Blackie Gives Birth to Twin Lambs that Look Like Calves

A few days ago Girlie gave birth to triplets. The next two days it snowed and we were quite concerned as we knew Diamond and Blackie were also due.

Normally it is best if sheep lamb in the spring, or at least later in the winter, but this spring we had an incident and did not quite get rid of our ram when we should have and he happened to breed three of the ewes while they still had their lambs with them from this past spring. We were not aware of this until a few weeks ago when it was quite clear that three ewes were getting udders.  Diamond was the largest.

On Monday, October 8, Canadian Thanksgiving, one of these ewes, Girlie, had triplets. The next couple of days were bad as the weather turned nasty and we even got snow. Today it rained. I was at work when half way through the day my daughter called to say that Blackie sheep (who had been a bottle baby lamb a few years earlier) had twins.  

My daughter said that one was a male (ram lamb) and one was female (ewe lamb) and that they were spotted and looked like cows.  The male has wooly hair and the female has more silky hair.  The female has more white than the male. 

My daughter said she knew there were some lambs because she could see Crystal, the llama, standing near the old barn with her head trying to poke into the barn. Crystal loves lambs, whenever there are new lambs she wants to get near and smell them. My daughter picked up the two lambs and carried them to the proper barn (where Girlie and her triplets have been kept indoors because her triplets are tiny and the weather is cold), Blackie followed well, which is good, sometimes the ewes panic and run around looking for the lambs.

When I got home from work I saw them, my husband tried to get some good pictures but the lambs were a little nervous. They are four days younger these two new lambs are larger than the triplets. 

Click here for a different picture of the lambs.

Sheep Trivia

Last Night Twins, Today Sleepy Lambs

Last night when we went to bring the sheep into the barn one ewe was missing.  We only had 2 ewes left to lamb but the missing one, whom we call White Katahdin (although she is really a light brown) was not big at all so it was a but of a surprise when my husband found her next to the barn with two lambs.

We got the lambs into the barn, one was larger, black and white, and the smaller one was orange and white.  I guessed the bigger lamb was male, and yup... that is what is was, the smaller one being a girl.  Momma followed close behind.

I did not want to walk to the house to get the camera, so we left them for the night and took pictures in the morning.  Here are the two lambs.

What I found most interesting is that their mother was particularly friendly with me.  She normally is quite nervous, and most mothers are especially nervous, but she was really good.

I kept them inside today, along with Favorite sheep who had her twins earlier yesterday, and put all the other moms and lambs out to play in the sun.  We still have snow on the ground but today was a bit cooler, temperatures hovering around zero. 

All the outside lambs seemed to have enjoyed running, jumping, and playing!  There are actually 10 lambs in this picture.

I am amazed that Dark Brown Barbado has not had her lambs yet, she is huge... perhaps tonight!

Diamond has Triplet Lambs

This morning I went out to the barn to find another set of triplets.  Diamond had given birth over night and was standing at the back of the barn when I entered.  I had hoped to put the other moms and their lambs outside today, but it had snowed over night, at least 20 cm (8 inches) and more falling - and blowing!  As such I put the sheep outside that did not have lambs and left everyone else in the barn.  Diamond did not even try to get out.

I spent most of the day shoveling, and shoveling, and shoveling.

I have had to bottle feed one of the triplets born a few days earlier, but with Diamond I doubt this will be a concern, she is a great mom with a large udder and has had triplets in the past and always had plenty of milk for all.

My biggest concern is that one of the lambs (pictured in the lower left) seems to have curled fetlocks on the front legs.

I have been reading up on this and it is very likely related to being one of many lambs, kept tightly inside the ewe.  They should straighten out, but I will keep an eye on her. 

Tomorrow is expected to be cold again, hopefully warmer the next day. 

To keep track so far 5 ewes have had their lambs, only 3 more to go.  We have 2 sets of triplets and 3 sets of twins, for a total of 12 lambs.  Plus the ram of course!

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. 

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.

Cruelty of the Karakul Lamb Industry

Karakul lambs are often harvested and slaughtered in a brutal manner – being killed just before they were due to be born. That is not the only cruel thing, killing a lamb at this stage means either the mother is killed before giving birth, or kicked repeatedly to induce an “abortion”.

image source

Karakul lamb hides are also marketed as Persian Lamb, or broadtail. The term broadtail specifically refers to the pelt of a lamb harvested in such a way as mentioned, the other term for this is “Fetal-lamb”. If a lamb is born, and to be used in the fur industry it is killed before it is three days old. After that the fur is not as tight in the curls, and the color not as dark.  As the coat in the picture above has tight curls, but is not black - the coat was probably colored gray, or perhaps even sun bleached.

Although we cover issues of raising sheep, and lambs, and understand that many lambs go for slaughter to be consumed as food (either for humans or pets), they are at least given months to live, and their mothers not treated to such cruelty. We encourage people to avoid buying coats,or products, made from Karakul lambs.

Read more on Cruelty in the Karakul Sheep Industry

Meet Blackie Sheep

Blackie Sheep had a rough start. She was born on a cold and windy day, the temperatures were below freezing. Her poor mom gave birth to twins, and simply wandered away. Blackies mom is Favorite sheep, a ewe who had a stroke earlier that year – she had not even looked pregnant.

As extreme luck would have it we found Blackie and her sister only minutes after being born, still wet, laying in the snow, as we happened to be going outside to take some pictures of other lambs that had been born only a few days earlier.

We had to bottle feed them both, it was a lot of work, and cost a bundle. At one point Blackie gave me a scare. A tiny amount of chicken scratched had leaked from the bag, and she ate that, I assume this was what caused the problem because later that night when it was time to bottle feed, poor Blackie lamb had swollen up like a balloon. She could barely walk and was fully disoriented. I gave her some tummy medicine from the vet, and went to bed with thoughts and worries about finding her dead the next morning.

Blackie at age day one (insert) and exactly one year later.

As luck would fall on Blackie again – she was fine, and grew up to be a beautiful sheep. We sold her white sister, and made sure to watch Favorite Sheep more closely (she is mentally better, but physically doesn't look too good sometimes with her tongue hanging out of her mouth).

Blackies second birth day is January 11, 2011, she has been a mother twice, this last time of triplets, but sadly she lost one at birth.  She is one of our more friendly sheep and always "Chatty".

Read Blackies First Year

Meet Favorite Sheep - Blackies mom

Blackie and the Triplets

How to Care for Bottle Baby Lambs