Are You Getting Tired of Lamb Announcements Yet?

This last week's trips to the barn has been like waking up on Christmas morning and making your way down the stair to see whats under the Christmas tree. You just know something great awaits you there.

Today it was number 5 and her new ram lamb. #5 is a Polled Dorset and all our Polled Dorset ewes were breed to a Hampshire ram. Hampshire's have black hair on their faces and legs, were as the Dorset's have white.  With this cross breeding you get what is called freckled lambs, lambs with spots and dark markings.

# 5 and her 2013 ram lamb

What is great about this is each lamb looks different. There are not any two a like.

Today's little lamb is grey and brown instead of black and white. He has a lot of freckles.  He's so cute, but then I think every lamb is cute. It is so nice to be so right.

# 5's 2013 grey and brown freckled ram lamb

What Two??

The new baby was up on his feet nursing. Mamma was taking good care of him and looked to be in no distress she had already lost her placenta. I had checked her for twins and that she was not bleeding heavily, we were good to go.  I double checked the five ewes that we had left to lamb, they were fine no one was going to lamb over night. Maybe I'd get a little sleep. So we left the barn about 2 to 3 hours after # 10 had her ram lamb.

Mondays the boys have late start, so I figured I'd go over to the Sheep Camp after dropping them off at school. I stopped first at the ram's pen to feed them before heading to the barn.

Eileen, the owners wife pulled in behind me, "I seen your post about our new little lamb, he looks great." she states. "So we have 5 lambs on one side of the barn and 3 on the other side?"

"No," I reply as I am counting in my head each lamb.

"Yes, you do. There is 3 black faced lambs on one side and a lamb in each pen on the other side except for the last pen has two."

"Are you sure? Because that doesn't add up."

We quickly head to the barn to see why we have an extra lamb. I was thinking maybe one of the ewes who were left to lamb, lambed in the night and some how their lamb had gotten into the wrong pen.

BUT! we soon found this was not the case. It turned out # 10 was not finished lambing after all. By the best of my knowledge it looks as though sometime in the wee hours of the following morning she delivered her second lamb. I am glad to report with no obvious problems. Both lambs and mamma are doing great.      
                             SURPRISE!!

SURPRISE!! # 10's Second 2013 ram lamb

Two for the price of one deal

I told you everything was OK and to come on out.
What took you so long?

Pictures and so much MORE!

Here are the pictures I promised you of our new little girl, plus a nice surprise.

Morning of February 23rd, # 9 giving me the look
"I think I will have a lamb this morning"

So she did and this is mamma #9
and her sweet little Horned Dorset ewe lamb 

Isn't she so cute  with her little pink nose?

So I show up on the morning of the 24th to feed, check on the new babies and since I have new batteries in the camera, get pictures of sweet little girl. I find this...

This is # 10, showing signs that she is about to give birth.

This is # 10 having a contraction.
This is my sign to put down the camera and get to work

This is # 10 cleaning her new Horned Dorset ram lamb.

The way I figure it, if I go take cuter pictures of this little guy another ewe will be in labor. A lamb a day at this rate I should be finished lambing by Friday. I wish it was that simple.

HAPPY DANCE TIME !!!!

HAPPY DANCE, HAPPY DANCE, I am SO HAPPY!! Can you tell that I am HAPPY? Yes, # 9 a Horned Dorset Ewe delivered a healthy bouncing baby ewe lamb (a keeper) with no problems. It looks like our other 3 horned ewes were just a fluke. Chalk it up to bad luck but, I am still praying and keeping the fingers crossed till the end of lambing season just in case.    Pictures of the new lamb to come, my batteries died in my camera. So Happy, So Happy..... 

Off to a Rough Start

To recap on my last lambing post we left off with Lily, Jacob's black Suffolk ewe having two lambs with only one surviving. This was on the first of February.  I am happy to say that lamb is doing great.

