jacob lambs

All posts tagged jacob lambs

The answer is 11!

Posted by kenleighacres on March 5, 2011
Posted in: Farm Life, Jacob Sheep, Lambing, sheep. Tagged: , , , . 14 Comments

Lambing season is all wrapped up!  The last 5 girls had 11 lambs and 7 of those lambs came within a 1-hour time frame! 

Jonquil was the first to lamb with a healthy set of twins…

her ram lamb, Lionel

and her ewe lamb, Amelia.

The next 3 girls decided to stir it up some!  This is the scene that greeted me after I picked my son up from school on Wednesday…

unfortunately, it wasn’t so organized 😉  There were 7 lambs being mothered by 3 ewes.  A little chaotic! 

I was able to sort them by size and markings and fleece and everyone seemed happy except for Veronica.  She really wanted Sahara’s ram lamb in addition to her 3.  I told her that she needed to be happy with what she had and not be greedy!

Here is Veronica with her triplets. 

Roland – ram lamb

Catherine – ewe lamb

Second ram lamb – Chaucer

  

Veronica is quite proud of herself and her brood, as she rightly shoud be!  I checked the girls at 2:00 before I left and she didn’t look close, I returned at 3:00 to triplets.  They aren’t exactly small triplets either – 8, 9, and 10 lbs.! 

This is Sahara’s ram lamb – Windsor

and her ewe lamb – Jasmine.

The other girl that lambed with them is Amber.  This is her ram lamb, Galahad. 

These are the first lambs by Blue Ewe’s Ringoes Albus ‘Ringo’. 

Here is Amber’s little ewe lamb – Arabella.  She is so petite and cute and pretty…

I just want to hug her and snuggle her and carry her everywhere. 

She is not a snuggly lamb though.  She wants to be with HER MOM!  A very oppinionated little thing 🙂

The last girl to lamb was Star.  She kept me waiting and waiting!  Finally she lambed yesterday afternoon.  She had twins!  It was apparent at birth that the ewe lamb had some issues.  The lower half of her face appearred to be deformed.  She had to be put down and once again lambing season has reminded me of how precious life is.  There will be an educational post coming.  The lamb had what is called ‘Monkey Faced Lamb Syndrome’ and it is caused by the ewe eating a poisonous plant early in gestation.  You can always count on lambing season to further your education!

 

Here is Star’s ram lamb.  I am so thankful she has a lamb to care for!  This is Ringoes other set of lambs.  The fleeces look very promising.

Thanks to all who participated in our little lambing contest!  6 of you guessed 11.  We have a winner……..

Tisha!  I know you are off having fun in California, but I will send you an e-mail and find out what you would like.

Farm Friend Friday – Snow Day!

Posted by kenleighacres on February 25, 2011
Posted in: family, Farm Life, Jacob Sheep, Snow. Tagged: , , . 5 Comments

Ok, all of you that have spent all winter in the snow…get ready to laugh 😉

This much snow gave us a snow day – that’s right…no school 🙂

We took advantage of the snow and made a little friend…his name is Jo Jo. 

Thankfully my son is finally feeling better and was able to enjoy the snow day home from school.

I love that the snow covers up the mud 🙂  I took some pictures of the yearling girls, they are now beginning to look like young ladies instead of lambs.  This is Allegany and Mollala.

It really hit me when I was taking pictures of  Bronwen and Wren.  Bronwen is one of our bigger girls and look at little Wren, she isn’t so little anymore.

They were using each other as scratching posts…

but this picture makes it look like Wren was trying to strangle her!

The lambs enjoyed their first snow day. 

Here is Delight with her ewe lamb, Gloriana.  This picture makes me so happy because Delight was a first time mom that wasn’t sure if she wanted to be a mom.  I had to threaten sweetly tell her that taking care of her lamb would be a VERY good idea 😉  Within the hour of having her lamb, the hormones  kicked in and she has been an excellent mother ever since. 

Veronica would really like to get her lambs on the ground…only a couple more days!

See more Farm Friend Friday posts at Verde Farm! 

A fine winter morning!

Posted by kenleighacres on January 10, 2011
Posted in: Ducks, Farm Life, Jacob Sheep, Lambing, sheep, whippet. Tagged: , , , . 7 Comments

I love this kind of winter morning…crisp, chilly, and beautiful!

The ducks managed to keep a little spot of their pond open overnight and they were enjoying the sunshine this morning.

The girls were all happy to see me…

but were quickly on their way.

