First Lamb of 2017

Here is the first lamb of 2017, born at the end of a 3 day snow storm!

This little guy will definitely move into the warm dry barn today. With single digit temps due for the next two nights, he would never make it in the pasture with the herd.

Now starts the lamb watch... soon there will be on to three lambs per day till they are all on the ground. Exciting days!

Starting out the new year WHITE!

January 1 of 2017 it started snowing...

                                 and it's still snowing, 3 days later!

Snow covered pastures

If you look VERY closely, past the pigs, deep into the back pasture where the sheep are, just to the right of the makeshift door / motion light, there is a lone sheep by the fence. Turns out she JUST had a lamb! The first lamb of the year.

 At the end of the storm, just as the sun is rising to clear the frozen fog, we find a baby lamb! First lamb of the season. Why do they always come in the worst weather??? Look closely at the lower picture, just to the right of the door converted to motion light holder, way back in the sheep pasture. You can see one lone sheep up near the fence by herself. Sure enough, she just gave birth to the first lamb of the season in the snow.

Today we will move her and the new baby into the barn. There is no way a fresh baby will survive in the herd with snow all around, lots of activity, and single digit temps due for the next two night.

Meet the newest Little Sprout!

The finally arrived yesterday when our newest little sprout joined the world.

Samuel Arthur Salch

Born Dec 13 at 3:07pm

8lbs, 1oz  and 20 "

We are happy to report that everyone is doing fine, healthy and strong.

Piglets

Cute pics for the animal lover

Peaceful afternoon!

What a pile of piglets!

Mommy training the little ones to stay close and safe

New Litter of Pigs!

Today we have the arrival of the newest litter of piglets, 13 healthy ones, 2 spotted and 1 striped.

Unfortunately, she chose to give birth right by the fence, so we are working to get her into a shelter before we leave for deliveries today. So.. we might be a tad late!

The white ram

This little guy arrived today, a totally white jacob sheep ram. He is quite a sight, and quite rare. This is the first ram totally white since we started breeding Jacobs years ago.

We will be able to check tomorrow in the light to see just how pure white he is.

posted from Bloggeroid

Lamb Hospital - 2016

the rains this week did more than stick our vehicles in the mud... the weather endangered the new born lambs greatly! Cold in manageable.. wet is manageable.. but wet AND cold.. not so much.

So we started hourly "lamb checks" to keep an eye on things... and put bedding once or twice a day around each shrub or shelter area.  IT worked pretty well, but still.. we ended up bringing a few inside.

THAT is a risk.. because drying one off, handling it, carrying it.. in the first day or two of life, will leave scent on the lamb that the mom rejects. Scent is how she identifies her baby and we destroy that saving the lambs life. So in the end we end up with some "bottle babies" that the moms wont take back.  Its unavoidable, a pain, but oh so cute!

Here are some pics of the "hospital" that kaelyn set up for this year's patients.

Violet and Nichole were lucky enough to get private rooms. Violet actually suffered a broken leg through some mishap and is awaiting a leg wrapping by the nurse.  

Ammon, the boy, keeps close eye on the two young girls.. he is already starting to show the personality of a ram, keeping an eye on things. 

Unfortunately Ammon does not like to hold still for pictures!

The stool is where the nurse sits every few hours to feed them and check on them, plus a little cuddle time. 

Nothing better than a lamb!

We love this time of year.. when the lambs arrive! There is just something special about cuddling with a little lamb, only a few days old.

Kaelyn snuggling with one of the new arrivals

If you want to do a farm visit... now is a great time. There is still mud everywhere but with little faces like this running around... its worth it!

First lamb of 2016

Jan 2... And we have 2 lambs on the ground! They both look strong and healthy!

Make plans to come see these little guys if you can. Cutest animals on the farm!

posted from Bloggeroid

Afternoon snack

A new litter of pigs enjoys a late afternoon snack...

White Jacob sheep born

A very unusual event today.  Another birth brought what appears to be a totally white Jacob sheep.  Somewhat of a rarity for Jacobs!   He is actually a twin,  the other one being almost fully black!

