Lambs
Friday evening I felt that I deserve a can of beer. I had been working for twelve days in a row, and finally had a completely free Saturday ahead. Listening to music I drank another beer, and then third. At about midnight I decided to give my animals hay for the night and then just go sleeping. Well, I found that one of my sheep is giving birth to baby lambs. Good timing - sometimes they need a little bit of help, so I was lucky to be at home. I fetched some equipment (and two more cans of beer), and stayed with the sheep. She got three lambs, and accepted all of them. (Last spring she got two, and rejected the other - taking care only of the first born lamb, not letting the other to drink milk.) Just to be sure I was holding the sheep on her place, so that she doesn't move away while the little ones learn to stand, walk and to find the nipples for milk. I spent until 2:30 AM with them, enjoying every minute of it. Saturday morning I got up at 8 AM, and went to check that they have survived their first night. They were doing fine, and once again I held the mother so that I saw the lambs getting their morning milk. Well, I hope that they actually manage without my help, but for these first days I want to be sure.
Usually a mother sheep is kept in a small separate pen for the first few days. But my style is bit more "wild". Already several weeks ago I just took the ram to a separate corral, so that the mothers have peace to give birth. (The ram tends to get over-excited in the spring time, running and leaping around and ramming anything which moves or doesn't move.)
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is the ram dark colored? I don't know much about sheep genetics (or sheep in general). Do you do your own shearing?
Yes, Pekka the Ram is all black. Last spring there were two white lambs, one brown and one black. So it seems that they have hidden genes for the brown color =) But I haven't read that much about sheep genetics, so I don't know exactly.
I'll do shearing some time in May. I have old fashioned shears, but they require a lot of skill to use, so I just borrow a machine from my neighbours. Usually I give the wool to my friends who do handcrafts.
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