More lambieliciousness

I realised today that it has been three weeks since my last blog post, so I guess it's time to do an update on the lambies -  they have changed so much since then.
I promised my cousin Steve that my next blog post will be about something other than my woolly friends...so I lied...that's OK, Steve's wife appreciates my sheepies. So today we are going heavy on the sheep photos. First I will show my 'keeper' ewes.
This is Luna's ewe lamb, she was the last lambie born this year. I am using a Mythology theme for names this year, so this little girl is Crosswinds Athena. She is amazing, and will be staying here.

This is Ashumet's black ewe lamb, Lucina (Lucy). I wasn't planning on keep any solid color lambs, but how could I resist this little girl, and that fleece?

Cassie's daughter, Bellona (Bella). This girl has been a show-off from day one. Pretty girl, with nice, single coated fleece.

Now, the rest of the crew...or at least some of them.

Crosswinds Thor. (sold)

 Amazing fleece. No britch wool. Fine, crimpy softy soft soft....did I mention that he is soft?

 Thor is scurred and one of his little scurs fell off the other day, so half his head is neekked.
 He is going to make some lovely lambs : ). For those non-sheepie readers, my friend Juliann has a wonderful website that explains polled/scurred/half-polled genetics if you are not familiar with the terminology.

Thor's twin brother, Apollo. ( reserved pending scur growth)

He's a fancy boy too!

Below is Loki, he has some of the nicest fleece of any of the lambs. Loki is a half-poll as well. Loki is one of Lilly's triplets so he has matured a bit slower than some of the other rams, but he is coming along nicely. At this stage, my only complaint about him is that he could use some width, but I think that might come as he matures.

The longish looking end of his tail is just baby hair, he actually has a nice tail.

OK, I guess I need to post fewer pictures of each lamb or we are never going to be done here.....

Holly's katmoget ram, Atlas, with Loki. If I can't find a nice, fine-fleeced, spotted ram to use this fall I may use Atlas on a few girls if his horns continue to look good. He would be for sale later in the fall in that case. Atlas carries spots.

Gunnar is Willow's boy. He is ag (grey) with full horns and very fine fleece. He has a tiny little tail like his dam. Gunnar carries spots. He is on hold right now, may be for sale.

Zeus is a really nice, solid-sided gulmoget boy. He looks like he will have full horns, but his sire is a half- poll so I am not sure yet. Gorgeous conformation, nice fleece. I may use him on a couple of my gully girls this fall before I sell him.....if he has full horns. He carries spots.

These are Lovey's boys, Neptune and Helios. Both of these boys will be for sale. Carry spots.

Helios looks to have full horns. His fleece and conformation are gorgeous.

Neptune is a tank. Big. Wide. Tank. Nice fleece and conformation. I am not sure if he has slow growing horns or if they are aberrant.

                    "MOooooooooo!"

This little guy ( below) is Crosswinds Pegasus, I am still waiting to see what his fleece is going to do before I offer him for sale.. You may remember that he was born with very straight "dog hair". It looks like there is crimpy fleece coming in underneath-finally. I should know in a few weeks.

This is Daisy's ram lamb. He will be going to an unregistered pet flock.

OMG, I forgot I had so many sheep.....with the exception of my 'keeper girls', this blog post only included most of the ram lambs! This could take forever! Sorry, Steve, I will have to have a another separate post about the ewe lambs.
I will try to get my "for sale" page on this blog updated.
For some reason, blogger comments seem to not be working. The only way I have been able to leave comments is by using the "anonymous" button in the comment section.

Tah- DAaah!

 Luna finally delivered...and boy did she ever deliver! I got my wildly spotted, ewe lamb that looks like she will have very fine fleece, just like I ordered. Thanks, Luna! I'll have some better pictures once she is all dried off and she is outside, but for now she is snuggled inside the barn bonding with her mama...and me ; ).

I don't have spring microns back yet, but Luna's fall micron was:

AFD. 24.0 / SD 6.2 / CV 26.0 / CEM 13.8 / <15 3.3/ CF 86.1/ SF 24.5.

Avyt, the lamb's sire, had a November micron of::

AFD.24.5 / SD 4.0 / CV 16.3 / CEM 6.9 / CF 94.1% / SF 22.9.

Perfect little Shetland tail too!

Now that lambing is officially completed, I will start putting together my 'For Sale' list....and get some rest! Oh, yeah, and think of names....

Official count 11 rams, 10 ewes.

Signs of Spring? Maybe.....

Spring is still attempting to make it's appearance here in Iowa. It has been very slow in coming this year. Overnight temps are continually going down into the 30's, and there was scattered frost just North of us last night. I know spring is coming though!

My pear trees are blooming.

The Barn Swallows returned around May first, as they do every year.

There has been a turf war, of sorts, going on between the returning Swallows and some opportunistic Sparrows. The Sparrows took up residence in the nests that the Swallows built last year, they filled the empty nests with junk and feathers and made them their own. Now that the Swallows are back they want to reclaim their nesting spots. I am not going to lie, I am on "Team Barn Swallow", I'm not a huge fan of the messy Sparrows.

Speaking of nests, Gary noticed a pair of Starlings collecting nesting material out in the driveway the other day.....then he saw them flying up underneath my truck and coming back out without said nesting material....so, a check under the hood revealed....

Maybe I need to leave the farm more often.

The chicks are a month old now and have reached the...ummm....not so cute stage. This is one of the Splash Blue Laced Red Wyandottes. They will be really pretty some day....really, they will.

The Asparagus is growing like crazy...I'm not sure why I planted it, it's not a favorite of mine, but the sheep sure like it!

I have even gotten a couple of trees planted in spite of the cold weather. What do you mean, you can't see it? Yes, there is a tree there, don't laugh. Look closely!

You probably think I have lost my mind, but this is a Curly Willow and they grow 4-6 feet per year.....and it is planted in 5 years worth of well composted chicken manure, so, see, I'm not that crazy......well.

The chickens have kicked up egg production-just in time for the start of  the Summer Farmers' Market.

Well, that is, most of them have kicked up production...someone clearly is not pulling her weight!

The last of the lambs (Ashumet's ewe lamb) has joined the rest of the flock outside.

Ohhh, wait......that's not the last lamb...because Luna STILL hasn't had her lamb(s)!  You probably want to ask, "Are you sure she's pregnant?"

Yup, pretty sure!

COME ON LUNA!!!!!!