Sharing pics of the boys

Time is just flying by right now. Every time I turn around there is just one more thing to do. Every time I walk by something I think, "Gosh I really need to get to that." And if I walk by one more weed in the garden......okay I am walking by a lot of them because for every weed and dandilion I pull, I see a thousand more growing right in front of me.

It has been pretty drippy the last couple of day here so it was nice to see at least some color in the front yard gardens. I love this color......I am thinking of going with lots of pink flowers this year........not that I really like pink cuz it just happens to be a favorite color of mine:)

I can not believe how fast the lambs are growing and boy are their little personalities starting to shine......they are very curious about the miniature horses too. They are probably thinking Monique really likes them when in fact she could careless and just is trying to see if there is any food available around them.

My handsome little white guy thinks he is sizing up his competition......I love those little patches on his back legs; they match his yuglet markings on his face perfectly!

These are the 2 ram lambs born last Friday. They are doing great! I was worried about the little guy standing in bowl as he was such a little stinker but he is doing just fine. Both look like they are going to be polled or scurred esp. the one on the right. Their dam is a beautiful fawn kat ewe whose sire was a mioget yuglet ram. Does that mean they could both be modified? I get a tad confused on how the whole modified thing works.

And the spotted twins are looking quite adorable. Both have totally opposite fleeces but they are both growing into nice solid rams with, in my opinion, nice overall confirmation.

I have gotten so involved with the lambs in the last post that I thought I would share the other "kids" in this post. I can't believe they are already a month old. The little doe on the left is just a pistol and she is just all about herself. The little buckling on the right is available.........hint, hint and he is very friendly. These 2 crack me up with their antics around the barn and they give their mom a run for her money.

And here is one of 2 ewes left to lamb. She is a chunk right now. Last year she had twins, a ewe & a ram, both very flashy.......so there is hope that I could get a ewe lamb; maybe twin ewes......okay, I won't push it, I'll just pray for one ewe.....hopefully a gullie:)

Seeking Advice on Ram Lamb Evaluations

I am starting to feel a tad overwhelmed in regards to all my little ram lambs. I guess it caught me off guard having so many rams being born this year. Of course it is my wish and goal to have them sold and all in good homes, whether it is as a fiber pet or as breeding stock.

The questions I have is,

"What is a good age to make the "decision" as to who to keep intake and who to wether?"

"What are some of the best indicators that one should use to make this decision?"

(like tail set, square front & rear, fleece quality, horns etc)

I read so many of your blogs and value the information/insight that many of you have and with so many boys this year, I want to try and get this as "right" as possible. I want them all, (minus one or 2 of course:) to find the right homes based on their best qualities.

My quick fix little nursery pen is getting a bit crowded. I would like the lambs to be at least 5 weeks old before I let them in with everyone else.....I know, I just worry so much that someone will step on one of them.

This is Abby's little ram. I think that he overall is turning out very nice. He is a big boy as he was a single. His markings crack me up as he has perfect patches on both his front and back legs.

What a cute little behind! His is settling up nicely, in my opinion particularly in the rear. His mom Abby, out of a Little Country Acres fawn kat ewe, has repeatly had the nicest Shetland fleece in the flock. In the picture, that is Abby to the left and her ewe lamb from last year, on the other side of the fence.

This ram lamb is a twin and has the same dam as Abby does, Little Country Acres Polly. He is just over 2 weeks old in this picture. He has the smallest of scurs also. Polly had twin kat ewes and each of her ewes are throwing some very nice fleeces to their lambs, again in my novice opinion of course:)

This kat. spotted ram is the twin to the one pictured above. In the past week, he has changed so much. He is filling out very nicely and is looking to be polled! In my opinion, he is one of the top ram lambs born this year.

It is so hard not to be overly friendly with the ram lambs but when there are 10 of the little guys, its hard not to. All the lambs this year are developing their own personalities and their little antics just bring a smile to my face:)

If your reading and have time to give some input on ram lamb evaluations, I would love to hear from you!!!!

Ram Lambs R Me

On Friday, May 1st lambs #11 & #12 were born respectively, both rams. They were the 3rd set of twin ram lambs born this year. 12 lambs have been born this year, 1o are rams.

GOOD GRIEF!!!!

Above are the little guys that were born May 1st with their fawn kat mom. Last year she gave birth to Jasper, my full-polled black ram. The ram on the right has a very smooth head, the ram on the left (smirslet markings on the face) has the smallest of button knobs on his head. I am hoping they will either be slightly scurred or polled.

Since I am talking ram lambs, here are 2 more samplings. The black smirslet one on the left is showing small buttons scurs at 2 weeks of age. The moorit ram on the right is also showing small button scurs at the same age. He has the tightest, coated fleece. He is also a milk stealer and randomly hits up other ewe moms for hits on their milk supply. He is quite a character.

Now between all of these lambings I am working on getting the garden in shape. Today I worked on tilling up this section to enlarge the garden. I am working on getting the grass off. I thought if I till this layer up, let it dry, then rake of the grass, then I can retill and get compost & peat moss in there. I did get the raised beds all tilled up today with the help of my Dad:)

And back to the ram lambs. This little guy I think is going to be my diamond in the rough. His mom is a young black ewe who got pregnant by mistake. She however, is turning out to be a wonderful young mom! I believe this little guy may be a single coat and he has absolutely NO signs of horns or scurs!! Totally smooth! My question is, "Would his markings be smirslet or krunet?" Now how nice would that be to have a polled ram carrying spots?! Fingers crossed!

And of course, then there are those 4 beautiful spotted boys that were born, all showing signs of little horn buds:) This little ram lamb is growing into a little power package! He has a beautiful, smooth, lustorous fleece, and his markings are just awesome! He would be a great herdsire for someone......hint, hint;)
All of the lambs are registerable, I am just really slow on getting paper work done. I will be posting more pics of the ram lambs within the week. I need to move these little guys into some nice flocks and since I have alot to move, I will be very "reasonable" on selling them. Let me know if you see anyone. I am pretty sure I will be going to the Michigan Fiber Feast this year and I am seriously looking at going to the Vermont Sheep & Goat Show show in October. If you are in those areas, I am willing to work out some arrangements:)

I have 2 black smirslet ewes left to lamb, both are sired by Jedidiah......fingers crossed that there is ewe lamb out there! But for now, this year's lamb motto is:

"Ram Lambs R Me"