Diamond Finally has her Lambs

If you recall, Diamond was one of the ewes that has been big for a long time, she had a huge udder, and was waddling for a while.  I kept her in the barn for the past two days.. just in case.

Well, finally, on January 16, 2011, Diamond sheep had twins!  Usually she has triplets, and was certainly big enough I was expecting triplets, however I think she was just trying to hold off for warmer weather.  It has been colder than -20c for the past 10 days at least. 

Diamonds twins are as big as the 2 week old lambs born to Blackie sheep earlier, one is a ewe lamb (a girl), the other a little ram lamb (a boy).  Yes, that is me in the back.

An odd picture perhaps.  She has just had her lambs, so the blood is normal, her udder is huge, much larger than any of our other ewes get.  Diamond is a very good mother, and produces so much milk that her lambs will grow fast, and eventually other lambs will steal milk from her when she is eating (this is common with sheep when the lambs are a bit older and bold enough to leave their own moms).

You may note, she still has snow on her back even though she has not been outside for two days.  This shows how well the wool insulates the sheep, and visa versa, her own body heat is not even melting the snow.

You will also note that Diamond's tail has been docked, her lambs show a normal sheep's tail. 

Read about Milking Sheep here.

Read about Tail Docking here.