Lambing Makes Me Worry so Much

With triplets born only days ago, and the ewes actually not due for another day, I was a bit surprised by today's events.

As you may know from reading earlier blog posts I live in Alberta, Canada, it is winter, so the ewes are in the barn at night and out in the day.  I opened the barn door this morning to find one ewe, Mrs Brown Katahdin, with twins.

She would need to stay in, as the ewes with new lambs are kept in the barn for a while to bond with their lambs and so  the lambs get stronger before going out (after all there is snow on the ground). 

I went outside to throw the hay over the fence and noticed one ewe, Blackie, wandering off to the old barn.  It was pretty clear at that point that Blackie would be lambing today too.

I checked on Blackie several times throughout the day.  At one point, just before lunch, I found her with one lamb.  That make it easier to get her back into the other barn - I just picked her lamb up and she followed me.  I put her in a stall by herself. 

Blackie and the lamb I found her with.

I had lunch and went out a little later to check.  I am now feeling terrible for not going out sooner.  I found a dead lamb in the stall, a black and white lamb.  I noticed yet another standing with her, as well as the earlier lamb.  She had given birth to triplets, and somehow lost one.  Was it born dead?  Did she not clean its nose off in time?  Could I have saved it?  What happened?  I tend to beat myself up mentally in these situations.  Poor thing.

As if that was not enough, later in the day when it was time to bring the other sheep into the barn, one ewe was missing.  It took a bit of searching (it was getting dark by this time) but I found Patsy standing with two new lambs.

And there's more.  When I got Patsy and her lambs back into the barn, I checked on everyone again, and decided that one of the triplets born days earlier was not looking too good, I would have to bottle feed it.  She drank good but this is an expensive thing to do, not to mention a lot more work added to the day.

Good thing I am unemployed!

Girlie Sheep has Leap Year Triplets

February 29, 2012 is a bonus day, a leap year day. People that are born on leap years only have one birthday every four years. What about sheep?

In the morning to feed our pet sheep and let them out of the barn where they are kept at night during the winter. We put the ram, a dorper x katahdin, with the ewes on October 4^th last year, the earliest due date would be March 4^th, but it is not uncommon for ewes to give birth a bit sooner, and so I have been expecting lambs for about a week now.

This morning Girlie sheep (yes her name is Girlie) was not interested in her breakfast. I went out later at about noon to check on the sheep. It is nearly the end of winter, but we just had 6 inches of snow over the weekend, three days earlier. All the sheep, the donkey, and llama, were in the shed. Or where they? I counted, and counted again, one was missing. Who was missing? Girlie!

I knew where she would be. The sheep like the shed in the day it is roomy and interesting – lots to look at, but they also have access to an older barn, one that is dark, but secure, they often go there alone when having their lambs, if lambing in the day (it is more common for sheep to lamb at night). I spoke softly as I entered the old barn. There she was with two... no, three, lambs. Two white ones and a black one. One of the white lambs was larger than the other two lambs.

I was alone so I picked up all three lambs at once and Girlie sheep followed, she is one of the more friendly ewes, not prone to panic, but naturally concerned. I had to carry the lambs so she would follow me to the other barn. Naturally this got the attention of the other sheep, donkey and ultra curious llama (she just loves lambs). I got them into the barn and set them up in a stall that had been prepared earlier in anticipation.

Taking pictures did not go so well. I took about 12 and all but one were blurry; I need a better quality camera! My husband went out and tried to get some pictures too but it was hard to get all 3 lambs and mom together.

By the time my husband loaded my pictures on to the computer and I could see only one was not blurry, her placenta had come out, you can see the white lamb standing on it. 

The biggest white one is a ram lamb, the other two are ewe lambs. Triplets are not as common as twins but not especially rare in sheep. Congratulations to Girlie on having leap year triplet lambs.

Blackie

You may remember Blackie sheep, she was one of the twins born a few winters ago and left to freeze to death when her mom wanded off.  She, and her sister, had to be bottle fed.  We sold the sister and kept Blackie.

