Saturday Dose of Cute: Back in Black (and The Whole Picture)

BB (short for Black Beauty) and her twin boy and girl, born about 1:30 this morning.

Current lamb count: 6. Sets of triplets: 1. Sets of twins: 1. Girls: 3. Boys: 3. Number of BB's babies who refuse to get with the nursing program (like, at all): 2! Number of hours I slept last night: 3 (from 11pm - 2am). Number of pregnant ewes remaning: 17. Spaces currently available at the Bonding Suite Inn: 2 (with two more under construction).

Thursday Dose of Cute: Hey! You Forgot Our Treats!

Yeah!



YEAH!

Sorry, kids, just homegrown hay tonight. But you love it:
First You Have to Put Up the Hay
3/11/06: Oh, Just Take A Seat Anywhere
3/14/06: A Whole New Way to Start the Day
3/26/06: I Told You They Have No Manners

3/2/08: How Do Donkeys Order Lunch?
3/7/08: Waiting for Lunch (on Top of Breakfast)

3/26/08: Donkey Dietary Habits
4/18/08: Cary is Too Hungry to Say Hi
5/7/08: Daily Dose of Cute: All Day Hay Buffet
5/28/08: Daily Dose of Cute: Back in the Hay Day
9/27/08: Sheep Gone Wild!

1/23/09: Feeding Frenzy
1/24/09: Keeping the Food Supply Safe
1/31/09: A Cold Breakfast Will Be Served in the South Pen
3/4/09: Food as Furniture
12/9/09: Eat Up, Kids!

1/12/10: You Shouldn't Take Chances with the Food Supply
1/22/10: Everybody's Safe
1/27/10: Man at Work
2/19/10: There's Always One

© 2010 FarmgirlFare.com, the no way anybody around here is starving to death foodie farm blog where the flock has been split back into two groups after being sheared, and if you aren't very old or very pregnant, you now only get grain and alfalfa pellets and molasses every other day this time of year. 'Baaa! sounds a lot like 'yeah!' and just before I snapped these pictures Joe said, "Come on, let's get out of here before it turns really ugly!"

Tuesday Dose of Cute: Oh, Look

Yeah, We Know—Snow.

Want to relive this season's snowstorms?
12/25/09: It's White!
12/20/09: Snow Day!
1/5/10: Cold Lover
1/7/10: So We Got Some More Snow
1/8/10: See Spot Grow
1/9/10: Snow Quiet
1/10/10: Sheep Don't Tweet—We Bleat

1/11/10: Fluffcat on a Frozen Roof
1/12/10: You Shouldn't Take Chances with the Food Supply
1/14/10: Soaking Up Sun in the Snow
1/16/10: On the Lookout
1/22/10: Everybody's Safe
1/23/10: Staredown
1/24/10: Cold Backs, Warm Heart

1/30/10: Snowed In!
2/1/10: Monday Dose of Cold and Cute: In the Snow
2/2/10: Cold Weather Food
2/4/10: Scratching Her Face—or Rushing the Camera?
2/7/10: Hay Girls
2/8/10: Weathered Wood (and a Little Cute)
2/9/10: Winter Water
2/11/10: Girl Power
2/12/10: Snow Happy

© Copyright 2010 FarmgirlFare.com, the hats off, gloves off, heat wave having foodie farm blog (a balmy 62 degrees today!) where our most recent snowfall finally melted off after a week, but we couldn't help keeping a few more favorite snow pictures on ice for you.

Wednesday Dose of Cute: Getting Ahead. . .

Maaaaaaaaaaa!

And Staying in Line

I Love the Black Sheep Best! (Except for my baby Cary, of course):
11/18/05: Frosted Snugglebunny
4/8/06: BB and Her Newborn Baby
4/28/06: Snugglebunny's Twin Girls Always Stay Together
6/27/06: Snugglebunny's Twin Girls Heading Out for Breakfast
7/10/06: BB and Her Mother Tana Are Always Together
9/30/06: Seeing Double
2/9/07: I Love Black Sheep! (Sheep Shearing Photos)
3/14/07: Tana and Her Baby Boy, First Morning Outside
3/20/07: All Booked Up at the Bonding Suite Inn!
5/13/07: The Tail of Two Mothers: A Mother's Day Story from the Farm
10/11/07: Living by the Light
12/5/07: Spy Sheep
4/4/08: Anybody Need an Experienced Sheep Dryer?
4/20/08: Raa Raa Black Sheep! Another Black Baby Lamb
10/2/08: Gossip Central
4/3/09: Black Babes for Black Beauty
4/14/09: Too Cute for Words?
6/9/09: Stop, Look, and Listen

