Barren Ewe.... not so barren

Spring lambing is in full swing now and our cute little black and white Jacob ram has brought amazingly cute little spots into our flock.

This morning I got quite a surprise from my first ewe I ever got, who I thought was barren because I've had her for years with a few different rams and she's never given me a lamb. Well, this morning, she gave me quite a shock as she looked to be giving birth. I thought -no way, she's just faking it- but lo and behold, an hour later I found the most long, lanky, leggy lamb shivering beside her as she cleaned it off and encouraged it to milk. Well I'll be. I just had to threaten her with the potential auction future she had in store unless she began earning her weight in feed.

Lambs are born and immediately after all the labor of, well, labor, the lamb stands up right away and starts looking for it's first meal. Geez, having kids is tough.

Now I've got two sets of twins from my Icelandic crosses (here's a nice family photo) and two single lambs from two other mothers. Four more ewes that haven't had lambs yet to go and one goat left this year. Babies are all cute, happy, healthy and just starting to play and jump around.

Ordering my meat bird chicks today. I've got several orders for heritage breed turkeys in already along with some quail in a brooder and also some slow grown meat birds as well. Should be interesting to see what's in my crock pot this fall.

I'm still having one heck of a time securing a beef cow. They're so expensive! Good for the farmers, bad for the people like me trying to buy them. Oh well, corn prices are on the rise... it's going to be a weird year.

Second greenhouse is almost up. Recycled sliding glass doors form three walls and now I'm just looking for some windows and a door to finish out the front. I'm hunting down some materials to make the tables and after this cold snap of 19 degree nights, I'm ready to move into April. I have hundreds of Ginkgo trees just starting to bud out. The sap has not been running yet for the final maple syrup boil, but I still check the trees quite regularly. My house still reeks of fish emulsion, but at least the little seedlings look happy to get some food... even if it makes me lose my appetite.

In other good news, my most recent foster dog, Ruby, just found a new home. Go Ruby! Wohoo! They really seem to like her and I'm glad, as we struggled through the kennel cough she came here with, and the affinity for playing in the road. I'm both sad to see her go and happy that her new family will give her plenty of love and attention, which is what she really needs. I'm also happy to report that no chickens were harmed in the training of this dog. :)

Let's go spring! I'm ready for April!