I’m not sure what makes the thistles so delicious on these frosty mornings, but they are a favorite.

Would you like to know why Duchess is smiling this morning?

Holly finally had her lambs last night and now she has some friends!

She had a very large boy, weighing in at 10.5 lbs.  His name is Ector.   

Sir Ector was a knight of the Round Table and Arthurian legend says that he was King Arthur’s foster father.

The little girl is a bit more dainty, weighing in at 5.5 lbs. 

Her name is Emeline. 

The name Emeline is old German for ’embracing everything’.  It was a royal name in medieval England.

Paisley of course thinks it is a fine morning to stay inside and enjoy the warm fire.

A change of plans…

Posted by kenleighacres on January 7, 2011
Posted in: Farm Life, Jacob Sheep, Lambing. Tagged: , , , . 8 Comments

I have decided to change the naming theme for this year’s lambs.  There are several reasons for the change, but it all started with the lack of inspiration I was feeling with the previous theme.  A couple things happened today that pointed me in this new direction.  The most important being that Queenie had her lamb! 

She had a ewe lamb.  A ewe lamb that needed a name similar to her mother’s, Queenie, and grandmother’s, Princess.  I watched a King Arthur movie this afternoon and then I read Mud Ranch’s blog about Castles today – see the theme?  So, the naming theme for this year is going to be Medieval names… 

and this girl’s name is going to be Duchess.

Queenie looked like she was getting close this morning, so I decided to check on her and do the afternoon feeding before I headed into town to pick-up my son from school.  She looked closer, but not imminent.  I continued feeding and was headed out of the barn when I saw her laying down.  I did a double check and saw that her water bag was hanging out!  Wow, a lot closer to lambing then I thought!  ‘Good timing Queenie, I have to leave right NOW!!!’  I was concerned about leaving because she is a first time mom and I would be gone an hour.  I didn’t really have a choice, so I told her to check in with the older girls if she had any problems and rely on her instincts. 

She did a fantastic job.  The lamb was cleaned up and nursing when we got home.

I moved them to a small pen and gave mama some hay and dipped the lamb’s umbilical cord. 

The rest of the ewes were very interested in what was going on…

and poor Holly was really wishing it was her lamb!  Soon Holly, soon…

 

Aimee – the cover girl!

Posted by kenleighacres on July 14, 2010
Posted in: Jacob Sheep, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , . 3 Comments

Aimee is a very special girl with a special story…

She arrived here in 2005 in a round about way.  A sheep buyer that we know called wanting to know if I wanted 3 Jacob sheep.  He had a pretty good idea of what a ‘true’ Jacob looked like, so I took a leap of faith and told him yes.  I went to his place and picked up 2 ewes and a wether.  All were lilacs and I had no idea where they originally came from. 

They were a little haggered looked, appeared to all be yearlings, and all had ratty looking tails.  We quickly took care of the tails and some good feed took care of the haggered look.

We didn’t have them for very long when a couple of gentleman came looking for some sheep and really liked her and her friend, Ellie.  They were a wonderful home, but got in a little over their heads and called in the summer of 2006 wanting to know if we would buy their whole flock.  We had just sold all of our commercial sheep and were looking for more Jacobs and they had some very nice sheep, so the girls came back.

Unfortunately, Aimee had a very bad experience with a shearer while she was gone.  He sheared one of her teats off.  When she lambed a few months later, she got gangrene mastitis and lost that half of her udder.  Not only did she lose that half of her udder, but she had a major infection that ran down the inside of her leg.  The owners nursed her through it and she continued to take care of her lamb through the ordeal. 

She now has half an udder and a scar that runs from inside her leg all the way down to her foot – you can see part of it here.

I was a little hesitant to breed her with only half an udder, but couldn’t sell her after she had been through so much.

She had a beautiful set of twins and didn’t need any help from me.  Not only did her lambs get enough to eat, but they grew at the same rate as the rest of the lambs!

She is a very devoted mother and loves her babies.

Since that first set of twins, she has thrown twins every year since.  They always grow well and she never complains.  The last couple of years we have worked out an arrangement where she comes into a smaller pen at night, always with her lambs right behind her, and I give her some extra food.

Here she is with her lambs at weaning time this year.

I may not know her background, but she has thrown some exceptional lambs.  Here are just a few…

 

Lancer – a very wide 2-horn ram

Royal – a handsome 4-horn ram that went to California

and Breeze – a 4-horn ewe that is in Indiana.  The horns on this girl are incredible.  She is pictured here as a yearling and the lamb on the other side of the panel is hers.  She is also a GREAT mother.

