Unique little faces

I'm sure the average person thinks all sheep and lambs look alike. These pictures prove differently. This first picture is the smallest lamb from the second set of quads. He doesn't look anything like his siblings: hair coat or otherwise. He's a full-time bottle baby. One hundred percent Katahdin.

I call this lamb "L'tl Red." She's a triplet. 82 percent Katahdin x 18 percent White Dorper. At first her dam (550) didn't want to let her nurse. I used a head stanchion to change her mind. Now, they're a "happy" family.

This sweet little face is of a ewe lamb from a set of triplets. She is 91 percent Katahdn x 9 percent White Dorper. Her mom is raising her second litter.

There are still several more ewes to lamb, including the yearlings. My dad's ewe lambed today.

Spring is for lambs

Nothing symbolizes spring more than the birth of lambs and other animals. Here are some images of this year's lamb crop from My Flickr web site.

These are Darby's twin girls. Darby (319) is a six year old ewe, 5/8 Katahdin x 3/8 Dorper. She always has nice lambs. At first, she didn't want to let the smaller one nurse, but after spending a few hours in a head stanchion, she gave up on that foolishness.

This lamb looks a bit like a Southdown (in the face). He had a sibling, but I found it dead. It was a big disappointment. His mom is a 2-year old ewe I dubbed Crissy (7105). She is very feminine and has a large, nicely-shaped udder. With all the milk to himself, this lamb should grow like gang-busters. I suspect he will make a good ram lamb to sell for breeding.

This lamb was recently born (in this picture). His mother, a 2 year old ewe (7061), went way out into the pasture to deliver him and his sister. With the exception of one breech birth, all of the ewes have lambed unassisted.

These twins, a ewe (L) and a ram (R) belong to Scarlet (7062), a 2 year old ewe that my niece named. I wonder if they'll be friendly and trusting like their mom. I like the brown markings on the male.

I always have a difficult time getting good images of black lambs. I guess their intense color fools the camera's meter. This year, I have four black lambs. Two rams and two ewes. All can be registered 100% Katahdin. I may keep one of the ewe lambs. The one pictured is a ram lamb (ear tag in the left ear). He's all black and doesn't appear to have a white mark on his body. His twin brother has a white blaze, white-tipped tail, and two white socks.

Oh, how the lambs love to run and frolic. They do the same thing inside the hoop house, but outside on pasture they have so much more room to play. Right now, I am able to let the twins out. Soon, I will start letting the triplets out. They haven't been out to pasture yet. About all they can do for fun is run around the hay feeder, which they sometimes do when their moms are busy eating.

Lambs, lambs, lambs

Don't ask me how many lambs have been born, let alone the ratio of rams to ewes. I lost count awhile ago. I had a second set of quads born, to a 2-year old ewe, the daughter of the 10 year old ewe that gave birth to quads. So far, not a single ewe has given birth to a single lamb. All multiples. There have been three stillborns, including a deformed lamb (without a face).

The first set of quads is doing fine. I offer bottles to two of the lambs. One of the lambs from the second set of quads was much smaller than its siblings, so I removed it for bottle-feeding. It never tried to nurse its mother. I tubed it for the first 24 hours and kept it in the house for convenience. When I returned it to the pen with its mother, it kept sneaking out, so I keep it in its own little pen.

There are six more mature ewes to lamb, plus seven yearlings, one of which is my dad's. One of the yearlings may have aborted a few months ago. I blame the goat I had. Harry kept butting the ewes. I gave him away.

Three of the mature ewes are going to lamb later than expected. I'm not even sure one of them is pregnant, a 2-year old registered black ewe. The other two look pregnant and may be starting to bag up. I may blood test the black ewe to see if she's pregnant. If she's not, she's going into my freezer. I've already started to call her "burger." Too bad. She's a very pretty ewe. Of course, the pretty ones are seldom the best producers.

The lambs are doing well. I have separate pens for the twins, triplets, quads, and yearlings' lambs. Soon, I will set up a creep area. The January-born lambs will soon be weaned. I have already started cutting back the feed of their dams.

I am enjoying lambing season more this year, thanks to two days of spring break, two days of furlough, and several half work days. I've been able to care for the sheep at a more leisurely pace than if I was working full-time. It takes a lot of work this time of year, with all the different pens to feed and water. Lactating ewes drink a lot of water and they don't like it dirty. Plus, you have to make sure all the little ones are getting enough milk.

Several lambs are emerging as my favorites. Of the early lambs, Kelso is the most friendly of his birth group. He and McComb seem to have become best buds. The first set of quads has the sweetest dispositions. When I offer bottles to two of the lambs, the other two jump all over me and nibble on my clothes. They all have little black noses like Californian rabbits. I try to get pictures of them, but they never stand still.