Blackie sheep is due to have her lambs in about three weeks time and is getting bigger every day.  She sure has calmed down.  It use to be when I would go outside she was always running to see me, baaing loudly, even after she was more than a  year old.  I guess she is all grown up now, but she is still friendly and likes to have her head scratched.  She sure is not black any more though, all that wool has faded.  Only her face and legs remain as black as when she was a little lamb.

Look how big her tummy is.  That is her mother standing in behind her. 

It looks like a mild spring, well hopefully at least, the winter has been very mild and lacking of snow.  If you remember last winter we had snow up to their tummies.  Poor ewes had to struggle through the paths just to get anywhere. 

So that is pretty much it for now, just waiting for a few more days until the lambs start arriving, then I will have lots of pictures to share of all the wee ones. 

Lambing Time Almost Here

Today is February 15, 2012, in a little over 2 weeks our ewes are due to have their lambs.  This year we wanted to make sure the lambs were not born in January so we got a ram a little later than we had in the past, putting him with the ewes on October 4.  In previous years lambing in the middle of winter was hard work combined with the extra feed needed and risk to lambs being born in the cold.  Ironically this winter has been the mildest ever, we hardly have any snow, and temperatures have been pretty good for central Alberta!

With the sun shining and the girls all having big tummies I thought it would be a good day to take some pictures, so that is exactly what we did.  Actually my goal was to get a picture of the ram trying to charge me, he has been the first ram we have had that even tries this.  He only does it if I am not looking but on this day he didn't seem interested.  Normally I have to be very aware of where he is and if I feel he is planning a sneak attack, and turn, he pretends he was not up to anything at all.  Quite funny really, also he is small so not really a danger.

Anyhow for a while I had been worried that the ewes were not getting big, if you recall the first year we had sheep the ram we bought was infertile - I don't want to go through that again!  But in the last couple of weeks the ewes started getting bigger and there udders were showing.

Most of the ewes are getting udders, a few are bigger than others.  Diamond sheep is the largest, she usually has triplets, only once did she have twins.  Blackie, and Girlie are pretty big too.  In this picture you can see Diamonds rear end, and her swollen tummy.  You may also note how there is no snow, last year at this time it was up to above there stomachs, I had to shovel paths for them in some areas;  this year, next to nothing.

We only have 9 ewes, that seems like a more manageable number for our small hobby farm (we are not big time sheep breeders).  It is hard to get sheep to pose for their picture, but I think my husband did a good job getting some of them looking in the right direction for this shot. 

Here is another picture, this time you can see Diamond sheep facing amost head on, with Mrs Brown Katahdin to the left and the ram to the right (our right, not Diamond's). 

Aggie the donkey is in behind.

Feathered Winter Vistors, Pine Grosbeaks

This winter has been pretty good, temperatures were actually well above normal, there was not much snow (I know, I know, bad for crops), but that all changed two days ago. A cruel cold wind blew in snow and drastically cold temperatures. We went from +5C to -20C in a matter of less than a day.

The wind also seemed to blow in some new guests, birds that we have not really seen here in the past, although they are not uncommon in the area.

We normally have black capped chickadees, waxwings, nuthatches, and blue jays, but over night we had a group of two new arrivals, redpolls (small birds), and some very attractive, robin sized birds.

At first we had only the female birds. I had a hard time identifying them because the bird book I have only pictures a male, and the females had what I would call an orange head, and the bird book said the females have an olive head (to me olive is greenish). So I thought I had a mystery bird at the feeder, eating sunflower seeds so fast I had to fill up the dish several times throughout the day.

It was not until the afternoon that male arrived (no surprise) and I was able to make an accurate identification; Pine Gosbeak, perhaps Alberta's equivalent for winter beauty to the cardinal, a bird that is rare to see here.

From what I read, Pine Grosbeaks are a forest dwelling bird most of the time but enjoy mountain ash trees (which I have always wanted but still have not gotten around to buying). They are slightly larger than finches and the defining feature is the white bars on their wings, which the females do have also.

