New Twins!

Today our spotted ewe, Spud, gave birth to twin red ewe lambs. They were up and looking for their first meal in minutes! Is always a joy watching them work at getting up, looking for their momma's udder.

For those of you that remember back this summer, Spud is who KJ showed at the MN State Fair this past summer. As of right now, I think we have 4 quality ewes to pick from for a return trip! But of course we need to get past the North St Louis County Fair first. Jake will be old enough to attend this year as well down to the State Fair. July is a long way off. Mark your calander for Sheep show day of July 31, 2010. Bring your cameras too, and plan to spend the day. After sheep is Beef in the show ring. And of course there is always the Midway to check out. Make sure you stop and say HI if you get to the fair.

Not expecting any more lambs for a few weeks. Maybe the ground will dry up some by then.

Is it Spring?

Well, the clock changing has really tossed a wrench into my day. OK... it doesnt help to have picked up a sinus cold either. BUT, its currently 56 degrees here at Double Barrel, so you know what that means??? YUP! MUD! But.. Im really not complaining as the sun is shinning and it seems that it hasnt been out for at least a week.

Just thought Id share a picture or too. We set out the trail camera out back for a while. Was pretty shocked when I found this:

Now, Im not 100% sure if its a young wolf or a coyote. Our coyotes up here are pretty big. I did see what I thought was a coyote about 2 weeks prior to this picture being taken just down the road from us. I have only been seeing coyote scat in the road, but that certainly doesnt mean that this could be a wolf.

No matter if its a wolf or a coyote, it was grand seeing this one. Hopefully more trail camera pics will come along. Maybe will take it out to a differant area to see what kind of birds and other fur bearers might be about.

Im hearing tales of bear waking up, so who knows, maybe Ill find one of those on the camera.

No new lambs. But of course we are 'patiently' waiting. Lots more ewes to go. Once the ground dries up, more fencing can be done. I think the frost is pretty well out of the ground. We didnt have much to begin with. Road restrictions went up for the entire state this past Monday. I wonder if they will be on until May?

Here are some other trail cam pics. Ravens spend the winters here. They were enjoying the snacks. It really makes me think knowing that these birds (along with the Eagles) manage to last out the winters.

Of course, Artie has to get in on the deal too. You can see that he has really filled out in the year that he has been here. Good groceries go a long with with all the animals.

Artie has been doing a fantastic job of keeping the coyotes and wolves away from the sheep. Yeah... he usually ends up waking me up. But thats his job. I cant complain. Once in a while I do go out to listen to what he is barking at, and its usually some neighbor dog several miles away

Thats all I have for now. Need to get out and take more pics!

2010 Lambing has begun.

Daisy, our big white Katahdin ewe, surprised us with twins on March 4. Jake found them when he went to do chores before schoo. Yarrow and Tag are very long legged lambs. Yarrow is a ewe and Tag is a ram. KJ had them named by Friday night.

Yarrow has a bit of red on the back of her neck and Tag is all white.

Unfortunately, we had to put Daisy down. Mastitis had taken over her udder, and our intervention wasnt helping. We are bummed about it as she is a good mom. These two lambs are strong tho. Soon they will go out with the flock.

This morning I found that Bob had given birth to a ewe lamb. By the time I was out in the barn, she was almost cleaned off and dried. She is almost all white but for her nose and black feet. She seems to have longer legs than the twins, but she has them figgured out!

Bob is also an all white ewe. Last year she gave us twins, which surprised us as she had been starved. Both her twins last year did very well, considering.

Im also going to work on grafting the orphan twins onto Bob. If I can do it, I think all will go well. Bob is an awesome mom! Last year she had made a nest for Amos and Amy. She nested them so well that I really had to hunt for them!

Spud and Curely are the next two ewes to lamb. Some of you remember that Spud is who KJ took to the MN State Fair in 2009. We are looking forward to a set of twins from her this year, too.

All our ewes were bred by a red Katahdin ram we call Buck. So far he has helped put some nice babies on the ground!

Watch here for more pics as lambs hit the ground!