Tuesday 13 September 2011

Lambs everywhere

The lambs are coming thick and fast this week, we're well over a third of the way through now.  This little sweetie called Midnight belongs to 'Pinkie' who was a pet lamb of the girls several years ago.  Sadly Pinkie has no milk, so they are living together in the house paddock, where 'Midnight' gets bottle fed four times a day.  Here is mother and baby together.................... if she wasn't a pet sheep they would not be remaining together!
It's rare for us to get a set of quads, but here they are, we know they're quads because they were born with a number four on each of their backs........... only kidding.............. but once we spray mark them it does make it easier to put them all back together if one wanders off.



Imagine trying to keep track of four babies at once ...........................

For the townies out there don't be alarmed by the colour of these twins below, it is normal, the ewe will clean them up pretty quickly, in fact she's eating some afterbirth in this photo(sorry about that!)

One of these is not like the other ........ the bigger lamb in the centre has wandered off from his mum, and is trying to get amongst the action with this ewe and her new twins.  Mostly the ewe will bunt him away, but occasionally if you don't remove it quick enough she may take this lamb and leave her own behind. 
 So that's a quick farm tour for today ........................ if you're lambing or calving I hope it's going well for you - we've had a rough 24 hours of weather here, an inch and a half of rain in less than a day, and even some hail and snow early this morning.  It's improved a little today, but they are forecasting more snow for Thursday.  We had a lot of very cold newborn lambs and their mums in shelter last night, and almost all have made it through unscathed.

If you've seen any of the Rugby World Cup games - hasn't it been fantastic?!  I'm loving seeing the lower ranked teams giving the big name teams a good workout.  Go the AB's!

Catch you soon, where I can finally share some more Tis the Season progress..........getting there slowly.

Nicky

30 comments:

Makeminemidcentury said...

They are so cute!

'Afterbirth' info's made me a bit queezy!

Christine S said...

Oh my gosh, they're so amazingly cute!!! Especially the one in the first picture!!

Karen said...

Aawww - cute. Spring is definitely on its way, just hope that the bad weather is only passing through very quickly.

Ali Honey said...

We too are enjoying the other teams doing well......poor old silly refs...who would want to be one?

Good luck with the weather. I was brought up doing lambing duties and then for the first 10 years we we married.
Generally speaking vines and trees are just where you left them and don't run away or fall in drains...but have their own set of problems!...We are glad we don't yet have new shoots on the vines with this horrid wind. The avos are getting a bashing...due to pick them within the next few weeks.

Fiona said...

I did so enjoy hearing all about the lambs.... and seeing the quads is pretty special...
GO WALLABIES....
Hehe...
Hugz

Anonymous said...

Sounds busy. Lovely pictures.

Shelley H said...

Love it! I just love this time of the year. One of my favourites on the farm is seeing new born lambs. I don't even mind having to hand raise one or a dozen but it is better if they are able to be raised by their real mums. I love reading about your life and adventures on the farm.
Cheers Shelley H.

Thimbelina said...

What lovely photo's Nicky.... so glad your little lambs are arriving safely! Hope the weather improves soon.

Deb said...

Nicky a sure sign of spring and new life. There is nothing cuter than bubs and Mum's. Hoping the weather settles soon for you around the farm.

Anonymous said...

Had to have a large chuckle about the quads... amazing that they have '4's on them so you know who they are!! It's like they are born with their own little indivudal fingerprint so you know who is who!! ;) What do you use to mark them?

Michelle said...

Lambs are always so cute... we have three pet ones at the moment and yes they will end up in the freezer. Don't work too hard and I hope the weather warms up for you!

Wendy said...

Gorgeous lamb photos. I hope you and the lambs are surviving the bad weather, we have stoked up the fire again!

Googy Girl said...

absolutely gorgeous.......imagine four at once....ahhhh the headache...
it would be hard for me not to have a dozen pet lambs...but then i am a city slicker.....

Siobhán said...

Ahh, the cure for stuffing my face while reading blogs... a picture of an ewe eating the afterbirth. ROFLOL G-R-O-S-S but that is nature so thanks for sharing (I think!)! LOL What NEAT pictures!! It must be amazing for your kids to experience all of that.

Chookyblue...... said...

oh my old girls would have thought they had died and gone to heaven with the green grass...........lambs are so cute.....

Annie said...

How adorable! You could write a childrens' book with these photos as illustrations (except that afterbirth snack thing of course, yuk!).

Your weather should be improving soon, just as ours will soon degrade!

Carol said...

What fascinating photos, Nikki--I thoroughly enjoyed each one. And I learned a lot, too! The quads are precious... Good luck with everything--I'm sure this time of year is very busy for your family!!

Anonymous said...

Nicky they are so cute

Sally said...

So, so cute!!!! I just love lambs and sheep. I'm coming to NZ!!!

RobynLouise said...

Your lambs seem so tiny and frail compared to our Brahman calves. Thankfully we haven't had to pull any so far *Crossing fingers*. The excitement will be on in a few weeks when a friend's agisting thoroughbred mare gives birth to her first foal and our mare has her fourth at around the same time.
Cheers,
Robyn

butterfly said...

oh i love them so cute.

Deborah said...

Oh my goodness--they are the cutest!

Tricia T said...

I love the pictures! I hope your weather behaves!

rosie said...

Loved the pictures Nicky... hope you are all managing to stay nice and warm.. hope not to much rain and snow falls on you and your babies..xx

Christine said...

Very cute ... I love the second picture of the mum and bubba.

Lyn said...

Hope the weather warms up again for all your new arrivals.. that is one of the things I like about Spring -seeing the lambs and their antics out in the paddocks ..even for a townie!! Have been watching some of the games, but sorry I will be hoping for a different result to you and most of the country!!!- land of birth wins over country of residence!

Josie said...

Thanks for the lamb pics... they'll keep me going till spring starts here and the field in front of the house fills up with little wooly cuteness.
Hope the rest of lambing goes well for you. Scotland scraped another win.... watch out AB's!!

Susie said...

Amazing. love seeing them - they really are cute!

carole brungar said...

How gorgeous, BUT 4 lambs! OMG! Ours are late to lamb, still another month away yet, just growing a few lambs to keep the freezer full. We only have 6 ewes. Lambing is the nicest time of the year tho :)

Tatkis said...

Ohhh, those lambs are so cute and sweet!
And yes, we are watching Rugby Cup too :))

Hugs,
Tatyana

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