This group of ducks is so much more cautious than our last group. Granted none of them got pneumonia this year, so they were probably handled a little less. I'd rather a bunch of scaredy ducks than a bunch of sick ones! Still, they are crazy adorable!
The ducklings seem so much bigger once they get out in the big world! Our other 4 ducks have been going crazy trying to figure out who these new creatures are. They haven't really decided how to approach this situation, so they just hide out in the chicken coop. I'm sure they'll relax soon!
It'll be nice to see a little more color in our little flock of ducks. Instead of 3 Welsh Harlequins and one Blue Swedish ladies, there will be a couple of Rouen's, an Runner, a couple more Blue Swedish (maybe one is male??) and maybe 2 more Welsh Harlequins (not really sure!)
While we don't have any new lambs yet, I'm pretty much constantly out in the pasture. When we first got the sheep, they were reasonably cautious and would move away from us any time we would be out and about. Now, my presence is positively snooze worthy. Just fine with me, I can get closer to take more pictures!
Wow, the videos uploaded from YouTube look kind of terrible! I'll work on that and hopefully they'll be better by the time we actually have new lambs. Gotta get back outside!
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Monday, April 21, 2014
Easter Lambs!
I can't believe how long it's been since I posted last! Being out of town last week made me realize that it's spring everywhere else and while there is a chance of snow this week, I'm embracing springtime!
A funny thing happened at TG's a couple weeks ago. Keith and I were approached by a friend to get a flock of sheep together. And not just any sheep, the exact kind of sheep I've been wanting! They are Dorper/Katahdin hair sheep. What is a hair sheep and why would I want them? Because they have hair, not wool which mean you (ME!) never has to shear them. I'll learn to do a lot of things-sheep shearing is not on the list! They are also pretty hardy, more resistant to internal parasites and since they don't produce wool, they do not produce lanolin. Lanolin is associated with the smelly or strong flavor some people don't like in lamb, and these folks don't produce it.
Fast forward a couple of weeks and yesterday we got our flock of sheep! We have 7 ewes (one still pregnant), 7 lambs, and one ram (Sam the Ram). Sam is kept apart from the ladies until breeding time. As you can see, he's a fine looking ram! Oh, and that's his winer coat he's sheading-pretty cool!
And the lambs, good lord they are adorable! Frolicking around the pasture, chasing each other. Then curling up together, sleeping in the sunshine. I mean really, do they get any cuter! Both the ewes and the lambs are pretty calm and don't seem to mind me hanging around in the pasture.
But, of course, these are not the only new animals we have. We picked up a few more duckings a few weeks ago. At 3 1/2 weeks old, these ducklings are huge and will hopefully be ready to live outside, full time in a couple of weeks. I just moved them out to the greenhouse to help me with a little weeding (they've been great at it!) and because their space in the garage smells so eye wateringly bad, that I just couldn't stand it anymore! Here they are posed for a family photo.
With one of the ewes still preggers, look forward to pics, and hopefully video, of even more adorable lambs. We have not experienced an animal birth yet, but we have our labor and delivery suite all ready to go-hopefully. I have no idea when this will happen, could be tonight, tomorrow, or a week from now, so I'm on high alert until the final lambs are born. And the only way to learn is to just do it!
Never a dull moment!
A funny thing happened at TG's a couple weeks ago. Keith and I were approached by a friend to get a flock of sheep together. And not just any sheep, the exact kind of sheep I've been wanting! They are Dorper/Katahdin hair sheep. What is a hair sheep and why would I want them? Because they have hair, not wool which mean you (ME!) never has to shear them. I'll learn to do a lot of things-sheep shearing is not on the list! They are also pretty hardy, more resistant to internal parasites and since they don't produce wool, they do not produce lanolin. Lanolin is associated with the smelly or strong flavor some people don't like in lamb, and these folks don't produce it.
Fast forward a couple of weeks and yesterday we got our flock of sheep! We have 7 ewes (one still pregnant), 7 lambs, and one ram (Sam the Ram). Sam is kept apart from the ladies until breeding time. As you can see, he's a fine looking ram! Oh, and that's his winer coat he's sheading-pretty cool!
And the lambs, good lord they are adorable! Frolicking around the pasture, chasing each other. Then curling up together, sleeping in the sunshine. I mean really, do they get any cuter! Both the ewes and the lambs are pretty calm and don't seem to mind me hanging around in the pasture.
But, of course, these are not the only new animals we have. We picked up a few more duckings a few weeks ago. At 3 1/2 weeks old, these ducklings are huge and will hopefully be ready to live outside, full time in a couple of weeks. I just moved them out to the greenhouse to help me with a little weeding (they've been great at it!) and because their space in the garage smells so eye wateringly bad, that I just couldn't stand it anymore! Here they are posed for a family photo.
With one of the ewes still preggers, look forward to pics, and hopefully video, of even more adorable lambs. We have not experienced an animal birth yet, but we have our labor and delivery suite all ready to go-hopefully. I have no idea when this will happen, could be tonight, tomorrow, or a week from now, so I'm on high alert until the final lambs are born. And the only way to learn is to just do it!
Never a dull moment!
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