Sheep Gal

A Daisy, a Dandelion, a Bluebell and a Buttercup

More wild flowers have arrived.

On Thursday Crimson birthed adorable twins. We've named the ram lamb Bluebell (Blue for short) and the ewe-ling Buttercup, after her grandmother, Buttercup, one of our very first Cormos from Alice Field's flock at Foxhill Farm. As you may remember, Buttercup passed away last year.

Crimson is a good mother, but her milk is slow to come in. It's weird because her udder is as big as a bowling ball, but there's very little coming out of the spigots. The lambs really have to work at it and then seem to give up. I've tried hot compresses and bag balm on Crimson's udder to stimulate milk making. And yesterday I gave the lambs some from a bottle - they were hungry. Just a little, because they still need to work on their momma. I'm sure this will work out fine, but I feel terrible when I see hungry little lambies. . . 

Java and her twins are doing well. Her ewelings Daisy and Dandelion have just mastered the art of bouncing. They have also become experts on climbing onto and balancing on momma's back, like little surfers! So Java is now wearing a sheep coat to protect her fleece from little hooves.

 

I'm sure we'll have a pasture full of new wild flowers by the end of lambing season. Seven more mothers are yet to deliver.

 Thanks for helping me with the names!

First Lambs Arrive!

Big day - our first lambs are on the ground! Java delivered a pretty pair of ewe lambs late this afternoon.

Thanks, everyone for voting on a theme for naming this year's lambs. Since Wild Flowers received the most votes in our poll for naming the lambs, all lambs will be named for wild flowers this year. Aren't we lucky, we get to start with girls?

Would you like to suggest names for our first lambs? Leave a comment here.

And check back here to stay posted on our new arrivals..

 

Help Us Name Our Lambs

Note: The survey poll that was at the bottom of this post is not working.  To vote, leave your choice in the comments.  Thanks!
Our lambs are coming soon! In this year of an earlier-than-usual spring, our lambs are arriving later than usual. We expect our first lamblings to debut near the end of April.

We need to choose a theme for naming this year's lambs-to-be. Would you like to help?  

 Last year you voted for "Apple Names" and they were so cute - Pippin, Macintosh, Braeburn. In other years we've used Greek mythology, herbs & spices, U.S. towns, fashion designers, colors and type fonts. At Shearing Day, I asked Sheep Shares Members to suggest ideas for this year's theme.  

All were great suggestions, but I've narrowed it down to five choices:  

- Trees

-Mountains

- Rivers

- Wild Flowers

- Constellations

What will our theme be this year?   Please post a comment  below to help us decide!

 

 

 

Time to Shear Some Sheep

Our Monday looked like this. 

and this . . .

 as we tackle the spring rite of shearing sheep. When my flock was smaller than it is now, we couId accomplish shearing in one day. We now have too many sheep for that! So on Monday we started by shearing the biggest, wooliest sheep on the farm: the mighty rams and wethers. We had time before lunch so we de-fleeced 16 ewes as well. This group included our "grannies". This was Cocoa's 15th shearing!

Next Wednesday we'll shear our bred ewes.

And then on Saturday, April 7th, we'll host our Sheep Shares CSA members Shearing Day Open House. It looks like we have a good-sized group who have r.s.v.p.'d for the day but we could always use more hands. Heads up to all Sheep Shares 2012 members: it's not too late to join the fun. If you'd like to lend a hand, please email me. (Would you like to become a Sheep Shares 2012 member? Click here to learn more.).

After shearing, we'll all be heading up the hill to Davenport's Maple Farm for a pancake lunch. We'll be sure to post pics of the day.

 

Today's photos courtesy of Kat Parks, our new farm assistant!

Happy 15th B-day, Cocoa! Join our Cocoa KAL

This is Cocoa - she is my very first sheep. This her special day, her 15th birthday, which makes this our flock's 15th anniversary also. We're celebrating with a very special Knit Along - and a little birthday party at the barn this afternoon.