Lily's 2013  ram lamb

 Well, here it is the 23rd and a lot has happened but, not all for the positive. Like any lambing operation you are going to have your good years and your rough. I just did not think we would start out ours on the rough side first.

We have lost # 2 one of our Horned Dorset ewes and her lamb due to a ruptured vaginal prolapse. A vaginal prolapse can be corrected (but the ewe is usually no longer any good for a breeding ewe) and we tried but if it ruptures there is nothing you can do, except put the ewe down.  As we had to do in this case. This is a part of the Shepherds job that I don't like.


Along with this and during the same time we had two more of our Horned Dorset ewes, # 3 & # 6 abort their lambs.  Both were carrying twins. We are not sure at this time if the reason this happened was true for both ewes. We checked the barn and the hay and feel there is nothing wrong with either one of them. So next would be if there was something wrong with the ram. The ram the horned ewes were put in with was different then that of the polled ewes. So I called the breeder who owns the ram and he has not had any problems so far. Now we play a waiting game till our next Horned ewe goes into labor.

I was starting to get pretty down in the dumps when one of the Polled ewes, # 7 went into labor. She delivered twins. The first one did not survive, it had breathed in meconium. But, the second one did and even though he is a little guy only weighing in at 4.5 pounds at birth, he is prefect!

# 7's 2013 ram lamb aka "Pee Wee"

Jasmine, Tanner's Hampshire ewe did not want to be left out of the loop so she decided to deliver triplets for us. One female and two male lambs. Remember how big she was getting well this is why, the lambs weighed in at 13.5 lbs, 12.5 lbs, and 11 lbs. You'd look like a side of a barn if you were carrying all that too.

Jasmine's 2013 lambs and Tanner playing with the babies

Not long after that # 12 another Polled ewe, also gave birth to a whopping 13.5 lb baby boy lamb. Who because of his big head and markings looks like a donkey. So that is what we have been calling him.

# 12's 2013 ram lamb, aka "Donkey"

While trying to keep her lambs warm, Jasmine accidently laid on one of the triplets and he did not survive. We had provided  heat lamps with  guards for the lambs to get under but, the lamb tried laying to close to his mother. The other two are doing fine.

We have two more ewes looking very close to lambing so there has been a lot of praying, crossing of fingers, knocking on wood, and wishes being made around here. Along with lack of sleep and traveling back and forth to the Sheep Camp.

The count at this time is 5 new baby lambs all doing well  with lots of  Sweet Baaing going on at the Sheep Camp and 7 ewes left to deliver soon.

OH! I have come up with something I'd like to add to my wish list ... a "Lamby Cam". You know like a nanny cam but for sheep. It would so save on miles and sleep when I have to check on laboring ewes. You think OWNER would go for it?

MY MONKEY BREAD!

My cousin posted on Face Book a recipe she found for Monkey Bread, after reading it I decided to re-blog my recipe. I state re-blog because I posted this once before on an old blog I use to have. The great thing about Monkey Bread is you can tweak this recipe so many different ways and each will taste great. So if you have never tried making Monkey Bread before or never tried it my way go for it. It's fast, it taste great, it's fun to make and no matter how you do it, you'll never do it wrong.  

MONKEY BREAD

Ingredients:

4 cans refrigerated biscuits
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 sticks butter (3/4 cup)
1/2 cup white sugar
2 Tablespoons cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins (these are optional, it's great with or without them)

If I use raisins I like to re-hydrate them first by placing them in a pan of boiling water till they plump. Drain from fluid let cool for just a few minutes.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 9-10 inch tube pan.

2. Mix white sugar and cinnamon in a medium sized plastic bag. Cut the biscuits into quarters and place six to eight biscuit pieces in the sugar cinnamon mix. Shake well.

3. Arrange pieces in the bottom of the greased pan. Continue layering until all the biscuit pieces are coated and in the pan. If you are using raisins, place them among the biscuit pieces as you are layering.

4. In a small saucepan, melt the butter with the brown sugar over medium heat. Boil for 1 minute. Pour over the layered biscuits.

