There's Somethin' in the Water This Time of the Year!

Well, we have been a little busy lately here at Blue Mountain Farms!  First, I would to report on the kids.  Daphne, Scooby, and Shaggy are all doing very well!  Their daily routine is the following: eating like crazy, bouncing around, and sleeping.  Meanwhile, I have been putting Peek-A-Boo in a sling every day three times a day.  It isn't an easy task, but it needs to be done.  She has shown so much improvement that it is hard to believe!  She is trying harder everyday and I am really hoping that she can stand on her own soon.  Our veterinarian, Cindy, was even impressed when she saw Peek almost stand.  It was pretty interesting that Peek wanted to get up mainly because she is not a fan of the vet!  Quite surprising since Peek-A-Boo loves almost everyone.

On March 18th, Flo, Ashley's sheep, was contracting!  She was not acting like herself since that morning and now, she was having her lamb or lambs.  She pushed about two times, then hooves, and finally, a ram lamb!  Right away she was licking and cleaning off her little lamb.  A few minutes later, she started pawing at the ground.  "Was there another one?"  we all thought, but my mom was thinking this from the start.  We all thought that Flo was done after the first lamb, so we didn't believe mom until Flo started pushing again.  Like always, mom was right.  Another ram lamb!  Flo is such a wonderful mother!  She has, now, two happy, healthy ram lambs.  

Since Flo had her lambs, we knew that it wasn't going to be too long before everyone else had their lambs.  So we had a hourly barn check.  Every time we would go out to the barn, we would have to check Flo and her lambs, Pam (Flo's sister), Oats (another one of Ashley's sheep), Harley (yet another ewe of Ashley's), Willow (one of my Angora goats), and finally Borealis (another Angora goat).  The days just kept on passing by until finally, on March 29, yesterday, Pam went into labor.  I went out to the barn to check on everybody and give the kids their bottle.  I looked in Pam's pen, and there she was, pushing!  I ran to the back door to call for mom and ran back out.  She pushed and pushed and then mom said, "She needs help.  She is having trouble."  My dad went in to hold her and mom tried to pull the lamb.  I ran into the house to have Tyler come out to the barn, but, by the time we arrived, the lamb was out, another ram.  To our surprise, it was all black!  This was new and quite shocking since both parents are white!  Genetics are a curious thing.  

After about twenty minutes, Pam had the lamb all cleaned up and he was already trying to stand up, but Pam started pawing again.  We did not expect her to have twins!  A few pushes later, a new born ram.  Oy vey, another ram.  How many rams are the sheep going to have?  There were still two more sheep to go, and hopefully one of them has at least one ewe.  Unfortunately for the second ram lamb, Pam had no intention of cleaning him off.  She wanted nothing to do with him in fact.  This meant that she was rejecting him!  We can never really understand why a mother does this, but sometimes it happens.  Needless to say, he spent the night in a crate in Ashley's room, but all he did was cry.  He cried all night long and let's just say that in the morning, the crate went outside to the barn.  No worries, he is getting plenty of attention and bottles.

This morning seemed normal, so I didn't think that there would be any lambs or kids today, but around lunch time, when only Ashley and I were home, Oats started crying, a lot.  I ran out and watched her for a little while until she began contracting.  Immediately I ran to call Ashley, working in the mill, and raced back to Oats.  Ashley came down and we waited and waited.  She was pushing but nothing was happening!  We waited for about seven minutes, then we saw hooves!  We knew that she had to have this lamb soon or else it was going to die.  The only thing was that no one else was home!  It was just Ashley and me.  We knew that she was going to need help, but finally, after what seemed an eternity, mom pulled into the driveway and I alerted her about Oats.  She didn't hesitate to run to the action packed stall.  After Oats pushed about two more times, we knew she needed help.  My mom and Ashley went in and Ashley tried to pull the lamb.  Mom held Oats and calmed her down.  In less than a minute, one ram lamb was welcomed to Blue Mountain Farms!   He is strong, healthy, and Oats loves him!  Hmmm - Ashley currently has a perfect record of ram lambs with only one more ewe, Harley, left to go.  

Now it is Willow's, Borealis's, and Harley's turn.  I hope they have no trouble and they are all healthy. 

Peek-A-Boo this morning.

Peek in the sling this morning.  She loves when I give her snacks! 

Pam's lamb.  Isn't he cute? 

Pam's other lamb, Suess.  He is the poor lamb that Pam rejected, but he is happy with his bottles, attention, and crate!

Willow and Elle are pretty funny goats, don't you think? 

Secret is enjoying the Spring like weather! 

Ashley having some fun with the kids