1st day of Spring!!!!

Well, it was a beautiful day, but still cold. The sky was so blue and the sun shine was amazing. But it was cold. Tomorrow is supposed to be about 73. Hopefully it will feel warm.

I let the alpacas out into the same yard the sheep are in sometimes. The sheep are in the pasture and the yard is right next to it. So they can see each other. They come to the fence and talk. I want to let the alpacas in with the sheep eventually. Any ideas on that, anyone with both sheep and alpacas? They eat the same feed, so thought they'd be ok together. No rams with the sheep except the lambs. And there's a lot of room for them all if they feel threatened and need to run away. I'm going to wait a few more days and see if I get any responses first.

I also washed and hung out clothes. And got motivated to clean off my big kitchen counter. I have been keeping all my cartons of eggs and so many other things on it. And I just got tired of never actually seeing the top of the counter for all the crap on it. So it is CLEAN right now. Probably not for long. I guess I should take a picture of it all clean.

Also went to a meeting with the other caregivers and Mrs. T's daughter to talk over all the changes. Mrs, T got back home last Friday so we are all ready to get back to work. We have a new girl to help now and fill in when needed. I like her a lot.

So a pretty day and a full day for the 1st day of spring. I am SO glad that this winter is officially OVER! But next week, it's down in the 30's at night and not much warmer during the day. What is up with "the winter that won't go away?"

What did y'all do with your 1st day of spring?

My babies

 The 3 little ewe lambs I've been bottle feeding are growing so fast. Carabella, the lamb in the middle, is one week younger than the other two and much bigger. She was a twin. The other 2 are from the quads. They are all so sweet. And good girls.

Here they all are inside, exploring.

 Carabella, nibbling on the corner of the table.

Campbelle and Cameron, trying to see what's up there.

Cameron. She's so cute. I've also been having to bottle feed one of the ram lambs. He's about the same size as Cameron and looks just like her. He comes running whenever I go out there to feed him. I just don't think Amarillo has much milk. The bigger ram sometimes takes milk from the bottle. I have seen them both nursing, but for just a few seconds and she walks off. Just one of those bad mothers. I put an ad on CL today to try to sell all the Finn ewes. I'm just going to be keeping these 3 ewe lambs that are full Finn. And that's all the wool sheep I'll have. I'd like to find a few Shetland sheep some day.

I love this picture. Bubba on the porch, guarding his domain. Such a good boy. He ran off a dog earlier today that kept going through the field next door and making the sheep nervous. Had to get Bubba after it.

And off they go! It's fun in a way to have bottle lambs. I know they will be so much friendlier than the others. But goodness, I am worn out! I feel like a new mom, having to get up during the night. I have stopped all night feedings now. Just feed about 11 PM, then again in the morning and a few times during the day. Pretty soon, they'll just get 2 bottles a day. And in a few weeks, they'll be on straight goat milk!!! And us too!!!

Just thought you all might like to see my 3 cute babies. They are a mess. Once the weather ever decides to be nice, they will go outside. IF that ever happens!

Bridgette's lamb, # 33

So finally, we are DONE with lambing! Yesterday morning, went out to feed and didn't see Bridgette. She stuck her head out the middle stall door, so I knew she must of had a lamb. Went to check and here it is! The 20th lamb born at Outback Farm, Clancey, #33. Just a single ram lamb. I thought for sure, as big as she was, she'd have twins. But no. And that's just fine. For the first lamb, have singles.

At first, she looked like she was pushing him away from her. But I think now he's looking good. I went ahead and gave him and Cora their CDT shots so I can dock their tails. Then I can let them all next door.

He's sort of gray and white right now. But time will tell. He's a little sweetie.

Sunday, my friends came to get Bilbo Baggins, the Hobbit Ram. They're also getting Charlotte and Claire when they are weaned in June. Ron sent me a text and said Bilbo is lonely. He has calves that he could put Bilbo in with. I hope he does. It was really like a rodeo trying to catch this guy. Ron put this funnel on his head in the truck. So cute!

I am having to bottle feed the other 2 quads. The poor little guys are not getting the milk they need from Amarillo. She hardly ever lets them nurse. I catch her sometimes letting them for just a few seconds and that's it. The smallest one is always at my feet so I just bring a bottle when I go out.