5. Bake for 35 minutes. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a plate.

Black Bread... Staple living Shepherd Style!

... continuous from "Staple Living the Way of the Shepherd" . I love looking at who is reading my Blog. I  can't really see who is reading it, unless you post a comment (I so encourage you to do so).

But, I can see what country the people who have been reading my post are from. The USA, Germany, Canada, France, Ireland, the UK, Scotland, Russia, and some countries I have never even heard of.
IT IS SO COOL! 

I can also see how many times a certain post has been read, letting me know what interest you. Well the post mention above Staple Living the Way of the Shepherd was read the most this last month. Telling me like myself, many of you are trying to find ways to cut your food budget and/or live on what you have in the cupboard. As promised in that post here is my recipe for Black Bread. 

Like most of my recipes  they start out from someone else then because I just can not help myself and because I have to use what is on hand (staples). I change them to make them my own. This recipe started out to be a recipe for Russian Black Bread. I love Russian Black Bread but I am not Russian (not the real reason) and I did not have a lot of the ingredients but needed bread (real reason). This is what I came up with and it tasted GREAT!

Ingredients

4 cups uncooked oat meal
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoon salt
2 cups corn flakes cereal, crushed
2 tablespoons sesame seeds, crushed
2 teaspoons instant coffee, caffeinated or decaf
2 teaspoon onion powder
2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon fennel seed, crushed very fine
2 (1/4 ounce) package active dry yeast
2 large eggs, wiped
2 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup vinegar
1/2 cup molasses
1 ounce semi sweet or unsweetened chocolate
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon corn starch
1/2 cup cold water

Directions

1. Combine in large bowl; flour, oat meal, sugar,salt,corn flakes, sesame seeds, coffee, onion powder, garlic powder, fennel seed, and undissolved yeast.

2. In sauce pan combine milk, vinegar, molasses, chocolate and butter. Heat liquid mixture over low heat until they are very warm (120-130 degrees F), butter and chocolate do not have to melt.

3.Gradually add heated liquid mixture to dry ingredients and beat (with electric mixer) for 2 minutes at medium speed, scarp bowl occasionally. Add wiped eggs, mix till well blended. If mixture is to dry add just enough water to it to form soft sticky dough. Turn dough on to a lightly floured board. Cover with clean towel and let rest for 15 minutes.

4. Knead dough until smooth and elastic (about 10-15 minutes), dough may be sticky. Place dough in greased bowl, turning dough to grease top. Cover bowl with towel and place in a warm, draft free place to rise until double in bulk (about 1 hour).

5. Punch dough down, knead lightly, divide into two balls, place each in a greased bread pan, cover let rise in a warm place until doubles (about 1 hour). Bake at 350 degrees F for about 40-45 minutes, or until done.

6. If you would like, I do not always do this step. Combine cornstarch and cold water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture starts to boil; continue to cook mixture 1 minute stirring constantly. As soon as the bread is baked, brush cornstarch mixture over the top of each loaf. Return the bread to the oven and bake 2-3 minutes longer, or until glaze is set. Remove loaves from pans and cool on wire racks.

That last step, the one of cooling the bread usually does not happen at our home since everyone knows the best time to eat home made bread is hot out of the oven. YUM, YUM!

Because this bread is basically an all day project, don't think that is all I did. I am a Shepherd I was going back and forth checking sheep and doing chores. Remember I made it originally before lambing season. I would never attempt this recipe during lambing season, but that is OK because this bread freezes well.

Black Bread is a savory bread, great with hearty or light soups, salads, cheeses, with a cup of coffee or tea, or just by it's self. FYI, Instant coffee has been marketed in the USA since 1910. Just thought you would like to know that. Enjoy!  

Lambing has Officially Started at the Sheep Camp

... as most of you know, this post is a contentiousness of the last. But, just in case you were not paying attention let me up date you as to what was going on.

