambs at the BSG.

And although these lambs are only 8 weeks old, they are getting too big to nurse!!!

Here follow a few portraits of Robin Goodfellow’s growthy lambs:

Puddleduck Guro’s Gyasi

Cedar Haven Elita’s Egan (aka Rascal, Rowdy…or Piglet)

Cairn Farm Ebony’s lovely Eliana

Ebony’s other ewe-lamb, Esme (a special favorite)

Stonehaven Chloe’s Lily (hard to photograph…she wanted to be nose to nose!)

Chloe’s other ewe-lamb, Glenna…a shy girl

But Lily is convincing her that she should chance it!

And the princess, Stonehaven Imogen’s Ilyse.

As for our Baltazar’s lambs (still arriving through the middle of June…gasp):

Puddleduck Lotte strategically placed herself between her little moorit ewe, and the camera, so that photo won’t come just now, but McTavish Katie’s moorit ram-lamb, the first of Baltazar’s, is growing up to be a handsome fellow:

Last night Sheltering Pines Sarah had twin ram-lambs: a black (who may be modified) and a moorit. Both carry spots, but neither is sporting them. Photos next time…