The other 3 ewe lambs are growing like weeds. Already have gained several pounds. They are still inside due to this crappy weather. I let them out when it's sunny, which it hasn't been in several days now. But they are good. I will be keeping these 3 plus April's ewe lamb, Cheney. I'm selling all 6 of the Finn ewes and all the other lambs. I'll keep all the hair sheep, which is 8 ewes and the ewe lambs. Plus my 3 bottle Finn ewes. So 12 sheep isn't too many for me. I think I can handle that number. I have 32 right now. But by the end of June, I hope to be down to just the 12 sheep. So does anyone need some sheep?

I went yesterday to see the herb doctor. But they are only open Wed.-Sat. So will have to go back later. I am still trying to get over this attack. I feel like someone punched me in the ribs. It hurts to even sneeze. I didn't eat anything til yesterday afternoon. Then just a little bit. This morning I had scrambled eggs. So a little better. But never want to go through that again!

Gallbladder attack

Besides having had a kidney stone episode about 7 years ago, this is the worst pain I've ever been in. And I have had 2 kids totally natural. No problem. Piece of cake. I would gladly have 20 more kids just like that, than to have what happened to me last night ever happen again. It was pure h***. Seriously.

We ate baked potato for dinner about 5 last night. And about 7 I could not hold my eyes open. I gave the lambs another bottle, then headed to bed.

That's when my stomach started really hurting bad. Like a real bad stomach ache that just wouldn't stop. All across the upper middle of my stomach. It was sore and tender too. I'd go to the bathroom, then get faint. I could not get comfortable at all. No matter where I was, laying down, sitting up, standing, walking. It hurt!

When I'd feel flushed and felt like I was going to faint, I'd get nauseous. I did throw up and felt a bit better. But it just would not stop. The pain was horrible!

I finally just laid half way on the bed on my back and I fell asleep. I woke up and was afraid to move in fear of the pain coming back. But it didn't. So I got up and fed all the animals and the lambs. It's good right now. But I don't ever want to have that pain again!

And this happens after we find out that my husband has been "let go" from Heartland because he's been on sick leave over 4 months now. so NO INSURANCE! Nothing. He's getting signed up for Healthspring Insc. tomorrow. Which is just for people over 65. So I'm out. I'm going to look up that darn Obama Care today and see if I qualify for anything there. If not, I'm screwed, big time.

So I am not going to eat ever again. I'm drinking fresh cut ginger tea. And read about remedies for gallbladder. I had just thawed out a half gallon of my organic apple cider a few days ago. I read somewhere to put 3 T. ACV in 8 Oz. apple cider and drink that. So I am drinking it too. And I think I will get back in bed.

I just saw where Kristin had a lot of rain, right after she planted some in her garden. Yesterday, it never stopped raining here. The bed where I had planted 3 rows of radishes had a little stream at the end of it. If that's all that happens, we're good. Now for some sunshine to make the seeds grow? That'd be great.

And STILL no lambs from Bridgette.

Bridgette

Bridgette told me this morning she's putting this baby thing on hold for awhile.

There's just way too many lambs running around here and she's had enough. She said every time she lays down, one or more of the little pests jump up on her. Or they try to nurse when she's up. She's just tired. Everywhere she looks, there's another one of them. They are all over the place!

So she shall wait awhile, maybe til these are a little bigger and not so annoying? Or maybe til the weather is a bit nicer? Hmmm...

# 31 is here.

 Early this morning, 30 degrees outside and windy, this little ewe had her lamb. Outside. She was still a bit damp and laying beside her mother when I went out to check on the sheep about 5. I got the towel I had out there, just in case, and picked the lamb up to dry it off some more. Blossom had done a good job though. Then I got them both in this stall, out of the wind, til daylight. I thought the lamb was pure black. But she's not. She's really pretty.

 
Kind of a reddish-brown on top with black legs and ears and face. She is half hair and half wool. So soft.

And Blossom is a good mother. Very protective and wants to know where her baby is all the time.

