The Ones We Were Looking For

Yesterday - the very day after our expose' of the last. pregnant. ewe. - we had babies at early morning barn check.  Wooo!  Done at last with this particular waiting game.  (Don't you wish public scrutiny of non-perfoming public officials got such quick results?)

Click to biggify.  Notice the toothy grin on the ewe.

They are not the biggest lambs ever - only 7.5 lbs each - and one would have expected (stern look at the ewe) a little larger lambs from someone as big as she is, but they are behaving normally and going to come along fine.

Hey, I know you!

And of course they are fuzzy and Disney-cute so even coming last they will get their fair share of snorgling, a term coined by my friend Sara over at Punkin's Patch. 

So......lambING is over, but lamb CARE continues.  The oldest lambs are already coming due for a booster injection of BoSe to insure that they have adequate selenium levels.  We are so awfully deficient here and they are growing so fast at this stage that we've had unhappy first-hand experience to prove that they need this supplemental dose or there will be sporadic losses.  As they reach adolescence they will be eating enough mineral mix to meet their needs, but for right now there just aren't enough natural sources available to them to meet their need.

First vaccinations for older lambs are looming too, as well as putting the moms over the scale to check body condition in conjunction with eye scoring for parasite load.  We have a major barnyard fence repair project that suddenly has leapt to the front of the to-do list. Plus I still have a bajillion fleeces to skirt, a festival to get ready for, and oh yeah, the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival to attend. 

Good thing I can sleep through the night now.  Apparently, I'm going to need it.