Sprinkles

Checked the front pasture about 8 am this morning and no new arrivals. Took the boys out to put hay out about 8:30 and noticed the new bull calf was taking advantage of the shelter while mom was off eating. I went down about 8:45 to introduce myself and upon exiting, saw that Martina had a little black lamb at her side. So then I spotted Eve and yes, she had her black lamb at her side, too.

Went over to check it out. Yay! It's another girl! She's already nursing and still a tad bit damp but mom's still doing her job. She is more of a dark chocolate, especially around the face. She has white pepper sprinkles on her head like Eve's lamb but they are very faint and small. Went and got a grain snack for Martina and a little drench for the lamb. Finally, we'll have a couple of babes the same age to play together. Guess Andes was in a dark mood this fall! Checked Kayla for udder development; I'm guessing she's about 3 weeks out as there is some development but nothing major yet.

Photos later.

Good Timing

Finally, a well-timed birth! After dinner yesterday, I went out with the boys to let them have one last romp before bedtime. The rain had let up and it was very pleasant weather. Merry Kate was pacing the field, getting up and lying down, obviously in labor. So I let the boys occupy themselves in the rock firepit for mom turned sandbox-wannabe for boys, but currently occupied with homemade potting soil mix leftovers instead of sand.

I was able to observe the birth from a distance. She delivered a white heifer calf at 5:45 pm and it was up standing at exactly one hour later. It's a very light blonde and is the friskiest calf we've had to date. Right after she delivered, Munro and Hot Shot came over to welcome the new bundle as if they'd been waiting the whole time in the lobby. They were suprised when it wiggled and jumped back a bit.

Andes' ram shield from Premier arrived also and he seems much happier with it than the sun visor. As long as it doesn't cause any problems, we'll keep him in it until the lambs are old enough to stay out of the way.

After Midnight -- Ba Ba Black Sheep

One of our twins joined us at 4 am, and about 5 am I woke up to the sound of rain. Got the strong urge to go check the animals but needed to wait until our fussy toddler was sound asleep so I wouldn't risk waking the entire household with his wails if he saw me escaping. I was out the door by 6 am.

Sometime between midnight and me getting out there this morning, Eve gave birth to a single black ewe lamb with white marbling highlights on her head. She looks as if she stuck her head in a paint bucket or went and had her hair fashionably streaked! She was already cleaned off and lively. I brought her in against Eve's protests. Jeff looked a little suprised when I brought her into the bedroom at 6:30 baaing for her mama. Our little toddler who was crying before I came in was even more suprised than Jeff but he did quit throwing his fit, temporarily. I made sure she was dry and warm and doing well then took her back to mom -- who was very glad to receive her back. I'm so content to finally have a dark colored sheep. We all got a little more sleep before the little boss decided he'd had enough of this boring sleep thing and it was time to get up. Our other little guy slept through the whole ordeal, even with the baaing sheep temporarily in the bathroom next to his room. In fact, he actually got to sleep in and seemed glad that Mr. Early wasn't sharing his room this morning.

The rain has turned into a light sprinkle but we're due for rain through Saturday. Hopefully every pregnant animal won't decide to give birth NOW...but... chances are!!! Think we'll call her "After Midnight" or "Storm".

After a spinach manicotti lunch and putting the boys down for a nap, I ran out the door to make sure and see her nurse as all the other animals were down the front hill grazing the newly green grass and wouldn't catch wind of me out with her. Went out onto the snotty muck of a hillside and gave Eve a snack so the little gal would have a shot at nursing. Sure enough, she got her milk mustache.

Snapped these shots. Our lcd on the handycam doesn't work anymore so I'm shooting in the dark with no viewfinder. If I get another crack at getting out there I'll give little black sheep some drench to keep her perky. Eve doesn't seem to want to take her into the shelter yet. Ande has had a tattered golf visor (with the inside support removed) tied on for a couple of days now and hasn't posed a problem. It suddenly humbled him.

After Merry Kate the cow, we expect Martina to be the next to deliver, followed by Hot Cocoa the goat, and finally Kayla.

Standing By

Our smaller Highland cow, Merry Kate, is finally developing her udder so we'll be expecting a little Highland soon.

Also, Eve is developing her udder and has begun to distance herself from the flock of sheep so we're watching her closely.

We hope to sell the white cashmere buck intact and also his white son (a wether) by this fall.