She is a wonderful representative of the breed and I was so happy to see that she made the cover of the Jacob Sheep Breeder’s Association Calendar!!! 

I love this picture!  The look on her face is so serene and truly captures her spirit.

JSBA Calendar information

Calendars can be pre-ordered until the 15th of July – you receive a discount and free shipping if pre-ordered.  Jacobs from all across the country are represented in this beautiful calendar and all of the proceeds go to support the association!

5 more = 53

Posted by kenleighacres on May 3, 2010
Posted in: Jacob Sheep, Lambing, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , . 4 Comments

Our last lamb was born on Friday morning, bringing the total number of lambs born in 2010 to 53!

Here is the new little guy and his protective mama.

His name is Prescott and he has the cutest little polka dots on his nose. 

This is Paulina and she is growing very fast.  She gained 5 lbs. in the first week!

Little Glenada

and her lilac sister, Willamina.

She reminds me of a stuffed animal.

Jasper, another pretty lilac.

It is hard to believe they will look like this…

and this…

in a few months!  This is Nyssa and her mom Azera.

Our first lambs are leaving on Saturday!

Patience…

Posted by kenleighacres on April 30, 2010
Posted in: family, Farm Life, Jacob Sheep, Lambing, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , . 4 Comments

is something I am always working on.  It is not something that comes naturally and I count to 10 a lot 🙂  It certainly is a virtue!

This girl has a lot of it…

she has such a sweet, calm, relaxed demeanor. 

Her name is ‘Patience’ and that is not a coincidence!  Her mother was  obnoxious and refused to accept her brother.  He ended up becoming a bottle lamb and this little girl just went with the flow.  Even when her mother was being mean to her brother and I was constantly interfering trying different techniques she was just a mellow little lamb.  

I have no use for ewes that reject lambs and I was looking for some patience, so the name made sense! 

She wasn’t on the ‘keep’ list due to her dark coloring, but she stayed and I am so thankful she did.  She has become VERY friendly and loves to have her belly scratched in the morning and look what she had…

a beautiful ewe lamb with the same, sweet personality!

Patience has proven to be an excellent mother and is handling it with the same laidback, patient approach as she does everything.

Yes, we are lambing again 🙂 

We have 4 ewes bred to Patchwork Abraham and 3 of them have lambed so far.

 

He is maturing into a handsome young man and his lambs are all darling.

As soon as the last girl lambs, I will share pictures of all of them.  She is teaching me how to be patient 😉

Here they come…and there they go!

Posted by kenleighacres on March 1, 2010
Posted in: Jacob Sheep, Lambing, sheep. Tagged: , . 5 Comments

This is my favorite part about this time of year – lamb races!!!

Breakfast time is the starting bell.  Once the mamas are eating, the lambs bunch up and head out the back door.

Legs start flying and bodies are bouncing.

Then they get serious and the race is on.

When they reach the end of the barn it is time to do a quick turn and race back!

Chore time has now doubled, not because of work but because of getting caught up in watching their antics.

Sometimes they head back in the barn just to do it all over again and sometimes they stand there just trying to catch their breath 🙂

A new flock is born

Posted by kenleighacres on February 10, 2010
Posted in: family, Farm Life, Jacob Sheep, Lambing. Tagged: , , , , . 7 Comments

At the beginning of breeding season, my son picked 3 ewes to breed to his ram, Reno.  He did a great job picking the girls and the lambs are beautiful!

The first born was Echo and she is really friendly!

Here she is with her mama, Petunia.

These pretty girls were born this morning.  You can really see the difference between the lilac in the front and the black in back.

 

The mom is almost solid lilac in color, but both lambs have wonderful coloring.  The ideal jacob sheep coloring is 40% black/lilac and 60% white.

The lilac girl has the cutest little elf ears…

and the black girl has the cutest spot on the back of her head.

So far, this girl is friendly too. 

He has one ewe left to lamb and he is really hoping for some boys.  He asked me if I would trade him a boy for a girl if he doesn’t have any!  He is working on a name for his flock.

And look…

a picture of me!!!!

I never have pictures of myself.  My son is old enough that he can handle the camera 🙂  YAY!!!  Paisley is still the cutest lamb ever.

These lambs are a very close second!

We have 14 lambs – 3 boys and 11 girls with more on the way very soon. 

For those that want to see more lamb pictures, you can see them here – 2010 lambs