Monthly Archives March 2010

Lamb Birthing Video

I happened to have my camcorder handy yesterday for the arrival of Calypso's second lamb. She had dropped the first lamb by the time I got to the barn. The title of this post says it all. If you're squeamish about such things (or if you have little ones reading along with you), you might skip the video and come back tomorrow. It was a very calm birth with an experienced ewe. I stopped filming to help the lamb toward the end  (didn't want him to inhale fluid) but then it resumes with the lambs in the pen with their
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Today’s Lambs

Calypso surprised me with twins today – I wasn't expecting her to be next! Desdemona ("Desi" for short) and her brother Didot arrived late this afternoon. Lambs learn to do so many things quickly, it always amazes me how fast they learn to use their legs, to orient themselves, to find mom's udder, to suckle. No wonder they're completely exhausted, collapsed in a woolly heap. While the storm raged outside, all is cozy in the barn.     I'm a little run down from being up at all hours, so I'm turning in early too. Wishing a good night to all.
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Rainy Day – Lambing Q & A

Dreariness! Rain and wind and no new lambs today. Actually, that's not so bad since we're all pretty bushed. Our bright moments were in the barn enjoying the six little ones who arrived over the weekend. Arial and Bodoni had the right idea, napping in the straw. "Bodo" has a cough. He's had a slight chest rattle since birth. After taking his temp (which was slightly elevated) and consulting with Andy and my vet, I gave him some antibiotics. Don't worry, we'll be watching him closely. Hopefully he'll rally by morning. Since it's a quiet day, I thought I'd take
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Sunday’s Lambs

Kodiak's twins arrived just after breakfast. A really good sized ewe – 11 lbs. and a 10 lb. ram lamb. Their names are Cambria and Corbel (we'll move on the font names beginning with the letter "d" for the next set of lambs). We think Galveston may be next up to bat.  In the meantime, I thought you might enjoy some more shots from this morning's chores. Holly, showing Kodiak's lambs (in their Gumby-green sweaters) where we keep the milk. Charlemagne (Aberdeen's ram lamb), chillin' under the heat lamp. He is the spitting image of his dad, Teaberry. Bonding time:
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Lambslide!

Busy day. More lambs to deliver before I could put away my delivery kit. Aberdeen birthed a pair of ram lambs mid afternoon. We're certainly off to a lively start! Aberdeen is one stompy little mother, defiantly stamping her hoof at anyone who gets close to her pen. She had to put up with me while I administered iodine to umbilical cords, stripped the waxy plugs from her teats to open up the plumbing. Then I weighed her boys (8 lb. 9 oz and 9 lbs. 10 oz.) using a hand-held fishing scale with a special lamb sling attached. Crackerjack
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First Lambs!!

Hooray! A quick post to share the news: our first lambs arrived at mid-day (right in the middle of a photo shoot for my book!). Tupelo, a three year old Cormo, delivered a ewe lamb followed by a ram lamb. Both sturdy, on their feet and nursing already. The picture above was taken on arrival. Below, the nosey aunties are inspecting the newcomers. Haven't had a moment to name them, but will let you know. More pics soon.    copyright 2010. Barbara Parry. All rights reserved. Feel free to share a link to this site. Please do not take content
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New Arrivals – Giveaway!

Lamb-o-rama Update: Still no new arrivals of the wooly four-legged sort just yet. The photo below is a close-up of my neighbor Barbara Gig's little cutie. But while we're waiting,  I'm now kicking off a month of giveaways celebrating new arrivals of all sorts.   This week I'm celebrating the arrival of spring shares for Sheep Shares! Fresh, crisp skeins of our hot-off-the-sheep Cormo wool lusciously blended with alpaca from a local farm and bombyx silk.     And a new arrival of another sort. A good friend, Gail Callahan, aka the Kangaroo Dyer, is celebrating the launch of her new
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Lamb Watch

Got back to the farm just before 1 a.m. this morning after my presentation last night for an enthusiastic group of fiberists - the Boston Area Spinners & Dyers guild. Many thanks to them for asking me to share my slideshow and dyeing techniques – and also thanks to everyone here who wished me well. Although I the guild co-chair Carol (also a shepherd expecting lambs anytime now) offered to put me up for the night, I was anxious to get home to my own barn should anything happen. Holly reported that two ewes were behaving suspiciously at dinnertime. I went directly
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Boston Bound – Dyed In The Wool

Tomorrow's going to be a busy day. I'm giving a presentation "Dyed in the Wool: The Colors of a New England Sheep Farm" to the  Boston Area Spinners and Dyers (BASD). This group meets in Sudbury, but their membership draws from the greater Boston area – my old stomping grounds.   When I booked this presentation many months ago, I wasn't thinking clearly about the timing of our first lambs. This afternoon Andy reminded me that tomorrow is D-day if any ewes were bred the moment Teaberry set foot in the pen last October. Holly and Mike will be on call
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Barn Check

Just back from a quick barn check. Lambs are imminent; we're stepping up our visits to the flock. Watchful for unusual behavior. The girls are curious and surprised by my visits after lights out. Holly and I are watchful now for anything out of the ordinary. We leave each other notes in the barn log on the table in the milk room. Like this one yesterday, from me to her: "P.M. Stella acting weird. Not so interested in hay. Moved her to group 1 (where she seemed to want to be) but still not interested in eating. 'Moooing'. Sniffing butts
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