Sunday, February 10, 2008

White Out and Lola Has Her Twins


After morning chores Matt decided we should get the Rambouillet ewes wormed and out of the corridor we were keeping them in. That was quite a feat due to the fact that they weigh about 300 pounds each and are very skittish. We had to seperate them from the two rams they were living with. They are rather docile rams but all the chasing around made them feisty. I was a bit wary of being in the big pen with them, but Matt was determined. I wanted them out, too, since they had been inside for a couple of months. I think one is about to deliver and I didn't want her to be in with rams when I was trying to help with new babies. We finally got it done, then I drove to New Berlin to get some food and the Sunday Times. If I don't get it I miss my favorite sections and Matt reads it all week. I hate to go out on weekends but I needed cat food, too. There was a blue sky when I left but the weather quickly turned awful. On the way back from town I was caught in a complete white out - twice. I mean, I couldn't see anything and had to stop completely for fear of running off the road or into the other lane. Cell phones don't work here. I thought I might have to abandon the truck and hike but I didn't have arctic gear with me. Storms come off of Lake Ontario and cause quite a blow, and this was a good one. I waited and the wind abated enough for me to see tall trees and telephone poles. That's how I drove home, forget about seeing the road. When I pulled in Kelly and Steve were here to pick up their rams and two buck kids. Amber, Kelly's daughter, wanted Gabriel who she had played with last year when he was tiny. They were here for the birth of a healthy ram lamb. Steve, who has taken up sheep as a hobby now, was able to watch Matt do the clip-dip-strip routine. I helped load the sheep and goats into their mini-van and we went about taking care of sheep. Two moms with twin ram lambs had to be wormed, tails and scrotums docked on the lambs, and let go to make room for the new mom and lamb. Got them in the pen and taken care of and heard little newborn goat sounds. Sure enough, Lola had twins under the bunny cages. Got them taken care of two. All this took some time.

3 comments:

  1. hey maggie!!! How are you? I'm so proud of how strong you are being! I'm loving these pictures i wish i could have bottle baby to care at its hand and foot like you do they sure are lucky to have you!!! And are you breeding those sheep every year?

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  2. Hi, Nathan! I am taking next year off for sure!! Keep warm!

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  3. Maggie, take some time and come over to my blog to collect your "MWAH" award! You got it because I look forward to reading your blog so much! Thanks for such a great blog!

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