Tony is a triplet lamb who is very friendly and rambunctious. He is easy to spot with a red mark on his neck and a black spot on his tail. Of course, the little quad (from the second group) has grown very attached to me. He's like a needy little child.

Poor Boone is afraid to go through the hoop house. The first pen contains ewes with triplet lambs. One or more of these ewes must have been mean to him because he won't pass through their pen anymore. One day, I heard him yelp pretty loudly. If he doesn't pass through the triplet pen, he can't get out to where McComb is. As a result, I think he's lonely. He "clings" to me when I'm feeding. He has recovered from his recent neutering.

Lambing 2009

The 2009 lambing season started early, in late January, a result of Snow Wolf slipping through the electric fencing during a power outage in late summer. He impregnanted four ewes who gave birth to eight healthy lambs: 4 rams and 4 ewes; 1 set of triplets, 2 sets of twins, and 1 single birth. Seven white lambs and a red one. Don't know where the red color came from. These lambs are doing well and ready to go out to pasture with their moms. I'm going to need the room in the hoop house.

The next unauthorized lambing was a result of ram lambs slipping into the the pen with the ewe lambs while I was away in China. Four ewe lambs (almost yearlings) lambed, including one I sold a few days before it lambed. Three sets of twins and one single birth (the one I sold).

One of the sets of twins included a deformed lamb with no face. Obviously, this lamb was born dead. The lambs are of mixed colors. They are doing fine, though you always wish yearlings produced more milk. There's one ewe lamb I keep offering a bottle to, to make sure her appetitie is being satisfied.

So far, my favorite lambs are a set of twin black ewe lambs. They are solid black. One has a "star" on its forehead, like its mom, who also has two white feet (back). The lambs can be registered and there's a 50:50 chance that they are RR. #536 produced two nice lambs last year. One I sold at the KHSI annual sale. Her lambs are "pretty." She's a good milker.

Another favorite is "Kelso," one of the early lambs. Kelso was born when it was cold. I don't think he nursed much the first 24 hours. As a result, he got chilled. The first time I've had a hypothermic lamb. I tubed him with warm milk, then brought him into the house and placed him between two heating pads. After a few hours of warmth, he was up and demanding to be fed. I fed him a few more times and took him back to his mother the next morning.

Though she wasn't objecting, he wasn't interested in nursing her. He wanted me to feed him. So, I fed him for several days on a bottle. Eventually, he decided mom's milk tasted better. He has thrived ever since. I named him Kelso, after the Ashton Kutchner character on the 70's Show because he got chilled because he was too "stupid" to nurse. Pretty, but stupid, just like the 70's Show character.

One day when I went out to the hoop house, I found five lambs from two ewes that had lambed. I wasn't 100% certain which lambs went with which ewe. I think I got them right, but each of the ewes refuses to let one of her lambs nurse. I've been holding the ewes. Today, I'm going to put their heads in stanchions. I don't want to bottle feed lambs, whose moms have plenty of milk.

Last evening out in the field, seven lambs were born to two ewes. A 2-year old ewe gave birth to triplets and the matriarch of my flock, #92, gave birth to quads. All the lambs are white, with some freckled faces. These are my first lambs out of Lincoln, my new ram from Illinois. There are five rams and 2 ewe lambs. So far, all the multiples are doing okay.

Poor #92. She is 10 years old now. It's a heck of a time to have quads. She's a fantastic mother and an excellent milker, but expecting her to raise four lambs is probably expecting too much. Don't know whether I'll remove one lamb for bottle feeding or offer bottles to all of the lambs as a supplement. I'm going to take extra special care of #92. She's never been a ewe that holds a lot of body condition on her small frame.

Thank you, President Bush

On the day the 44th President of the United States, Barack O'bama is inaugurated with enough pomp and circumstance to bankrupt a third world country, I wish to write a thank you letter to the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush.

• Thank you President Bush for 8 years of dedicated service to this country.
• Thank you for standing up for what you believed was/is right, instead of changing your positions to make your poll numbers go up.
• Thank you for keeping us safe for the last 8 years.
• Thank you for standing up to terrorists.
• Thank you for keeping your committment to the Iraqi people.
• Thank you for protecting the lives of unborn children.
• Thank you for trying to uphold conservative values.
• Thank you for having grace and humility when it seemed as if the whole world was against you.

I am not opposed to Barack O'bama's presidency, though I don't like the manner in which Hollywood and the media is slamming it down my throat. I only hope President O'bama is able to earn my respect like his predecessor did. O'bama is charismatic and well-spoken, but is he up to the job? Only time will tell. Best of luck to both Presidents Bush and O'bama, as their lives lead them down different paths.

