Party crasher

Last night we went to a Christmas party and got home late. I turned the dogs out for a potty break before bed, and could hear Jackson on high alert. He always storms out (and has taught Dozer to follow suit) looking for "varmints" to chase off; last night it sounded like he found some. So we turned on the deck lights to see this:These two juveniles were NOT happy Jackson crashed their party! In the other picture I took (which was slightly blurry), both 'coons had their ears pinned tight against their heads and snarls on their little masked faces. After taking their pictures I escorted Jackson inside (Dozer was already waiting at the front door) so they could escape back into the woods. This morning the roof/lid was back down, so obviously our visitors have had a proper upbringing. :-)

Today is sunny, blustery and COLD. It has been cold all week, but the wind came up last night. We've been using our wood-burning insert constantly since Thanksgiving, but lately it hasn't always been able to keep the house above 60 degrees. Oh well, that's what polarfleece is for. At least the mucky chicken yard is frozen hard!

That's it for now from . . .

Awaiting wonderful surprise packages

This morning I had my favorite vet out to ultrasound my ewes. My main question was whether or not the ewe lambs were pregnant, and thankfully it doesn't look like they are. However, Braveheart's break-out occurred three weeks ago today, so it may be too early to tell. Here are the gully girls getting their exams:
I have a breeding date for Brava, so she provided a good benchmark for fetal development. She appears to be carrying twins:

Dinah was next. Her single embryo was a bit smaller than Brava's, but hopefully big enough to indicate a Blackberry breeding. I hope so, because this will be Dinah's last Boulderneigh lambing. Next summer after weaning she is moving on to a spinner's flock.

Inky's embryo was the largest. Yes, I said embryo, because Rick thinks she's carrying a single. That would be a disappointing surprise, because Inky has lambed eight times and never singled. I hope she doesn't have a big bruiser of a ram lamb that gives her trouble during delivery!

Tiny fluttering heartbeats were visible in all the embryos; such a neat thing to see.

This morning's work wasn't just a curiosity-satisfying exercise. A new ewe is coming to Boulderneigh this month! She is a possible poll-carrier, and I would love to see what she would produce with Blackberry sooner rather than later. However, I don't have room for SIX ewe/lamb sets; that is why I wanted to ultrasound the ewe lambs. We may ultrasound them again in a couple weeks just to make sure before putting Blackberry with this lovely lady:I have it on the very best authority that she is as sweet-natured as she is silky-soft fleeced, and I am looking forward to making her feel welcomed and loved in her new home.

"Merry Christmas to me, merry Christmas to me, merry Christmas to Michelle; merry Christmas to me!" :-)

That's it for now from . . .

Progress

Rick hasn't gotten home early enough the last two nights for us to decorate the tree together, so last night before he went to bed, Brian gave us permission to put the lights on without him. What a blessing! After chores, Rick and I had a lovely, relaxing time listening to Christmas music while replacing bulbs, untangling strings of lights and putting them on the tree. I picked up 400 colored mini-lights for Rick and Brian (I prefer the little white lights), so this year we have both on our tree. Rick got the topper on, and I hung the ornament my friend Debbie gave me for my birthday, in honor of Dozer joining our family.Brian and I put the rest of the decorations on today.

My spindle was being uncooperative, I think from the weight of the yarn, so I decided to wind it off and start a new spindleful. The resulting ball only weighs 1 1/4 ounces; a little disappointing when I can get 8-9 ounces on my Louet S10 bobbins! But the act of spindling is mesmerizing, and I really want to spin enough this way to make my farrier's wife a hat from her ram's fleece.

It was cold and clear this morning; such sunshine in December is rare and wonderful. I'll leave you with the scene that greeted me as I headed to the barn this morning to do chores:
That's it for now from . . .

News from the fold

Sunday I broke up my last breeding group - which was also my first breeding group - and the interrupted breeding group....

You may remember that back on November 6 I went out to do morning chores and found ALL the sheep mingled - Braveheart's breeding group (two ewes), Blackberry's breeding "group" (one ewe), and two ewe lambs I did not intend to breed at all. So I threw Braveheart out into the elements to face any predators alone (where he is perhaps a bit lonely but otherwise fine and dandy) and separated Blackberry from the girls for the duration of our trip to Kentucky so the person doing our chores wouldn't have any hormonal headaches to deal with. When we got back I discovered Bramble had a raging vaginal infection, and started treating her for that. I decided not to do anything to abort any unplanned pregnancies, and see what happens come spring.

On November 20 Blackberry had a doctor's appointment at OSU to evaluate him for breeding soundness. Another breeder was planning on leasing him, and I had my doubts he had successfully bred Dinah. She was never receptive to him, and when I restrained her for Blackberry's eager advances, it didn't look like he got the job done. But according to the theriogenologist, Blackberry is just fine, thankyouverymuch. He enjoyed the physical exam, but that electric probe was another story entirely....
Reassured that I wasn't offering a 'dud' for lease, I put him back in with a dubious Dinah for the interim, just in case she was still open. Hopefully I will be able to ascertain by lambing date and/or color/pattern who the daddy is to Dinah's 2010 offspring! I really hope it is Blackberry, since he isn't going to cover any more ewes this season after all. The person who was going to lease him very considerately called to tell me she had an undiagnosed health problem on her farm, so we made the decision not to expose Blackberry to any potential health risk.

So now the ewes are together, Browning and Blackberry are together (where, regardless of the difference in size and horn material, Blackberry is doing his best to act like the biggest and baddest), and Braveheart is still out standing in his field. It is tempting to throw Blackberry in with the ram who really IS the biggest and baddest, just to teach the newly rude little guy a lesson, but I know that lesson could be fatal. Rams; can't live with 'em, can't lamb without 'em!

Last week I picked up a sack of extruded soybeans as a feed supplement for Russell (recommended by my farrier for faster hoof growth), and decided to add a little to Inky's twice-daily ration. She is perpetually thin, and I figured the extra fat and protein might help. She is less than thrilled with the addition, but all the other girls think it's wonderful stuff. Goodness; is there anything pushier than a pack of greedy sheep?

While not the Shetland ambassador to all comers that Val was, Brava has become my "love bug."While we cuddle, I wonder what she and Braveheart will produce for me next spring . . . and what she and Blackberry will produce for me the following spring. Such is the dream life of a shepherd!

That's it for now at . . .