We step back in time, the date, February 1st 2013. OK, OK, it is a tiny step back. Just trying to set the scene people. As most of you remember I left off with finding this when I arrived at the barn.

This is Lily, Jacob's 4-H ewe.
Presenting with her first signs of giving birth.

At this point and time I made a quick call home for my husband to bring me my lambing supplies. Jacob was already at school so he would not be available to help with his lambing. After Don's arrival at the barn we waited and waited and waited some more. He decided to go home, I decided to fuss around the barn doing chores and odd and end things while the birthing continued slowly moving forward.

...ah chores were done, so I decided to, Take PICTURES.

Me, "Lily what is taking so long?"

Lily,"Would you care to take my place Shepherd, if you are in such a hurry?"

"OK, lady get the camera out of my face before 

I go all "Crazy Llama Mamma  on your butt!"

OK, she was getting tired of me watching her and I was getting cold and hungry, Beside I had company coming and needed to put clean sheets on all the beds. So off to home I went knowing I would only be 30 - 40 minutes at the most. Apparently that is all it took. I arrived back at the barn just in time to see her first lamb deliver but it had been born breech and was not a live. Working quickly I prepared to pull the next lamb. If one is born breech there is a strong possibly the second lamb will be breech too. Up on exam my assumption was correct. With all my might and Lily's too, I pulled the second lamb. We delivered a 13 pound bouncing baby ram lamb.

Welcome to the SHEEP CAMP little one, your the first of many to arrive.

Sorry this one is a little blurry. My arms were still shaking from all the pulling, what a work out.

All ready on his feet. That's what we like to see.

Isn't he cute with those ears?

OH, who;s the cute baby lamb? You are, aren't you?

I just love baby lambs, if you couldn't tell. I am so excited and am waiting on pins and needles for the rest to start arriving and join this little guy in the field romping and playing.

The skills of Observation

Observation is a skill that is a must with shepherds...better yet having great! skills of observation is a must to do this job.

This time of year that skill is needed more then ever. A shepherd must observe each and every ewe a few times a day to tell if she has had any changes in her physical state, her personality, her daily habit, her eating pattern, and even her bedding habit. Changes in any of these and what kind of change, can tell a shepherd if the ewe is close to lambing or sick.

We will focus on the skill to tell how close a ewe is to lambing since this is the month when all our ewes are due to lamb.

I am always watching the back end of the ewes whether it is for lambing or to see if they are in heat to breed. It is the business end of this job.

As the ewe starts to progress towards lambing her back end will pink up in color. It will start to get more bulbous.

Look at all those pink bottoms 

 Her udder will start to fill out, we call this bagging up. With first time ewes this may not happen till either right before they lamb or right after. Older ewes can bag up several days to weeks before lambing. So this is not always the best indicator. You really have to know the ewe and what her habit is. This is hard with large flocks so good book keeping and barn records are important.

 I watch to see if the ewe is eating, most ewes will stop eating about a day before lambing. They also start nesting, nesting is where they paw at the ground and walk circles to form what looks like a large nest out of the straw. This is where they are planning to have their lambs. If they are out in the open field or in large barns they will separate them selves from the other sheep.

They also get very sunken in just below their hip area. This is when the lambs have moved down getting ready to enter the birth canal. This sign can happen several weeks before, to a few days of lambing. Again barn records must be kept and referred back on.

Jasmine has had a sunken in area for weeks now

Some ewes will get very vocal .... baaing over and over. This doesn't work with our sheep. They baa every time I go towards the grain bags.

Then of course there is the obvious signs.... like a water sack hanging out the back side. YES! The lamb is coming, she did not swallow to much bubble gum here people.

This is what I came in to find on the 1st of February
Lily in labor
The first lambs of the 2013 season are about to arrive.

At this point in time the shepherd does not leave the area in which the ewe is lambing, in case their help is needed. You hope that the ewe does it all on her own. The less help she needs from the shepherd the better it is for all.  Well people this is where I stop blogging and start shepherding. You have to see the next blog to find out the out come....ahahah.