Archives for sheep farm

Shearing Day and Some Good News

May 16, 2010 | 16 Comments

Friday was a monster work day. And since I was preoccupied with Mishka's progress at the animal hospital and getting the last of Sheep Shares finally out the door, Holly and Andy tackled everything on their own: shearing (border leicesters, llamas, goats), deworming everyone, hoof trimming. All the spring flock maintenance tasks that could possibly get rolled into one day. I'm so grateful for their help, since I'm both physically and emotionally drained after the events of the last four weeks. Ben Barnhart was on hand to snap some photos for future projects. The border leicester fleeces are spectacular. I
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An Update on Mistral

May 10, 2010 | 26 Comments

I'm sorry to have kept you all wondering how Mistral is doing. It was an exhausting mother's day weekend caring for her, while trying to get Sheep Shares out the door. Since Saturday night I've been seriously concerned and I've held off on posting, hoping for positive signs to report. And there is some good news – her temp. is down from 105 on Friday (normal for a lamb is 101). But her front leg is still swollen, very sore and so she hobbles around on three legs and also has trouble finding a way to comfortably lie down. The
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Mistral

May 8, 2010 | 31 Comments

It seems it's a good thing I didn't go to New Hampshire this weekend, as Mistral has given me reason to be concerned. What started as a mild limp a few days ago has progressed to swelling in her left front leg. She can't bear any wait on it. After watching her barely able to keep up with the others in the rain in the pasture this morning, I've brought her into the studio for the day. Although I made a little corner in the kitchen with hay and some grain, she's mostly interested in resting where she can keep
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Lambi-dextrous!

May 1, 2010 | 5 Comments

Bottle lambs, from left to right: Mistral, Garamond, Georgia There's no asking three ravenous bottle lambs to take turns, so I approach each feeding equipped with three bottles. Which makes this little trio very happy. A little tricky getting started, though, as they're all lunging at once for the nipples. I end up dropping a bottle or squirting milk all over their faces. It's time to cut back on the amount of each feeding to encourage them to explore other dining options. I just today purchased another 50 lb. bag of powdered lamb milk replacement and that stuff is
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Morning Chores!

April 27, 2010 | 7 Comments

Some of the lambs are getting a little tubby. Time to adjust the spacing on the creep panel. Holly had some help from Verbena's triplets: Georgia, Garamond and Gigi. copyright 2010. Barbara Parry. All rights reserved. Feel free to share a link to this website. Please do not take content or images from this website without my explicit written permission. Thank you.
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Lunch with Mistral – Video

April 26, 2010 | 13 Comments

Here's an update on Mistral. As you can see from today's video, she's getting leggy and also filling out quite a bit. In the barn, she's fitting in well with the other lambs, racing and exploring the pasture. I saw her sampling hay at dinnertime yesterday, a very good sign that she's on the right path. It's not unusual for bottle lambs to be very keyed in to people but it's been years since I've had a lamb this imprinted on me. I think spending her first night in my bed may have had something to do with it. She
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Tipping point

April 7, 2010 | 9 Comments

We crossed the half way mark today with two sets of twins arriving within an hour of each other bringing the lamb count to 22 (11 ewes and 11 rams). I'm so grateful for Holly being here to help. While she worked with Pheonix and her twin ewe lambs, I assisted Stella and her ewe and ram lamb (above). This is Stella's first time. We had to help with delivering the ewe lambs who was huge – 12 lbs! From the looks of things at the moment, I'll have a busy night in the barn. Ursa is pawing the straw
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Cormo Triplets

April 2, 2010 | 10 Comments

A very early start to my day. Verbena delivered healthy triplets just before dawn, a pair of rams and a ewe. They arrived hungry, talking and were quickly on their feet. Verbena is one of my all-stars, taking everything in stride. Thank you for your concern for Galveston. Her eyes looked brighter this morning and she picked at the hay I offered on my way out of the barn. I know I have a contest winner to announce a little later today, after I've had a little rest. Please check back in a bit. copyright 2010. Barbara Parry. All
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Ups and Downs

April 1, 2010 | 19 Comments

I'll start with the good news. Last night Comet delivered the adorable twins pictured above. "Euphemia"(left) and "Franklin" arrived after dinner. Their debut is special because they are the first offspring from our new moorit ram, Chai. And while I had been hoping for a brown lamb, I'm pleased with this healthy pair. The only wrinkle in their arrival was Comet's udder – almost no colostrum. So we borrowed from the ewes in neighboring pens until Comet's milk comes in. Holly (such a trooper) held hot compresses on Comet's udder for an hour last night, to help stimulate milk flow.
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Lamb Birthing Video

March 31, 2010 | 19 Comments

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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