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Saturday, April 18, 2009

The Ewes Are Getting Close!

I thought I'd blog today about my pregnant ewes. As Corinne of Crosswinds Farm says, sometimes you just want to go out there and squeeze them to see if that helps them along! Oreo and Clover are due on, or about, April 27. Kitkat is due on or about May 2.

All three of them were bred to "Thunder" and he is a hunk of ram love! Check him out!
What a handsome guy! Just look at that fleece! Dreamy!
Thunder lives on Hedge Apple Farm here in Iowa, which is where we bought Oreo, KitKat and Clover. We are pretty excited to see what fleece colors we get from Thunder's lambs!

Oreo looks like she might go first. She is already very milky. Her udder is very lopsided though. Poor girl!
I hope she will fill out on the other side enough to provide enough milk for her lambs. Last year she had quads! I just learned that yesterday from Lorraine, her former owner. I wonder what she will have this year. Here she is from the side.

KitKat is as big as a house, but she'll be the last to go because she has the later due date. Luna really enjoys hanging around with KitKat - I'm not sure why! Based on KitKat and Thunder's color, I suspect we will have some lovely moorit lambs if we are lucky! Moorit is the brown color that KitKat has.

Here's Kitkat with Lotus the Nigerian dwarf goat to her left, Coffee the mini-Nubian to her right, and Luna behind her. Everybody's enjoying the hay. You can really see how round KitKat's belly is in this picture!
Here's Clover, our dalmatian sheep! Well, she looks like one to me! She is looking pretty wide, and her udder is huge. Bianca's lambs, Calypso and Clipper, are happy to hang around with Clover too. Look at that lamb bump on her right side! Wow!
Here's Clover having a chat with Kelly! We had to put up some fine plastic mesh because the lambs and Luna were going through the cattle panel squares. Naughty girls!
I'll be sure to post with lamb pictures - hopefully in 9 days!

11 comments:

Lola Nova said...

So good to see all the gals and babies and babies on the way. I thought your hands were full before, they are about to runneth over!

How is school going? Are you taking the summer off from classes?

I am sending good thoughts to your expecting critters, and of course to you.

Jenny said...

Can't wait to see some little lamb pictures. Waiting is the hardest...
~Jenny~

Nancy K. said...

Your girls all look to be in very good condition! They really are quite lovely. And the ram they are bred to is gorgeous! I'd say you're going to have some pretty spectacular lambs......

Unknown said...

Thunder really is a beautiful hunk. I'm glad you explained Moorit - I've been meaning to google it. Thought it might be a type of sheep, so now I know it's a color - and a grand one at that!

Let's hope Diane doesn't "bump out" as much as your ewes do!!!

Giggle - my WV is "humpet" - I think they already humped!

Nancy

Crosswinds Farm said...

OMG! Your girls are looking very...ummmm...healthy! You will definitely have some moorit lambies out of Kit Kat : ).
Poor Oreo, I hope she doesn't have quads again!
I am still waiting for mine to pop too.....squeezing is sounding better all the time LOL!

Mare said...

Oh i love all those big bellies! hahaha Can't wait to see all the little ones Claire! :)

Alison said...

Aw, the babies are precious! Good to see Luna again; I was missing her pics.

I am very glad I am not Clover; I can't imagine how she gets around with her sides sticking out like that!

By the way, were you the one that wanted a sweatshirt or such from my farmer's market post two months ago? I didn't mean to ignore you; you just intimidated me with Paypal and all. :) If you're still interested, let me know and I'll check on prices.

Christy said...

That is one huge udder! And the mini-nubian doesn't look that mini. How much bigger are they than nigerians?

Lola Nova said...

Oh yeah, I meant to compliment the handsome hunk of ram, he is a looker!

Unknown said...

Just lost my comment! OK - here goes again:

I just saw Oreo's babies on Facebook - they're beautiful! So does that leave just Clover and Kit Kat? Any other expectant mothers: goats, bunnies, llamas, more donkeys? And how is little unexpected Onyx? And what does Luna think of all the new lambs that are taking attention from her?

I hope Oreo's udder evened out for the twins' dining enjoyment.

Nancy

diane said...

yay for lots of fun udder pics! LOL! i liked the wonky ones the best ; )