Dirty, woolly, covered in hay sheep. This is the last time I don't do an autumn shearing. They are seriously starting to look like sheep pom-poms. Out of the 5 that we exposed to the rams, 3 are so big they look like they're going to pop. 
Letisha. She's always had a belly that hangs low and looks big, and granted she hasn't been sheared in a year, but I really think there is something in there.
I've started calling Ada, ShortRound. She really looks like a ball with legs and a head.
Ruthie is so big that her back is almost flat and could be used as a table. Poor girls. And they're going to have to lamb in cold, wet weather as well. Not an ideal year weather-wise. Of course maybe its not ideal for ME, perhaps they don't mind at all...as long as the lambs are out of drafts they should be good. *fingers crossed*.
The other two sheep that were exposed to the rams are not nearly as big...and they are the two that surprised me last year. I thought, if they were pregnant at all, they were carrying singles...both of them gave me twins...one of them gave me HUGE twins. So time will tell. I've been out checking bags and vulva's for the past few days so I can hopefully catch them before they give birth in a snowbank. Sleep? who needs it. Gotta love lambing season!
6 comments:
I've come to the firm conclusion that I couldn't do it. Couldn't get bags, etc., couldn't deal with stress/drama if something went wrong. I'm glad there are people out there like you who can keep the sheep population going. :) I hope the weather takes a big turn for the better so that issue is eliminated.
That Ada looks like a fuzzy mop. Two of my ewes are huge and the other two are slim and may surprise me as well. Since you seem to only have a rough idea like I do of when the lambing should begin can you tell me what you are looking for from them? Is checking on them every few hours my only option?
Love the first picture of the headless sheep.
I think I'm with Gayle...I'm not sure I can do it either! Your sheep photos remind me of a cute card I bought once: "Ewe's not fat; ewe's fluffy!" ;)
I check their udders..older ewes will start to bag up anywhere from a month before birth to a couple of days. Younger ewes tend to bag up later, sometimes RIGHT before lambing. What I look for is changes in the vulva. They tend to swell and get pink in the early stages of labor. I caught 4 of the 5 ewes that lambed last year based just on that. I thought it was pretty good for a first year shepherd!
I've been out taking pictures of the sheep's behinds so I can post pics and a write a post about what I look for.
I really LOVE Letisha's perfect little curls! I have enjoyed your sheep posts and have been sharing them with my kids. Kind of a cool educational discussion. We are all curious about how many babies you have coming.
Hope things warm up for you a bit, we are having another nasty day of storms and my oldest is in a canoe, helping his uncle guide 40+ Westinghouse employees down the Wekiva river. They had a guy flip his canoe in front of a 12 foot bull gator, yesterday.
OMG! Seriously?!?! That would have scared the poo out of me! Gators are FAST! I was always amazed at how quickly they could move. Knowing the storms in FL, the last place I would want to be is on a river in a canoe...brave boy.
Icelandic sheep regularly twin, sometimes triplet and occasionally quadruplet. So if I have 5 sheep exposed to a ram, and all of them took, I could potentially have between 5 and 20 lambs coming. Lets hope its not 20! Eeks!
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