The Sheep Are Lambing

This picture was taken just hours after this little guy was born. Isn't he a cutie. We have Jacob sheep and Black Face sheep. Jacob sheep are said to originate from the sheep Jacob, in the bible, raised. You may remember the story where he got all the spotted and speckled sheep from his father in-law as his payment for shepherding his sheep (Genesis). Yes, That was one of the things that drew us to them but they also have a more mild flavor and their meat is more tender. A breed with all those qualities sounded like a great breed to us! We have truly loved them and are very happy with our decision.

Another interesting thing about Jacob sheep is that they can have up to six horns. They can even have an odd number of horns.  The ewes and the rams both have them. Sometimes they might be a full curl, or like you can see in the picture below, they can go in opposite directions.

We lamb later than most people. It is common to lamb in March and sometimes even in February! That is usually really cold and wet for a new little lamb. One thing we have always heard since we have got lambs is that lambs try to die. Maybe in the wet and frigid environment of February and March. We live in North Dakota and it is cold here!

Thankfully, and with the Lord's help, we have not lost a lamb yet. May the good Lord continue to bless all of our lambs and mamas too, and I don't want to forget the rams either!

When they are born later in the spring they are able to have access to fresh green grass. This is great for the mamas who are finishing out their pregnancy and then making all that milk to nourish their little ones. And, like I said before, there isn't usually the mud. A lot of illnesses are contracted through the mud so it is best to keep them out of it.

Several sets of twins. The bottom picture is one our Black face ewes with her twins.

We didn't plan on getting lambs. Then my husband found and add for some bottle lambs. There are always adds for bottle lambs in the early spring. Big farmers don't want to have to deal with bottle lambs. They are a lot of work. Like making a bottle and feeding them every two hours a lot of work. Well we weren't a farm at that time, no greenhouse to take care of and no CSA baskets to fill, just a small family homestead so we went for it. We got four bottle lambs in the cold and wet early spring. One ram and three ewes. That is were are Black Face sheep come from. We did loose one of these lambs but I count that little one separately from the ones we have lambed because it wasn't one we produced with our practices. Does that make sense?

Anyways we love our Black Face sheep too. It is hard not to love something that you have raised and put so much time and effort into.

From there we found the Jacob sheep and new that we wanted them to be the main focus in our sheep operation as our farm grew. They have been a joy and a wonderful addition.

Roxie, one of our original Black Face sheep, pictured below, is supper friendly. She will just walk up to us and expect to be petted. She always has to see what is going on just like when this picture was taken. I was trying to get some pictures of the lambs, she hasn't had hers yet, and she had to come see what I was up to. We had a nice visit.

Well I hope you enjoyed this little peek into lambing on our farm. It's spring, I best be getting back to farming!

Until next time,
Happy, healthy, clean eating!

Jaci