Lambs in the Sunshine

No more new lambs since last night, but so many ewes that are SOOOOOO close. Not only the 6 that are already in the lambing pens, but several more that are approaching their due dates in the next couple of days.

I rearranged again, putting the new babies and their mothers outside in a small, nearby paddock where the babies can get used to having a little room to play before I turn them out into the larger pasture. This allowed me to rearrange the ewes inside so that everyone but Peri and Phoebe have private rooms again. Now they need to hurry up and drop those babies before I need to put the next batch of ewes inside.

Ken also helped me ear tag the babies today. We haven't tagged newborn lambs before---we usually put on the Scrapie tag in early August at the same time that we tattoo the lambs' ears. But this year we're having so many more lambs than we ever have, I'm afraid I won't be able to keep track of who's who if we don't put tags on them now.

So we bought little tiny lamb tags that don't weigh down their little ears too much. The tagging process is very quick, and the lambs didn't even cry or fuss. They jumped a little when the tagger pinched them, and then they acted like nothing happened.

Here's little Una in her new playpen:

Unity preferred to nap in a pile of fresh hay:
The funniest thing about the new lambs being outside is that Nina, Halsa, and Bylgja---three yearling ewes who are due to have their first lambs pretty soon---spent the afternoon clustered next to the fence, gazing adoringly at the babies. They LOOOOVED those babies. They WAAAANTED those babies!!! They paced back and forth next to the fence, trying to get as close as possible. I hope this indicates good things about their mothering ability when they do give birth!

Around midday, the vet came to do a health certificate for my filly Andromeda, who is sold and should be leaving here next week. He also did spring shots for Andromeda, Callista, and Torchsong. That's as much as we can afford right now. After we get the rest of the money from Andromeda's sale, I'll get shots done for the four remaining yearling horses too.