Early January 2018 has been COLD to say the least. Here are some scenes captured during the below 0 days. We are all dreaming of spring, seeds and lambs. 

This is Hei-Hei, our rooster. 

And this is ill Hei-Hei at the vet. 

2 weeks ago Hei-Hei became extremely lethargic. He stopped cock-a-doo-da-dooing, he stopped eating, and he just "slept" all day.

After 24 hours of unusual behavior I decided to take him to the vet, where I was told my rooster was, well, sick. Yes, official diagnosis of sick. Most vets, even large animal vets, do not have much experience with treating chickens. I was told to isolate him from the flock, keep him hydrated and hope for the best. Which is exactly what I did.

I was giving Hei-Hei a fresh oregano and garlic tea that was mixed with Save-A-Chick probiotics. He was drinking drops at a time and the rest was going to the laying flock. After 3 days of isolation he wanted to get back outside to the comfort of his hens.

I am happy to say that after days of worrying he has made a full recovery.

Hei-Hei paid me for my kindness by attacking me three times in the barn last night...... big thanks I get.

When you go out to check on the garden and end up filling your dress with gourds.....

Who says your outdoor living space can't have a flower arrangement?  

Get our and enjoy  beautiful fall days!

Zinnias harvested on a warm, early fall afternoon. The beauty the garden has produced is breathtaking. 

Here is an update of some of our lambs.

Her is 22's baby girl buried in her hay, this face is begging to be snuggled. 

We choose to individually separate all the mothers and lambs for at least the first week post lambing.  We do this for a few reasons. First, it is much easier for a mother to get her lambs the proper milk intake if they do not have to walk all over the larger pen to get grain, hay and water. When I first  had my daughter and we were working on our nursing skills I really didn't move much from the couch, my focus was getting the hang of keeping a baby alive with just my body.  We provide the same concept for the ewes, only without the couch. Putting the mothers in separate pens also allows up to monitor their health at a closer level. I can tell how much each ewe has drank or hay she has eaten, if she is starting to feel off I can identify it much quicker. If there is  a sick lamb they are much easier to identify, grab and treat.    

Remember our first female lamb of the season?  She is still adorably cute and growing.

Here she is learning how to eat grain from her mother, 19.   I am going to have to think of a name for her, open to suggestions!

The triplets are growing quite well. It appears that we will be able to keep them all with their mother. 

There are nine or so ewes yet to lamb, come cute babies to come!

21 had her baby the other day while we turned our backs.

​He is another almost all white lamb, the second one this season to look this way.  

He has the most unique markings on his face. It looks like he has a mustache and that someone has painted horns between his eyes and ears.

At the right angle he reminds me of a Dias de Los Muertos  skull. 

It will be very interesting to see what the markings look like after his wool comes in.

Here are 22 (daughter of 4 and Gaston) and her new single female lamb.  She was born late at night/early in the morning, depending on how you look at it. 

The other day while we were both at work Bixler's Girlfriend gave birth to triplets. She must feel so much.... lighter. 

Bixler's Girlfriend is one of our best mothers, often helping her sister Sweet Pea tend to her lambs. At first when we found her with three babies we thought perhaps she stole from another mother.  After investigation we found that no one else had lambed, confirming she really did have triplets.  Based on her mothering history I am really not concerned that she will be able to juggle three different lambs. So far, she has not proven me wrong and has been taking great care of getting all three off to a good start. 

The group had two males and one female. 

It is not easy to get all of them in one shot. Below, they are just a few hours old, just learning how to walk. 

The look of a happy lamb.

We will need to keep a close eye on the growth of the lambs for a few days. Bixler's Girlfriend will need extra calories in order to support the increased milk production needed to feed triplets. If one of the lambs is not growing at the same rate as the other two we will need to decide which lamb to pull off and start bottle feeding. It would seem that pulling the smallest lamb off would be best, but we would prefer to pull off the largest lamb. A small, weak lamb would benefit more from on demand nursing with the mother, while a larger, strong lamb can better handle the time between bottle feedings. Hopefully we will not need to get out the bottles this year. 

Who doesn't love hour old baby lambs?

Early Sunday I went to the barn for morning checks to find a baby lamb outside the main sheep pen. He had rolled out under the gate and was separated from his mother. Inside the large pen was an upset mother and a twin lamb. 

19 (daughter of Sweet Pea) had birthed the lambs sometime in the early hours of the morning and luckily had strong mothering instincts.  By the time I got out there she had the lambs cleaned, dried off, and nursed.  This is 19's first lambing season and she has produced possibly the cutest lamb I have ever seen.  

I can not get enough of this little female lamb who is more white than black. Her brother is what we have traditionally seen for color.  I love how her white comes down her ears and across her face almost to her nose.  I think she looks like a Holstein calf.      

Bixler, our dog, is always a little meticulous with the lambs and wants to make sure they are as clean as possible.  Here you can see a little more of the white markings on the female's chin.  

Our 2016 has officially started. I can only hope the rest goes as smoothly.