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