There is some thought this these may be geeps (a rare sheep -  goat cross).  It is "possible"  since they did live together for a short time...  But I am not convinced.  They both have long legs and the white one has slightly odd wool that looks a bit like hair...  But I am not convinced yet.  Lets let him grow up a bit and see.

Either way,  a fun and rare event!

Three new litters of pigs on the ground

This week we find three new litters of piglets on the ground!  one with 5, one with 4, and one with 9.  Two of the moms chose to give birth in the metal shelters, but one just stayed right out in the moonlight and stars.

So far everyone is doing fine.... but with the coming rain and cold nights, we decided to give shelter to the one under the moon. You cant move a mother sow with a litter of pigs to a shelter easily (believe me, i have tried!)  so now we move the shelter to the mom! Hunter and I took the third shelter, picked it up high with the tractor forks and a chain, and transported it across the pasture to the naturalist mom.  Then we drop the shelter slowly right over the piglets.  The mom goes inside and decides to stay. Works like a charm! We even dropped a few flakes of fresh straw at her doorstep and she dutifully dragged it inside to cushion the floor.

These large black moms are the best momma sows ! They are protective, nurturing, and smart. We are very impressed with their mothering skills. (and believe me.. its not easy to keep 5 to 10 rambunctious piglets in check!)

So all three moms are safe and warm inside their shelters with the piglets.  The rain should not be a problem!

First bottle lamb

Kaelyn is very happy to adopt this year's first bottle lamb!  This cute little ram was one of two born yesterday and unfortunately the mom choose the other. This happens occasionally in sheep for various reasons and in the wild,  the rejected lamb would die within a day or two. Historically we have given away rejected lambs to save them.  This year we decided to raise the rejected lambs instead of giving them away.

Kaelyn is loving her new job as you can see!

And a new years lamb arrives

Seems we are blossoming with holiday births this year!  First Christmas lambs,  now a new years lamb.  Fortunately they all look healthy and are handling the sub zero weather just fine.  Love Jacob sheep!  We hardy!

Christmas lamb #3

Here she is...  The third Christmas lamb.  Born right before the start of new years week.  Very cute hanging out in the corner cover of the sheep pen.  

They look healthy,  but still have the winter snows to get through.

Another Christmas lamb!

Another lamb born this morning!  Wow what an early year this is! 

The first one is doing great,  and this one looks strong, we just have to get them through January now.

Christmas surprise

What a shock!  We found  a newborn lamb this morning!  Christmas eve morning!

Cute as it is...  What a surprise.  These guys usually show up in February or even March,  not December! 

It's actually a bit dangerous,  since we are not set up to winter lambs.  By Feb -  March the weather is improving already,  but for this little ram to be,  he is facing the coldest weather as a newborn.

To help him,  we moved the stock trailer to their pasture pen,  and filled it with fresh dry straw.  Then we hang a tarp shelter to keep him out of the rain.  Will the mom use it?  Time will tell but this afternoon he looked strong and healthy.  We will check on him in the morning and evaluate what to do with him next.

Surprisingly,  I noticed at least one more mom in milk today,  so there are more babies coming soon!

Never a dull moment around here.

The Newest Little Sprout has Arrived!

Friday evening at 5:47pm, the newest Little Sprout arrived into the world

Meet Theodore Abraham Salch

He was  6lbs  12oz and 21 inches.

We are happy to report that mom, the baby, and everyone else is doing fine!

Now that this life event is passed, we will be able to get more back into the routine of farming and delivery, so you will be able to meet Theodore soon!

More piglet surgery

We found another injured piglet in the newest large black litter.  Not nearly as bad as the first,  but bad enough to need attention.  The cut was in the same place, in front of the rear leg.  We glued this one together and sterilized it...  And away she goes.

Another large black litter

Can you see the little one hiding in the straw?

Here is one we have been waiting for..  Our first large black sow just gave birth again!  Aren't they cute!