What does a birthday party for sixty sheep, three llamas and a goat look like?

How do sheep and goats like to celebrate special occasions?

What can you do to celebrate with us?

Join our Cocoa Birthday KAL. Today is our official Cast on - but you could start tomorrow or anytime you like, as long as you finish (and do all the required project posting on RAVELRY) by Saturday, April 28th, stroke of midnight EST.

Scroll down for more about our KAL. Visit our discussion thread on RAVELRY to learn more or to join us.

 

Yarn: Any Foxfire Fiber yarn in a natural (undyed) color! If you want to use a small amount of dyed Foxfire Yarn as an accent, that's okay, just as long as your project is predominantly natural yarn - that's the spirit of the KAL. Sheep Shares members you now have your Spring Shares. 

Feel free to use any other Foxfire natural yarn you may have in your stash. That goes for handspun, too.

Prizes: Three names will be chosen at random from people who have satisfied all requirements by midnight EST on the finish date.

Prize 1 - Four skeins of Foxfire Fiber & Designs Wool Alpaca Twist in natural

Prize 2 - Four skeins of Upland Wool & Mohair in natural

Prize 3 - Two skeins of Cormo Flock Sock yarn in the new color way: “Cocoa”

The Knit Along is open to everyone (you don’t have to be a Sheep Shares member to join us).

 

I've swatched Sandi Rosner's Crane Creek Cardigan in some vintage (c. 2004) Border Leicester yarn from my flock. I'll be casting on as soon as I finish this post. Hope you'll join us!

Happy Birthday Cocoa!

Puppy Post

A quick update on the pupster front. Zoe's rehab process has been labor intense, as you might imagine. She and Farley are in good spirits. We are all adjusting to changes in our lives and routines. Zoe is up to three ten minute leash walks a day and I'm helping her gently do stairs so she can keep me company in my home office. Last Friday she sat in the car and watched me trim sheep hoofs in the barn.

Farley is growing up. What a tank. He's working toward his Canine Good Citizen obedience title. I actually think he may not pass the test on Monday, but we're going to try anyway. The winter weather has made it really hard to get him out to practice his lessons (polite greeting strangers especially!). Maybe he'll pass. I will let you know how it goes.

Zoe (yesterday) works out with Liz, her physical therapist at Power Dog!

Farley and Zoe with their new little friends.

Zoe Update

Mike and I thank you for your great puppy rehab ideas. Zoe appreciates your get well wishes.

She's home now. We picked her up Thursday, just in time for a heap of snow. It's just what we needed to make her homecoming more interesting.

She was pretty out of it in the car on the way home, poor little peanut!  We created a puppy hospital pen in the kitchen by moving out  the table and chairs. Zoe has the cozy breakfast nook all to herself. She spent lots of time sleeping in there during the first few days. She came home on all kinds of pain meds and it's probably just as well that all she wanted to do was snooze. You can see how fur they shave off her in the pic below.

 The "Comfy Cone" keeps her from licking at her sutures. She has a set of staples in her elbow and a zipper in her belly (from her spay). She really doesn't seem to mind wearing the cone. It's padded and has fancy velcro closures, worlds better than the old-style Elizabethan collars we used to use.

Mike and I took turns entertaining Zoe during her waking moments. On Friday I went grocery shopping and surprised Mike and Zoe by coming home with two parakeets. Zoe thinks it's pretty cool, having her very own birds. They're on the table where she can watch them from her pen. Birdies spend as much time watching her as she does watching them. But they were no substitute for Farley.

By Saturday morning she'd decided that life was boring without her brother. So on Sunday Farley came home. His favorite place to be is in Zoe's hospital pen! Mike and I take turns sleeping in there with them. Even though they can't play, they seem content to be in each other's company. Farley still gets his outdoor play time and leash walks, but Zoe is pretty much confined to the kitchen for now. She's remarkably good about it. I think having Farley home again has restored a sense of normalcy, though things still feel far from normal as we continue to make our way through Zoe's convalescence. 

