Okay, this is not a baby photo. It's just me, a shepherdess-in-waiting. Chloe is lambing. She's in the barnyard. She is very timid. A yearling, it looks like she might need some help but she won't stay still and she won't come into the barn. I have a clean white towel tucked into my coat. Smudge is behind me with her babies. It was a very long evening. Chloe finally gave birth in the field, without assistance, as darkness was settling in. I ensured baby was breathing and then backed off so she could mother it up, which Chloe did well. Very slowly I was able to coax Chloe to follow me while I held the lamb low at ground height. Finally I got her into the Small Barn and a warm, dry pen as full darkness had set in. Baby "Tiny", a female, is doing well.
Babies love to romp and play with each other. They run back and forth. They bounce and buck-jump and pronk. Another game is king of the castle, taking turns jumping up onto some object. I saw them the other day playing this on the well topper in the field. Butting heads is a little game - unlike their mothers who take it much more seriously.
On the right is Smudge, making noise, as usual. One of her twins is at her side.
On the left is Dot with two of her three babies.
In the centre is Cotton with Tiger. They are doing very very well. Cotton has burrs stuck under her jaw. The sheep are finding all of the burdock and there are many. This does not bode well for a spinner. Some time will be spent this summer rooting out burdock plants in the pasture.
Babies at play. When they are not sleeping in clusters in the field, or nibbling at new grass, babies will play. They are curious about many things and here there are numerous piles of wood for their amusement.
I can tell that this lamb with the green ear tag is Spot's large single male. We hadn't tagged the others yet.
I think Spot and Dot might be sisters. They are both very aggressive to the others. Spot actually has a red spot on her head from bashing others. I finally sorted one from the other. Spot's spot on her left ear is about the size of a loonie and is only on the outside. Dot has smaller but distinctive dots on the inside and outside of her left ear. I can also distinguish them since Spot has a broader head - better for butting others; while Dot has a refined, narrower face. Currently nursing triplets Dot is thinner than Spot who is nursing a single.
A closer view of babies playing in the wood and wood chips.
Another shot of Cotton and Tiger in the pasture. It's early yet for much good grass but the sheep are eating little hay and spend their daytime in the field. They come back to the barn at midday to early afternoon for a rest, water and to chew their cud. The llamas hardly ever come to the barn now, preferring to stay out in the field.
Another random baby photo. This might be one of Marmalade's babies. Her twins are fuzzy with longish hair on their legs and chin. Marmalade has an tawny colouring to her face and I thought the name fit.
When lambs nurse they wag their tails madly. This is a welcome sight when the newborns enjoy their first feeding as it is essential they eat very soon after birth.
The ewe in front and to the right here had not yet lambed. It is Olive or Maybell. Perhaps they too are twins as they share the distinguishing feature of heavy eye liner. That was the inspiration for the names too; think Oil of Olay and Maybelline. To tell them apart further I had to zero in on the fact that Olive's eyeliner makes a more or less complete circuit around her eye, a circle or "O"; thus, Olive. And Maybell's eyeliner is concentrated on the lower lid.
The sheep in the centre is Polar Bear. When she lambed that's what I thought of when I looked in the pen and it seemed to fit.
I hope these baby photos weren't too draining for you. They grow up very fast!
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