Lambing Spring 2015
New mama enjoying the sun!
Hello Friends,
Back at the farm again. When I'm not working on the farm I sell rare books (www.stroudbooks.com) and this time of year we have an annual trip to Washington DC, and then to St. Petersburg Florida for bookfairs. This year Liz was able to accompany me, we have not gone with just the two of us in a long time! While we were gone, my daughter Annie and Jake stayed at the farm to watch over the sheep since we were in the middle of lambing. Below is a lambing update from her week at the farm.
-John
Roy enjoying the snow March 8th
Spring finally arrived! Jake and I went out to the farm March 9th and the ground was still completely snow-covered. My folks had a great week away and got to miss the transition from ice & snow to MUD! That's what boots are for I guess :)
Lambing is always an exciting time of year. Lots of hard work, new mamas and lambs have to be taken into the barn, checked for health, mamas checked for good milk production, mamas wormed, lambs tagged (we tag the twin female lambs to keep as Mamas!), banded, cords sprayed with anti-bacterial spray, fed, watered and sometimes dried off! Once everyone is dry and looking good (usually a day- sometimes longer if the weather is very cold) then they get moved out to the big group of ewes and lambs in the south hollow!
We had a bunch of lambs born in the week that Jake and I were out at the farm. Here are a few nestled up to mom in the barn.
We had several days of rain and melting, so by the end of the week, the farm looked completely different! Green finally visible and lots of mud. The warm weather is much better for lambing though and the sheep seem to enjoy snow-free pastures even though we're still feeding hay!
Here are a few photos from our visit/stay at the farm! It was so nice to see the sun :)
Rockstar mama with twins March 15
My (Annie)'s red border collie meeting a new lamb
Look at that green! Can't wait till its the whole farm!
A watchful eye on the lambs playing around the feeder while the sheep eat their hay
Dopey napping in the sun (well, he was napping before I bothered him...)