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Tag Archives: lambing

In Like Lambs

Lambs in the sunshine

Rams in October mean lambs in March. Even though we still have record amounts of snow on the ground, the lambs are arriving right on schedule. We raise our own rams–Rambouillet and Hampshire–and the moms lamb in March at Powder Flat. Our Peruvian crew is doing a great job at getting live lambs on the ground. It is a reminder that spring will actually arrive, someday. We did see birds migrating north. We saw geese in the sky and Sand Hill Cranes on the alfalfa feed line with our ewes.

Alejandro pulling a lamb

Alejandro bringing twin lamb #2 into the world

Pat and Edgar

bum lambs

guard dog on straw, cows on feed

cows on the feedline

Geese heading north

Alejandro supplementing a lamb with milk

 

 

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Early Lambing at Powder Flat

Hampshire ewe with comfy lamb

 

Each March, we lamb our purebred ewes, Hampshire and Rambouillet, in the sheds at Powder Flat. We raise our rams for the commercial range ewes from these two farm flocks. Luckily, we have a good crew and the early weather has been mild.

Pat and Edgar with pen for outdoor dining

guard dog hard at work in a circle of ewes

guard dogs on the job

guard dogs on the job

Hampshire ewe and twins

bum lambs in warm straw

Leo feeding the bum lambs

Meanwhile, Maria is hanging out with the bucks

 

 

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Twin Lamb Haiku

Twin lambs on the ground,

Safe and sound with their mama,

Their whole life ahead.

 
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Posted by on May 7, 2017 in Animals, Poetry, Sheep

 

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Cottonwood: Ladies in waiting

ewes in the drop pen

ewes in the drop pen

 
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Posted by on May 17, 2016 in Animals, Sheep

 

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Almost Spring lambs

Pregnant ewes waiting

Pregnant ewes waiting

We have started lambing the purebred ewes at Powder Flat. They are the moms of our future bucks and many replacement ewe lambs, and we lamb them earlier so these lambs will be older when it’s time for them to become working sheep. Our hard-working crew of Peruvian employees are supported by frequent visits from Meghan and her crew.

 

Rambouillet ewe looks after her twins

Rambouillet ewe looks after her twins

Here's looking at ewe.

Here’s looking at ewe.

Tiarnan with a Hampshire lamb

Tiarnan with a Hampshire lamb

Hampshire ewes and lambs hanging out by the heifers

Hampshire ewes and lambs hanging out by the heifers

Tiarnan and Siobhan playing in the corn

Tiarnan and Siobhan playing in the corn

Antonio, Meghan, Siobhan and Oscar

Antonio, Meghan, Siobhan and Oscar

 

 

 

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Lambing without LaMaze

The contractions are regular

The contractions are regular–breathe!

Push!

Push!

Is it a boy or a girl?

Is it a boy or a girl?

 
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Posted by on May 22, 2015 in Events, Sheep

 

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Spring storm

Squaw Mountain

Squaw Mountain

Sure enough–as soon as we finished shearing and started lambing, a cold, windy, snowy storm moved in. While we are happy to see the much-needed moisture, we have scrambled to try to save lambs. We estimate we lost about 150 lambs due to the severe weather. Our lambing grounds on Loco got a foot of fresh snow and we couldn’t get in there for several days. The herders were well-provisioned but couldn’t do much except get the ewes into sheltered areas.

This is the first year we have lambed ewes through our new shed on the private land on Cottonwood. We had preg tested the mothers of the replacement ewe lambs in March, and we sorted the mothers of twins into a bunch to be shed lambed. Our crew piled the straw bales to create wind breaks at each end of the shed, and were able to save most of the new lambs in the shed. We lamb later than most of our neighbors, and it is always a gamble.

Lambing shed with straw windbreak

Lambing shed with straw windbreak

Ewes pregnant with twin lambs sheltering in the shed

Ewes pregnant with twin lambs sheltering in the shed

Ewes huddled behind tarp windbreaks

Ewes huddled behind tarp windbreaks

Baker's Peak

Baker’s Peak

Battle Mountain

Battle Mountain

Sheep Mountain

Sheep Mountain

Horses at the lambing shed, with Muddy Mountain

Horses at the lambing shed, with Muddy Mountain

Siobhan and Tiarnan in the mud

Siobhan and Tiarnan in the mud

 

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Getting ready for lambing

Lambing shed--getting ready for action!

Lambing shed–getting ready for action!

 
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Posted by on April 30, 2014 in Events

 

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