Reason I'm wishing y'all a happy new year already just less than an hour after the fireworks started and all across Hungary, people gathered in circles to sing the national anthem, is because we're very pitiable.. Stasia and I are both sick! Raging colds..
We spent all of today in bed, after we flew back in last night. Cancelled the party we were going to... I just crept out to do some very last-minute shopping (was rushed out the store as the last-but-one customer), and to fry some salmon filets, make some pasta - that was dinner.
Pitiable us! But happy new year to you!
CJ, we need to (mostly) just make sure that the lambs are not born out in the wind. When a momma goes into labor, we led them into a "squeeze" which is a small enclosure about 4'X4'. Theres a 60W light standard on one wall , held on with a clamp. This keeps the momma stimulated and keeps the wind down. Its really kinda warm in the barn itself.
We had 1 set of twins already, looks like our births are gonna be easy this year cause we didnt have any huge rams and small ewes.
My turn to catch a little shut eye and then Ill take over around 4AM
Aw, new year lambs - why are they being born now? Silly ewes. Can you post pictures?
Feel better nimh and Anastasia!
Ha! I totally hadn't realized that it was 2008 until now - 20 minutes later!
I went up to Kansas City (a very dirty city IMO) to have a house party with college friends. I wore a smile.
T
K
O
We control our breeding season to try to get all the ewes in estrus at roughly the same time. This is done by a feeding program called "flushing" , in which we gradually change their summer pasture to a higher oat and alfalfa ration. This helps cylce and promotes dropping of twin eggs.
Weve had 8 ewes drop in the last 2 days and we have 14 lambs (One dropped a single, one ewes twin was dead at birth, and all the rest dropped good twins)
8 down, only about 130 to go.
I spent from 2:30 to 6 p.m. battling one of my infamous dizzy spells. Felt better after 6, and made filet mignon for dinner. Watched Rear Window and Psycho on TV with Mr. P. For the first time in years, I was up at midnight, but it came and went without much fanfare.
When you have seen as many New Year's eves as I have, it ceases to have the excitement that it did long ago.
yeh , we were up at midnite out in the barn. It seemed that everybody was setting off big fireworks . One guy (a last stander) who owns a farm about 2 miles down the road was firing his machine gun. Lasted about 5 minutes and then everything went really quiet until about 2AM, then a big batch of traffic (probably drunk drivers out for a joyride) , and then everything went quiet. I couldnt sleep even though we took turns on barn duty. So I just wandered around puttering and cleaning up in the barn.
Boring can be good sometimes. We had a chance to reflect that this was our 25th year raising sheep and weve raise 2 kids and weve built a pretty happy life with victories and defeats. We agreed out there in the barn, that wed do it all over again and mostly with the same people.
Im still running on adrenaline from delivering 6 ewes and trying to save one still born lamb.
Time for cleanup of the teats and iodine treatments on the umbilicii, and doing a check of all the other guys in the barn.
Ill get some sleep and then we have to help in the saur kraut supper at the firehouse. After proper cleanup, Im on pork pickin duty and tray prep to send out to the servers.
I hate saur kraut usually but its for a good cause.
The lamb stuff is fascinating.
Sorry you're so sick, nimh and Anastasia!
We all went to bed well before midnight but I don't know if it was fireworks or actual thunder (she said it was thunder), but sozlet kept waking up with bad dreams and not letting me leave. (She'd come get me, I'd go back to her room and stay with her until she fell back asleep, five minutes later she'd come get me.) I ended up sleeping on the floor of her room which was both uncomfortable and cold. But she doesn't seem to be sick, so I won't complain too much.
Happy New Year to all--I had a good night.
Happy New Year, everyone!! It was a peaceful night - means good things for the rest of the year.
Eek, what does a NON-peaceful night mean then...?
Soz--
With luck you'll have done all the round-the-clock nursing that you'll do in 2008 last night.
sozobe wrote:Eek, what does a NON-peaceful night mean then...?
A not-sick Sozlet, therefore happy mum?
That makes me feel better, thanks Noddy and Heatwave! :-)
Love the lambing talk, and nod/smile to the barn conversation..
Sorry Nimh and Anastasia sick, and frown w/worry re Phoenix - stop that, gurl.
No casualities it seems, a2krs strolled into the new year unscathed.
Congrats to "lamb daddy" Famerman. I can remember staying up all night waiting for a colt to come into the world.
Again, Happy New Year.
11 more ewes dropped lambs today, looks like were gonna be busy for the next week or two, and Ive gotta go to Chicago for a dayhop.
Happy Ewe Year.
Can't you make a picture of them and post it here, farmerman.
I'd love to see those newborn ewes.
Happy New Year all and I'd love to see some pics as well Farmer! That is just so cool :-D