I looked up names for cold in other languages. The only one I could find that had the "c" sound was Kohra, which means cold in Punjabi. It sounds like Cora. Which is what she shall be called. Kohra, because it was so cold this morning that she was born.

I am still waiting on Bridgette to lamb now. She is so big. I just went to check on her at 11:30 and no signs of labor. I am thinking she will have twins. If she has a ram, he will be called Chilly.

So far, they have had 19 lambs and 2 have died, 1 ewe and 1 ram.  There are 10 ewe lambs and 7 ram lambs. The 1st year, I had 3 ram lambs and 2 ewe lambs. I still have Adele and Annabelle. All the rams have been butchered. Last year, 3 ram lambs and 5 ewe lambs. So my flock has grown. 14 ewes and 1 ram now with all these lambs. Plus a few more. I will be selling a lot of them soon. I'll really need to be thinking which way I want to go. or really which way I need to go. The hair sheep are so much more hardy than the wool sheep. I have Finn and they are more susceptible to worms that the hair sheep are. I don't have any issues with the hair like I do the wool. It could just be this particular breed or from where I got them. So, lots of thinking to do.

Next up, goat kids!

And the 2nd thing...

 This is Adelaide, my Finn ewe. I love this girl. Her wool is so nice and silky. She's just turning 3 and has never lambed until  last Saturday morning. I knew she was pregnant, just not sure when she was going to lamb. She chose a really cold wet morning. And she just had those 2 ewe lambs right out on the dirty wet ground, in the middle of all the other sheep and lambs. And just left them apparently.

That's the morning that I just took my time to go outside too. I even had a cup of coffee, which I never do. I had looked out and saw all the sheep, so just assumed everything was ok. Well, it wasn't.

When I did go out and get all the feed ready, I got out there and put the feed in the feeder for them. That's when I saw the poor little lambs, laying on the ground. Still sopping wet. The little black lamb was already dead. Nothing I could do for her. I ran inside to get towels, went back out and put both lambs in a stall. Then looked for a mother. It was Adelaide. So grabbed her and got her in the stall with them.

I got the other lamb dried as much as I could. But she was so cold. Even her little mouth was freezing cold. So I just took her inside to get her warmed up. I sat by the wood heater and rubbed her and tried to get her to suck on the bottle of colostrum I had milked from Adelaide. She couldn't even do that. Plus she was shaking. Like convulsions or seizures. It was horrible.

I had a small tube that I tried to use to tube her. But it was too flexible and I couldn't get it down far enough. So had to go to Ace Hardware in town. I left her in front of the heater, covered up. I just knew she's be dead when I got back. And I got some colostrum from the co-op too.

Got home and she was still alive. I mixed up the colostrum and put what I had from her mother in it. Got it all sterilized and put that new tube right on down her throat. I think by then she was warm and hungry, because it went right down where I thought it should be. I put some milk in the syringe and down it went. And within a few minutes, that little girl was up and sucking on a bottle! Just like that. I was amazed at the transformation in her, once she got some good warm milk in her little belly.

And she's been a happy healthy little piggy lamb ever since!

I put her back outside later with Adelaide. She knew the lamb was hers, but she just wouldn't get her to nurse. I kept trying, and she would lick her and was nice to her, but it just wasn't there for her. That mother instinct. And still, when I bring her outside, Adelaide stays right with her. But no nursing.

And of course the little lamb follows me now.

So I have 3 sweet little bottle lambs. All ewes. All full Finn. I will be keeping all of them. I'll probably sell Adelaide and Amarillo now. I have been supplementing the Tappitt Brothers with a bottle a few times a day as well. I named this little gal Carabella. She is 5 days younger than Campbelle and Cameron, but twice as big.  I went ahead and docked her tail a few nights ago along with the other 2 and 3 more outside.  And they are all doing fine now. A few days ago, she weighed 7 pounds.

I hope I don't have to tube feed a lamb again. I hope these next 2 ewes will be good mothers and take care of their lambs. They are Katahdin mix ewes and they all have been good mothers so far, I am just waiting on these 2 and we're done. Tonight is supposed to be in the 20's. I so hope they have them today or wait a few more days. But I am thinking tomorrow morning. That's when most of the lambs have been born, early morning. We shall see.