Amelia

Amelia and her first lamb Barrett

Amelia and her twins Cady and Caden

 

 Amelia is taking it easy these days. Getting up mainly to eat, and then returning to her comfy spot to lie down and chew her cud.

I moved her and a companion - Lana - into their new digs for the next few weeks, so that come lambing time Amelia will have ample shelter from wind and rain and a good chance at keeping her lambs warm should I not be there when they arrive.

Amelia is a black Finnsheep, born in March of 2008. Often a black sheep looks brown, but they are indeed black which is very evident once the fleece is removed and you can see past the weathered tips of the wool locks.

Somewhere back in her lineage there was a brown ancestor, but I don't expect that color to manifest through her as it is a recessive gene and only likely to manifest if a brown ewe is bred to a brown ram.

Amelia carries for spotting which is a fun pattern in sheep. I hope for spotted lambs this year from her, but since the sire of the lambs is white, and its unknown if he carries for spotting himself, we'll see when the lambs arrive. White is dominant in sheep, and often over - rides the other colors, and even if the lambs are white it doesn't rule out the possibility that they themselves carry for spotting.

At six years old, Amelia has had 1/2/2/3/4  or a single lamb for her first lambing, twins the second time, triplets the third and quads the fourth.  In six years, she's had 12 lambs which isn't alot for a Finn ewe and an average of 2 lambs per year.

Lana, her companion at the moment, is 8 this year and came to me as a mature ewe having lambed before. She has had 3/4/3/3/2  and I know she had triplets the year prior to my purchasing her. I'm not sure what she had before that, but what I do know is that she's had 18 lambs at least.

At this time I have four daughters and a son from Amelia. All of her daughters will lamb this year, and it will be fun to see what traits get passed on. Amelias' oldest daughter is Caden who has lambed twice with 2/5. That is a good start. Seven lambs in two years is an average of 3.5 lambs per lambing, and that is a decent rate.

Having a Finn ewe that has a singleton is not the norm, though it is possible with first time dams. Most have twins and some have triplets and up for their first lambing.

Trying to predict how many lambs a ewe will have is tricky, but a fun time for me. It is complicated when they are in full wool, rather than shorn. And it depends on whether the lambs will be above average size or below at birth.
Based on how Amelia looks at the moment and knowing that she consistently has large lambs I suspect she will triplet this year unless for some reason she has little lambs.  What is certain is that anything is possible!


Regards,
Kathryn

March 22, 2014

I love those faces!
 

Grey - trying to figure out what I'm up to and hoping it is more grain.

As the days grow longer and warmer, the girls are getting rounder and rounder.

 It's just a matter of time now.

 

The first lambs are due on April 15th, and I'm getting a bit more observant of the ewes in general and Amelia in particular, the dam who is due to lamb first this year. 

 

 She is fairly large as usual, though she still has three weeks left.

 

She  always has big lambs and last year had four.

 

With all the fleece on it's hard to tell but I don't think it will be four this year.

 I'd be happy with twins, but triplets are more likely.

She was bred to a different ram, one who himself is all white but for one lone spot on his neck.

 

To test and see if he carries the spotting gene, I decided to breed him to Amelia who is confirmed to carry spotting. We'll see what comes in terms of color but I'm expecting white and black depending on how many lambs she has. If I get a nicely spotted ewe lamb, that would be great!

 

This year we've chosen to feed the girls second cut round bales all winter, using a Premier hay feeder which has greatly reduced any waste.

The down side to this is that they stick their heads into the feeder, rubbing away any wool on their necks. You can see this in the pictures.

 

The up side is.I don't have to worry about shearing their neck and throats this year. That is always a tricky and nervous task because I worry about cutting their throats, but so far, not a problem, and definitely won't be an issue this year.

 

While the ewes have access to hay 24/7 and now are getting grain supplements, I found it curious that several of them seem to be constantly poking in the snow. Sure that they had plenty of drinking water I shrugged and forgot about it.

Last night as I was taking these photos I realized that Amelia had located a stem or two of GRASS! and was digging through the snow much like the deer do, to reach it. God Bless her.  One of the pics shows Amelia in the foreground scoping out that pitiful little bit of grass. You can see how wide she is. Won't be long now for lambs and grass. The girls will be happy.

 

Regards,

Kathryn

 

 

 

Amelia ferreting out the grass under the snow.

Hoping for more grain.