This has become a blow-by-blow description of a Lambing Season that is not going as easily as
it should. Tom wanted me to let you know that if "the truth and nothing but the truth" is hard
to handle, just look at the pictures. He also wanted me to stress that this is an atypical year,
and seems to be so for many livestock producers around the country.
If you want some insight into what being a flock-master in a difficult year really means, read
the narrative. We have never had as many complications, and don't know whether to
attribute it to the 2007 drought, the severe winter, or some other unknown variable. Most of
the lambs are not inordinately large, so we know we didn't over-feed. We also know that
Icelandics do not usually require any help to do as Nature intended. This is one of the great
things about them, and we are puzzled by the issues that we've been facing. Be that as it may,
Knowledge is Power - hope our experiences can help someone.
UPDATE
For whatever reason, lambing has resumed it's normal, "hands-off, just watch me work"
rhythm, and we are very grateful for it! Now the trick is to figure out what caused the
problems during the first part of the season and try to avoid creating the same scenario again.
Of course, if its all weather-related, we're pretty much up the proverbial creek...
UPDATE
We have on good authority from a graduate of the Master Shepherd Program
in Minnesota that lack of exercise will cause malpresentations, and I know
our girls didn't move much all winter due to drifting. Mystery solved -
weather related...not a darn thing we could have done about it.
Serkur with Heli on the dam's side. Everything I was hoping for in a foundation dairy
animal, except Scooter Pie isn't a ram. Well, we can't have everything. Nikko is proving
to be a wonderful mother, and Scooter is already "scooting" around the jug and trying to
nibble on hay. This is Dragon's first baby. What a great start to Lambing 2008!
lovely set of twins; one 7 pound moorit and one 7 pound white. These lambs are line-bred
Visir/Solee great-grands, and once again everything was perfect, except that they're both
ewes. Our son, Tyler, says both will stay - this may change. We now know that Tiger
carries moorit as well as black.
ram lamb and a 7 pound black ewe lamb. These are Blackcap's first lambs - nice and
blocky with sturdy legs and lots of energy. We will be keeping the ewe lamb for our dairy
project.
pounds, and her shoulders are very wide. This is Chinquapin's first lamb for 2008, and
possibly his last daughter, so we may be keeping this one, too. I had to pull her in the
dark by feel, since our flashlight went dead right after I got my hands on her legs.
Snowberry is a great first-time mom, and we look forward to many more wonderful lambs
from her. This lamb is polled.
huge hornbuds and chest that his grandfather is famous for. His birth caused a lot of
trauma to Periwinkle - we thought for a while that she was going to prolapse; we also
feared that some damage had been done to her nerves since she had a hard time walking
after the birth. At first she didn't want anything to do with Goliath, but after a while she
began licking him and humming to him, and now she has decided that motherhood is
grand! Will try to get a better picture now that the pair is settled down.
