Monday, April 14, 2014

Make play while the sun shines...

…because rain and tears are in the forecast!



Today Blaise, Bali and Barbados had a great time playing together; Benny and Jet were off grazing with their mom. I cut Benny down to three bottles a day last week, and it hasn't fazed him at all. He isn't a bottle-seeking missile any more; I can walk through the pasture without gaining an extra shadow. He'll be five weeks old on Wednesday; my ram Blake was orphaned at five weeks, and although I felt sorry for the lonesome lad, he did fine without any supplemental feeding (I tried; he wasn't interested). I'm nearing the end of the third bag of milk replacer; I'm thinking Benny's bottles will stop when the bag is empty. Oh, I'm sure he will cry and tug at my heartstrings, vocal thing that he is. But really, he isn't any more interested in people now than any of the other lambs; he's a well-adjusted young sheep! An extremely good-looking, fine-fleeced specimen, too, I might add . . . and no, I'm not biased. ;-)

I usually leave my lambs with their dams for several months, but I want to figure out a way to separate Benny and Jet from Annabelle sooner than that. She is so thin; the old gal needs all the calories she can consume for herself.

Meanwhile, flowers and leaves continue to bust out all over the place here. Lilacs are joining the pink flowering cherry in the floral parade;
the hostas are all up and the albino maple sport is leafing out.
That's it for today from . . .

10 comments:

Spinners End Farm said...

Enjoy those lambs and your lovely weather. We have five new inches of snow and a high of 24 today. I'm hoping the ewes that are do will hold off until the weekend!

Michelle said...

Several of my blogpals got snow this week; that's just crazy! Especially for the ones who hit highs in the 80s not too long ago. :-(

Tombstone Livestock said...

Like your weather forecast so much more than mine right now .... going back to the 90's again. But then I live in the 8 months of summer region which I can handle better than 5 months of winter and snow.

Unknown said...

Watching the lambs run and play is pure joy. What a treat to see. With the lilacs opening, the fragrance of spring must be in the air. Oh, it must be delicious!

C-ingspots said...

They are so cute!! And momma makes me smile - she's such a typical "momma". Yes!! I just noticed my lilacs are blooming this morning...yay!!

Mary Ann said...

More beautiful flowers, and that video did my heart good!

Anonymous said...

Love your flowers... our lilacs are blooming, along with the trilliums and fruit trees. Praying we don't have a coast storm to blow all the blooms away...

Anonymous said...

Glad that Bennie is doing so well! They are all so cute. You might look into the teat tape that dairy goat folks use to keep kids from nursing. Not sure how well it works on active nursers, but worth a look so that you can leave the boys with their mom without them draining her resources.

farmlady said...

I wish we had a forecast like yours. We need so much more rain and I don't think it's going to happen.
Love the babies. What a joy to watch them.

Michelle said...

I like my forecast better than yours, too, Audrey. I can handle cold much better than heat.

Nancy Kay, yesterday all five lambs were playing together OUTside the pasture, naughty little things!

Good mommas are a gift, aren't they, Lori?

I'm glad it gave you a lift, Mary Ann; I know you have a lot on your plate right now!

How is the weather there now, Ruth? It's raining here, but not stormy at all. The moisture will make all our plants happy.

I've never heard of teat tape, Sue; I'll have to look into that. Thanks!

We're still below average, too, farmlady, but it could be a lot worse.