The Ram Marking Harness Conundrum

This year, I used a marking harness on Cragganmore when I put him out with the ewes.  For those who don't know, a marking harness is worn by the ram (or a goat buck) and has a coloured marking block of waxy, crayon-like material positioned on the chest.  When the ram mounts a ewe, he leaves a coloured spot on her back, showing that she has (likely) been bred.  I thought it would be an excellent way of tracking who had been bred and therefore predicting due dates.  I dutifully noted each day which ewes were more colourful than they day before, and kept track of all this information on an Excel spreadsheet that I titled "Farm Fornication Data," much to the amusement of a few house guests who saw the sheet posted on the wall of the kitchen.

The sheet also gave me the correct dates to provide CDT shots, suggested day to move to the lambing jug, suggested day for a vitamin E shot if I felt it was necessary, and other such useful dates.  I was quite pleased at being so organized this year for the goat kidding and lambing events.  I thought I had it all figured out.

The goats actually performed on schedule, and all 3 goat moms gave birth within 2 days of their scheduled date. These goats all were due to give birth before the sheep, so they lulled me into a sense of security...a sense that I had taken control and was fully informed...a confidence that I knew when my lambs were going to be arriving.  HA!

My detailed spreadsheet, so carefully followed, told me the following:
1.  Oreo the Icelandic was due to give birth on Monday, April 26.
2.  Paisley the BFL was due to give birth on Wednesday, April 28.
3.  Flurry the Icelandic was due to give birth on Friday, April 30.
4.  Poppy, the Rambouillet-Suffolk-Dorset cross bred was due to give birth on Sunday, May 2.
Every morning last week, when I went down to the pasture, I carefully wandered around inspecting sheep rear ends and looking for the signs of labour.  Every morning, I was disappointed, and began to lose faith in my spreadsheet.

Yesterday, on Friday April 30, Poppy was the first of the four to give birth!  Meanwhile, Oreo and Flurry continue to stare at me when I try to look at their rear ends, flaunting their huge udders and wide-load appearances.

Bianca is also giving me "the look." 

I know they are secretly laughing at me (or not so secretly).  I hear it when I turn my back and walk away.  See?!

My spreadsheet lied.  And now I am completely clueless about lambing dates.   Paisley I'm not so sure about - her udder is still fairly small, so her original mark may have been a failed attempt.

At least I can feel better looking at Poppy's beautiful ram lamb, born yesterday morning, completely off schedule, but with relative ease.

He is a whopping 12 pounds!  Thank goodness she just had a single!  He's a gorgeous black lamb with a little silvering showing on his back.

What a handsome boy.  I am really curious to see how his fleece turns out, given his 50% blue faced Leicester genetics.  I'm not sure what percentage Poppy is in terms of her Rambouillet/Suffolk/Dorset mix, so it's hard to say what percentage the remaining genetics are in her lamb.  I personally think the BFL is showing!

Regardless, he is beautiful, even if he is already laughing at my spreadsheet.