Collections

I'm a collector:

1. Sheep figurines
2. Red cat figurines
3. Serta® sheep
4. DVDs
5. Bells
6. Banks
7. Flags
8. Books
9. Key chains
10. Christmas ornaments
11. McDonald's placemats
12. Foreign money

Wrapping up 2008

Another year is almost behind us. It was a busy year. Lots happened. Of course, it was a big year in politics. I didn't vote for Barack O'bama, but am 100% behind his presidency. Hopefully, he will earn my respect. He's got a tough job ahead of him on both the domestic and international fronts. I don't dislike him, so much as the crowd that is following him to Washington. I can't stand to watch the news these days. I have no dislike for George W. Bush. I consider him to have been a good president who stuck to his guns.

The Washington Redskins ended the regular season 8-8. Redskin fans shouldn't be disappointed. At this point, the Redskins are a middle-of-the-road team and finishing at 500 is probably all they were capable of. Unfortunately, they built our hopes up early in the season when they went 6-2. It was a difficult slide to watch. I hope Jim Zorn gets to stick around another year. Through the playoffs, I'll be rooting for my favorite AFC team, the Pittsburgh Steelers. At least, the Cowboys didn't make the playoffs.

My alma mater Virginia Tech won the ACC again and will play the Cincinnati Bearcats in the Orange Bowl on New Year's day. The Washington Wizards have one of the worst records in the NBA. The Celtics, Cavaliers, Magic, and Lakers all have outstanding records. The Baltimore Orioles still suck. I don't even know who won the World Series this year. My dad and I have vowed to go to more Hagerstown Suns (minor league baseball) games in 2009.

My dad and I went to a University of Maryland mens basketball game recently. The Terps won easily, by more than 20 points, but it was a sloppy win. They beat the Bryant Bulldogs, a no name team in its first year of Division 1 basketball. We didn't even know where Bryant University is? Three of the starters hail from Rhode Island, so that was a good guess.

The Terps have only one star caliber player, Junior guard Greivis Vasquez from Venezuela, who was second team All-ACC last year. He's currently averaging 17 points per game. Maryland can shoot from the outside, but lack an inside game. They start three guards. Bryant equalled Maryland in rebounds. My dad and I figure the Terps are going to be eaten alive once they start playing ACC games. They need to recruit some big men.

During the Thanksgiving weekend, my cat Max broke his leg. I suspect he got hit by a car. This was his second broken leg. When he was less than a year old, he broke his first leg (he's about 6 now). He has pins in the leg, but cannot bend it; it is stiff. Consequently, the surgery to repair the second broken leg was more extensive and expensive. In addition to the leg being pinned back together, there is a metal fixture on the outside of Max's leg. It is secured in three places with pins. The fixture will be removed after eight weeks, which will be sometime around the beginning of February.

Max is doing fine. He didn't eat much or use the litter his first week, but now he does both well. He can stand and move himself around, but it is still painful to try to walk. Who know how this will all turn out for him. He's definitely an inside cat now. Previously, I had let him spend his days outside. Now, the only time he'll be able to go outside is with supervision. Once a cat has been outside, it's hard to keep them inside all the time. They don't seem happy. They seem to know what they're missing.

Zak gained 12 pounds in the last year. He is the fattest dog I've ever had. I'm going to put him on a diet, though he doesn't eat much -- but I think exercise is the key. What is it that they say? If your dog's fat, you're not getting enough exercise. Even my doctor told me to lose some weight. I'm going to start scanning the classifieds for a used treadmill.

The newest addition to the farm and family is Boone, another Great Pyrenees. I got Boone when he was about 8 weeks old. He's from a farm in Ohio. I bought him at the Katahdin Hair Sheep International Expo that I hosted in September. Boone's name is derived from Boonsboro, the location of the meeting. This was appropriate since my other Great Pyrenees, McComb, takes his name from McComb, Mississippi, the location of the KHSI meeting where I got him.

Boone is very different from McComb. He's got a little bit of color. His hair doesn't seem to be as long. Unfortunately, he's got an overbite. Boone goes where he wants. He doesn't stay where I put him, though he can't get out of the fencing. He craves attention more than McComb did (does). He seems to be bonding well with the sheep.

I'm not sure how many ewes I'll have to lamb this year, since I've still got 14 (bred) ewe lambs left to sell. Unfortunately, one of the rams went through the fence during a power outage. I'm expecting early lambs (mid-January) from two ewes. The rest are due to start lambing the middle of March. The lambs were bred 21 days later.

Lincoln is my new stud ram. He's from a Katahdin breeder in Illinois, the Land of Lincoln (hence his name). He's white with lots of black speckles on his head and legs. He's a fiesty boy. He was beating the "snot" out of my goat (another new addition to the farm), so I had to separate them.

The goat's name is Harry, named for President Harry S. Truman. My pet sheep is named George W. so I wanted to name the goat after a Democrat. I had to go back to Truman to find one that I liked. Harry is a Boer wether that my niece showed at her county fair. He will have several jobs: eat some of the browse on the farm, share a pen with George during the winter, and serve as a mascot for a educational web site on goats.