Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Guess A Lamb!

We're in the final countdown to the first lambs of the year now.  Who wants to join me in a game of Guess-A-Lamb?  I want to know:

  1. When will the lambs be born?
  2. How many will there be?
  3. What gender(s) will they be?
  4. What colors will they be?
Read on for hints!

This is Rowena, the ewe with the earliest due date.  Her due date is so much earlier than anyone else's, there's pretty much no doubt that she will be the first one to lamb.  These photos were taken 5 days ago.

Hint #1:   She was bred on October 29th, which means that her due date is approximately March 19-21. 

Hint #2:  Most Icelandic sheep have a single lamb their first year and twins thereafter, but triplets and even quads are possible.  Last year, Rowena had only one lamb, but he was twice the normal size!  Her lifetime lambing record is:  1,2,2,1.

Hint #3:  Possible lamb colors from this cross are:
  • White
  • Black solid
  • Moorit solid
  • Black badger
  • Moorit badger
  • And possibly, a spotted version of any of the above colors.
(If you want to see examples/explanations of the colors, see my article Icelandic Sheep Color Genetics.)

The time is getting close.  I'm going to clean and re-organize my lambing kit and finish getting the lambing barn set up today.  Before I know it, there will be lambs everywhere!

7 comments:

Rowena said...

Here's Rowena on Rowena (I just had to have a guess at this one!!!) I think Rowena will have two lambs on March 20th, one male and one female and one in black solid and one in white ......

Goooooooo Rowena!!!!

Carrie said...

She'll lamb on the 21st - 2 ewes, one black badger & one white

heather o. said...

twin rams, moorit badger, march 21 - but who was she bred to???

Nancy Chase said...

She was bred to William. The whole list of who was bred to whom, and when they're due is here: http://inglesideicelandics.com/index_files/lambs.htm

From Mom to Grandma said...

one of each.
the 19th
1 white and 1 moorit badger

Mary W. said...

I think they will be a white ram lamb and a black badger ewe lamb, early in the morning on the 21st. I can hardly wait!

Mary W. said...

I think she will have a white ram lamb and a black badgerface ewe lamb, early in the morning on the 21st. I can hardly wait!