RAMS ARE HERE

It's that time of year again ;)

Got a new ram lamb and an older ram for breeding this year.
Y'all remember Duke, right?
He's Irene's sire and a big chunky guy.

I bought one of his grandlambs to keep for a while.

Duke will go with Wendy, Pax and Diana(unless Diana's already pregnant)
Then in late August, Duke will go back to his home while I keep the ram lamb.

NOW this ram lamb is huge, and out of the other ram, Red, whom I had last year along with Duke.
This ram lamb is named Optimus and he's HUGE such a big boy for 3 months old!

He'll go with Jillian, MaryEllen, Irene and Raindrop sometime around September/October.
A lucky guy.

New sheep!

SO I GOT A NEW SHEEP ON THE 10th
Her name is Raindrop and she's awesome.
3 months old and a very pretty color pattern

Here's Raindrop

I'm also going to see and pick my ram lamb today. To make a final decision on which one I want

Also might be selling Irene instead of Jillian.

I'm almost liking the way Jillian looks more than Irene.

Jillian has a longer body and longer legs, she has more of a proportionally correct body as well....

I guess we'll see

I'll make a post later about the ram lambs when I get back

Goats?

Yeah, I'm getting goats.

Today, probably.

Wanted to just get one dairy goat to milk and then freeze the milk, just in case of an emergency with my lambs. BUT ends up I might be getting two goats haha...
The family I'm getting them from is moving out of state due to the husband's job.
They treat their goats extremely well and seemed genuinely sad to see them go.

Turns out goats are kind of like pigs, in the social sense. You can't just get one, because it will destroy the fencing trying to escape.

Anyway, I'm getting a 10 month old doe who is pregnant and due to kid in August. Hopefully.
I was originally gonna stick with JUST her, but this doe's mother is extremely attached to her baby.
So I will probably have to get the mother as well. She's about 8 or so, and currently in milk.
She came from an abusive and strenuous home, and was once hit so hard, she now has a crooked jaw.
She was then rescued and has been with her 'now' owner for about 3 years.

So I'll be getting a young goat, and an older one with a lot of character haha

This is the 10 month old doe.
She's 50% Nigerian Dwarf, 25% Alpine and 25% Nubian.

This is the 8 year old. You can't see her crooked face in this picture.
But you can get a pretty good idea of what she looks like?
She needs a good home to retire.
She's 50% Alpine, and 50% Nubian.

New ewe final decision

So you know those two ewe lambs I was choosing between?
I went and took a look at them yesterday to make a final decision.

I chose the black ewe with the white speckles.
Her name right now is "Rain" but I think I'll change that.
I was going to get the white ewe lamb named "LemonDrop" and I loved the name haha.

Maybe this new ewe could be named RainDrop? To honor her original name, and my original choice?
It's a cute name too heehee


ALSO, HAPPY EASTER

Here is Rain's sire, he's full Dorper. SO HANDSOME

This is Rain's dam, she looks like a Blackbelly, but she's really a full Katahdin.
The 'badger' markings are just a throwback color.

AND HERE'S RAIN.
She's gotten so big.
Chose her because she has a longer body, straighter back, and longer legs.
Plus she's so pretty, that always sells.

Getting a ram in July

WELL
The neighbor I borrowed Duke from has a ram lamb that I think I'm going to buy.
I plan for Duke to breed MaryEllen, Wendy and Pax if she didn't take to Buttercup.
Then I'll return Duke, but keep the ram lamb up through October to breed Irene and my new ewe I'll be getting in May. They'll be 8 months in October and old enough to breed I'd say.
The ram will be 6 months, also old enough.
So it'll work out.

This guy is out of Red and a Katahdin/Dorper ewe.
He was a single at 11 pounds. He doesn't have a lot of color to him, mostly white with a dark nose and a brown-ish tail.
He's a big guy though, and looked a bit better than my other choice, who was a colored ram lamb.

This one is a bit blurry, but here he is

Here's the little guy and his mom.

Spring Term

School started back up again and I'm super tired right now.
I crammed all my classes into MWF so YIKES
Tuesday, Thursday will be homework days for sure.

Buttercup is now in the freeze due to bad behavior.
He started hurting the ewes, so now he's gone to freezer camp.

Good news is though, the little lambs are growing up real nice
Actually starting to look like sheep, and not just lambs.

Irene always comes over for scratches, we have a good relationship.
6 weeks old.

Here's the twins.  Samson's in the front, Jillian's in the back.
Both are about 9 weeks old.

Here's Marty, showing off his impressive lip curling skills, after smelling Diana's.... urine.
WHAT A LITTLE STUD.
He's about 6 weeks old here.

New Ewe Lamb

It's been a while since I've last posted.
School is finally over for the term though, so Spring Break is here.

I've decided to make the decision to sell Diana for a more durable ewe.
Diana is really flighty, and consistently wormy.... both traits I don't really like haha
I do like her though, I think she's wonderful... just a little below the others.
I'm going to sell her with the chance she may has been bred, seeing as how she's been with Buttercup for almost two weeks now.
There's a chance, but then, there's also a chance she's still open for business.

Anyway, I've been looking for a replacement for her, and I came across this very VERY kind young couple who is raising a small flock of Katahdin/Dorper sheep. I've visited their place twice and got to take a peek at the ewe lambs for sale.
I'm going to contact the lady about a month from now and tell her which ewe I want.

I've narrowed my search down to these two lambs!
The black/white ewe lamb was born the second week of Feb.
She has long legs and has very flashy markings. She's also a twin.

The white ewe lamb is HUGE.
She was a big single I guess, born around the same time Marty and Irene were born.
This ewe has a nice big frame, but shorter legs.
Her ear tips are also kind of tan/brown-ish, which is fun.
Her dam is a tri-colored brown/cream/and white ewe. So she should throw color, I suppose.

The Sire of both of the ewe lambs is a HUGE Dorper ram. He's black with white speckles.
Not the traditional Dorper coloring, but he's a handsome boy.