They're such sweet dogs, so loving with each other. Farley may be Zoe's best medicine yet.

BTW

Farley also loves the birdies. 

 

Puppy Troubles

I have some sad news. Zoe has elbow dysplasia. Yesterday she had surgery at Veterinary Specialist of CT. We set out for Hartford in the morning. I rode in the back seat with her and knit while Mike drove. She napped and minded my yarn. (BTW, she loves when I knit; the soft click of needles and occasional tug at the yarn tell her exactly where I am and what I'm doing without her opening her eyes).

Hartford is a long ride from Shelburne but our consult with our local canine ortho-expert, Dr. Benson (Veterinary Emergency & Speciality Hospital of South Deerfield) and the xrays he took of her elbows last week pointed us in this direction, the sooner the better, in his opinion.

So getting her there took pretty much all day.  After a long consultation with Dr. Berzon of Veterinary Specialty of CT, we left Zoe in his hands. Dr. Berzon confirmed the diagnosis of elbow dysplasia and some serious degeneration of her right elbow. He performed arthroscopic elbow surgery to relieve painful joint yesterday afternoon. 

I know this news must feel out of the blue, but we have had some suspicions about her legs since November when we noticed lameness on and off. I was waiting for x-rays and a first and second opinion before commenting saying anything about it. It sucks. Sorry. But that's it, in a nutshell.

We have two beautiful puppies who love to romp,  fetch, "fence" with sheep and ramble the woods and fields. Farley seems robust and healthy. Zoe has an inherited joint disease that will seriously impair her freedom to do almost everything puppies love do. It's just not fair.

There are things we can do to make her feel better, but it is not a fixable problem. It will get worsen as she ages. I found this little bit of info, if you're interested in learning more about elbow dysplasia.  We are heart sick.

 

Dr. Berzon called at dinnertime last night to say Zoe's surgery went well, she's resting comfortably. We pick her up later this morning. She's going to be sore for 4-6 weeks and will need to stay calm for two to four months for healing to take place. Physical therapy starts for her next week.

In the meantime, Farley is staying with friends, so Zoe can take it easy when she gets home today. Our friends have two goldens, so Farley is having a great time.

It will be really interesting to see how we can make this all work when he comes home this weekend. I'm not sure how we're going to do this. Have you ever been in this situation? Do you have tips for raising two puppies while keeping one from running, jumping, rough housing, climbing stairs, etc.?

I'd love to hear from you.

Sorry for such a bummer of a post to start the new year, but we have our work cut out for us. She is a super-sweetie and we will do whatever it takes.

Wintering Rams

Following a snowless December, 2012 is off to a cold start. I don't mind the cold, nor do the sheep.

Our rams and wethers are still in the paddock behind our house at the top of the hill (except for Chai and Cinder, who are down at the farm for breeding season). In most years, we've moved everyone down to the big barns by this time. This season, we're waiting for weather to force the issue. As soon as we hear snow in the forecast, it will be time to bring all sheep back to the farm for winter.

In the meantime, we're enjoying not shoveling and plowing snow. And the boys have enjoyed getting to know our new puppies. Farley and Zoe help Mike with sheep chores.

And the puppies are now uber-brave about approaching the scary sheep at the fence line. Sometimes they have stare downs. Mostly the sheep win, and then they butt the fence. The pupsters skedaddle. 

 

Sorry for the long blogless lapse. Raising two pups is a huge energy/time vacuum. Add to that running a sheep farm and a fiber business. Then throw in the wedding of my son(!) and the holidays. It's been a hectic few months.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. Wishing you a bright start to this new year!

Snow Pups

Our puppies reveled in their first snowfall. A dusting of 4 inches stuck to the ground here in the highlands. OMG what a surprise for two rambunctious pupsters at first light!

Hard to get a picture of them standing still, but I thought you'd enjoy watching their morning play in their transformed back yard.

Now I'm off to visit the sheep. Happy Friday.