Lambs are growing up

Hi all :)
Long time no see, or type, we've been really busy here with lambing and milking, we now have over 25 lambs on the ground with the large majority being girls! The ewes are milking well and enjoying life.
Nessa

It's official: We're milking again!

Carmen and Carlotta

Monster

Monster

Carmen

In typical sheep fashion I was proved wrong-it was not number 20 aka 'the udder' who lambed first but a very slim looking Dizzy, who produced a lamb whose been dubbed (for the mean time) Monster-a feisty little ram with an appetite to match his name. Number 20 followed shortly after with two lovely little ewes, Carmen and Carlotta. They are all doing well and we are enjoying our new bail-the cement has yet to go in the holding yard though *sigh* I expect, judging by the growing bellies, we will have more babies soon.
Anyway here are some pics of the cuteness to tide you over :)
Nessa

The shed, naked sheep and 'the udder'

Hi all :)
Sorry about my posting gap-been busy around here! Here are some pics of the shed, completed except for the holding yard *sigh* the holding yard is going in next weekend, which would've been perfect as the ewes are due from the next Monday.............however ewe number 20 aka 'the udder' has got me thinking that perhaps we'll have lambs before then, hopefully she can hang on that long, but I doubt it...............but I have been wrong before! All the ewes have been shorn and look quite sleek without their woolly coats, they are getting some sheep nuts to help keep the cold out.
Enjoy the pics,
Nessa

To cement or not to cement that is the question...

Well not really I already know I'm going to cement.........but the way things are going I wonder if I dreamt that part. Some pics of the new shed are above: Some assembly required.
We've had the ewes scanned and are expecting our first babies mid June-so out comes the lamb coat making gear.
Ah holidays.....
Nessa

What holiday?

Ah, this is the time of year the ewes are dry and I have my holiday, a relaxing time of reading and just generally having time to watch TV in the evenings instead of falling asleep in front of it. No milking twice a day, no lamb feeding, no fingernail chewing waiting on ewes to lamb and definitely no scrubbing milking gear! My holiday sounds great doesn't it? NOT! Why? Well building a dairy is not coming in high on my list of relaxing things to do, and yesterday (on my way to a market no less) I spotted an orphan lamb in the paddock-so off I went in my clean cloths to rescue said lamb-amazingly I got to the market on time. So now I have 2 hungry mouths to feed! So much for a holiday........the ewes start lambing in June! Anyway meet Lola the latest addition to the household, Henry is unimpressed after all Henry has priority's 1.eat 2. sleep 3.play in that order, Lola also has priority's 1.eat 2.yell 3. sleep, and boy can she yell, she yells morning, noon and night, she yells before her bottle, she yells after her bottle, she yells when she sees a shadow, yep she's a yell-er (even the neighbours heard her!) it's quite a rude shock for Henry who is for the most part the silent type and is used to being the centre of attention. Lola can also eat, she loves eating, her bottle is consumed in record time and I'm sure she'd have more if I'd let her.
Nessa

Another useless wether........

Or not! As Henry is a boy I've been warned we can't keep another 'useless' wether (definition of a 'useless' wether: a consumer of much foodstuffs with little or no financial return), I mean what will the neighbours think? They already think I'm loopy so not much probably.......LOL So anyway I sat down to think of official and important job for Henry. So everyone meet 'useful' Henry.................my future bell wether! Each year he'll get to train a new generation of young milk ewes the ropes of coming up to be milked, a very important job indeed. He's already taking his new role seriously and has consumed an enormous amount of sheep's milk to prove his dedication to cause.
GO HENRY!
Nessa

A surprise

This what we found yesterday, his mother (who wasn’t meant to be pregnant) decided she could well do without him, so I ended up with him. So without further delay meet Henry-isn't he sweet?
Nessa

Meet Noir

This is Noir, my purebred HST ewe lamb-isn't she cute :)
She does bear a striking resemblance to Bathilda, or I think so.....

News on the dairy front

I haven't posted about this before, because for quite a while it was a maybe/maybe not sort of thing, but today I can confirm that we are officially building a dairy. That's right a proper one with a pit and everything, after milking flat (on the ground) for seven months we (mum and me) are very much looking forward to it, I asked the sheep to share their thoughts-they seemed mostly impartial although Millie did get as close as she possibly could and rubbed her nose on me (sounds cute huh except she looks like a 2 year old with a bad cold.......ick) but I'm not sure if that is good or bad in sheep language-time will tell. I also thought I'd better mention that my latest sheepy acquisitions arrived safe and sound-I have named my new black HsT (handy abbreviation-saves a lot of typing!) ewe lamb Noir, sorry no pic yet she always seems to be behind something :) A fair few ewes have been breed these last 2 weeks (10 or so) and I have discovered that they are all in love with Vladimir-they hang the fence tail wagging and eye making, and you guessed it, Frank is their chosen ram of choice (by me!), Frank is lovely and quiet and lets me change his raddle without having to catch him-he just stands there for me-I want more ewes like Frank! So the girls will just have to deal with it. The ewes will be scanned next week to see if anyone is in lamb to Amun, so fingers crossed, I'll post results when I get them.
Nessa

It always happens.........

I promise myself I'll keep the blog updated...........then I get distracted..............and, well, I'm sure you can guess the rest! Since my last post the ewes have been officially dried off until July/August, breeding dates and sires are being recorded and we haven't had any rain for 2 months......so we're feeding the ewes, they seem to like it-it's hard to leave the house without being spotted and mobbed. Seriously, one of them even bit me the other day! The impatient sods. I've also discovered and been reading A shepherds voice-a blog that is not to be missed, mostly funny, sometimes sad and with irresistible photos of beautiful sheep: http://shepherdsvoice.blogspot.com
Until next time :)
Nessa

So much has happened!

First there were lambs, lambs and more lambs, then my lovely black and white east Friesian ram Elvis got sick and died suddenly, then I reserved some more east Friesian ewes-including another little black beauty-which I'm much looking forward to meeting, then I put the rams out-phew we have been busy LOL