The location, for anyone who is interested, is central Alberta, about 1 hour SW of Edmonton.

Other than the new birds, there is not much happening, the weather is frightfully cold so everyone is trying to stay warm.  I gave a whole bunch of chopped up apples to the sheep this afternoon, they liked that.  I suspect the birds might like some too, I shall put some out tomorrow.

Pictures are copyright © owned by me.

The Seismic Man Came to the Farm

Today a man visited the farm.  He had with him a map and lots of permits and contracts.  It seems the company that owns the mineral rights to my farm, and all those around me for miles was on the prowl.  They want to do seismic tests in the area.  As a property owner there is really nothing you can do to stop them. 

On his map I could see my small hobby farm, just an inch big.  The map was criss crossed with green and red lines.  The man pointed out my property, it had a green dotted line right through the middle of it, and a red line running down the side, but in my neighbors property.

He informed me of intended tests in the area which involve running a cable through my property (the green line) and drilling 30 ft deep holes for small explosives on a neighbors property (the red line).  I was not the only one.  These lines criss crossed a huge map, I was but a blip. 

He informed me that as a land owner I would get paid for this.  He also informed me of my rights to get a well test prior to the procedure.  I took him up on the offer for the well test, as water is too valuable to risk.  The contract stated that if any "damages" occurred as a result of the geophysical testing I would be compensated.

Since my property was small I would get their minimum pay out, but that payout (I am not sure I am allowed to say what it is) is about the same as I would make working a few days.  Heck they would even pay me (a smaller amount) for my trouble if they decided to cancel.

It is winter here, but he assured me that is the best time to do the tests since some of the land they have to test is swamp, they prefer to cover it in the winter when the ground is frozen. 

Of interest the entire project, just to do these geophysical seismic tests the land this way, is going to cost around a million dollars, about $2,500 per quarter section (by the time they pay land owers and the guys to lay the cable, drill holes, and so forth).

I will let you know what happens later, he figured it would be a month before the guys were in my area to lay the wire.  I told him to make a note that the crew watch out for the curious llama, perhaps I should have warned them that the ram is getting pushy too.

Why Don't Sheep Shrink when they get Wet?

A question was recently asked on WebAnswers. A person asked “How come sheep don't shrink when they get wet?”. This thought must come from the fact that wool sweaters sometimes shrink after washing.

The answer is simple really, sheep are living things, it is the wool that shrinks, not the animal beneath the wool. A wool sweater may shrink but it is not made up of “sheep” it is made up of the fleece that the sheep has produced.  As well how the wool was treated makes it more prone to shrinkage.

What really causes a wool sweater to shrink is not so much the washing, but rather the drying. When the wet wool gets hot the fibers naturally cling together, they have a natural crimp that grabs on to the other wool fibers and do not want to let go.

An actual living sheep might get wet, but it does not get hot enough for this to occur. Also the woolen fibers on he sheep are all growing naturally in the same direction; from the skin out. Sheep hairs are not as smooth as human hairs, they even have minute scales, after being spun into yarn the fibers are all over the place, and the texture of each fiber grabs onto those next to it. If agitated further these fibers can be made into felt. This is why the hair of some animals can be spun into yarn, or made into felt, but you cannot do the same with hair from every animal.

So to get back to why the wool on sheep does not shrink, but the wool in sweaters does, we see that the wool in sweaters is not as well arranged as on the sheep – the fibers are going every which way, when you add water and heat, the fibers grab onto each other, pulling each other together resulting in shrinkage.

To prevent shrinkage, some wool is treated with chemicals to remove some of these scales, this does result in less shrinkage, but shrinkage in sweaters can also be prevented by not heating up wet sweaters – they can be dried safely with cool air.

If you happen to have accidentally shrunk your wool sweater you can “un-shrink” it by soaking it in warm water with a bit of hair conditioner added. Pull the sweater gently while it is soaking. Remove from the water and lay flat, pulling gently again relax the hold the fibers have on one and other, and to pull it back into its proper size.

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