© Copyright 2009 FarmgirlFare.com, the finally remembered to switch to the new summer header foodie farm blog where so far these two Suffolk/Katahdin crosses (who also have a little black Border Leicester thrown in from my very first ram 13 years ago) look like they're going to keep their color. As you can see in the top photo, one has a slight brown tint to her coat now, but considering that their mother, BB, is a true black sheep (these days she looks grey but there's jet black wool underneath), and most of the spotted lambs have bleached out already, chances are good these twin girls are going to stay black. Hooray!

Friday Dose of Cute: Black Babes for Black Beauty

BB (aka Black Beauty) and Her Newborn Twin Girls Very Early this Morning

During the winter our sheep eat organic homegrown hay supplemented with natural grains—usually oats and alfalfa pellets tossed with some dried molasses (yes, that would be livestock candy), along with kelp, a calcium mineral mix, garlic and onion powder, and diatomaceous earth which is a natural wormer.

It's especially important for pregnant ewes to have grain during the last six weeks of their five month gestation period because as the growing babies inside them become bigger, the ewes' four stomachs become smaller, and it's physically impossible for them to ingest all the calories they need from hay alone.

We feed grain in the late afternoon or early evening because I once read that will promote daylight births. So far this year it isn't working. For the second night in a row, I went down to the barn at 2am to do a preg check and found a new set of twins, this time BB's. I didn't get back to sleep until around 5:30, but mother and those stylish black babies are doing just fine.

Current lamb count: 9. Number of ewe lambs: 7 (!)

© 2009 FarmgirlFare.com, the back in black foodie farm blog where we're always grateful when a ewe gives birth to twins all by herself without any problems, but we still can't help wondering why they don't have them at one in the afternoon instead of one in the morning.

Farm Photo: 4/2/07

Not to worry—these two are on top of breakfast.

Lamb Report:
We've done a little remodeling at The Bonding Suite Inn. Late this morning, BB chose to have her darling twin girls (one black, one blacker--you know I love the black sheep best) in a cozy, hay-covered corner of the barn. Rather than kicking one of the other mothers out of their suite early, I swiped a 16-foot metal fence panel from the barn patio (that was helping to hold up the falling apart wooden fence but was only tied on with baling twine because we keep stealing it to use other places) and slid it across BB's stall and the adjacent bonding suite. Ta dah! Instant, stressless (and free!) expansion.

It's so nice to have these kinds of brilliant ideas before going to all sorts of trouble--and it happens so rarely I can't help but make a big deal out of it. Of course before I had even finished congratulating myself, I realized that a dozen lambs curl up and sleep together in that corner every night.

4/3/07 8:00am Update: I was jolted awake this morning by an alarming thought: At this time of year, that metal panel helps keeps predators from slinking in between the wooden fence slats and snatching a baby lamb. I threw on my clothes and headed straight to the barn for a lamb count. All there. Thank goodness.

But as I was feeding hay to everyone, I noticed Bear a few hundred feet away, barking his head off and chasing the biggest, whitest coyote I've ever seen. I think this enormous beast may be half dog, half coyote. It has that distintive coyote lope, and I've never seen a tail like that on a dog. Unfortunately I was able to get a very good look at it, because, despite my attempts to scare it off, it has followed us back to the house. Now what to do? I hate it when the would-be predators are friendly.

So the fence panel is getting moved back today. And if I ever have another brilliant idea, I'm keeping it to myself.

Current Lamb Count: 33. Wow. That's more lambs than we've ever had--and there are still more to come.

A year of Farm Photos ago:
4/2/06: Same Scene, New View

Too funny. I almost put up a photo nearly identical to this today--only the leaves are already popping out on all the trees, and the last of the hay is in the center section of the barn. It is so wonderful to be making this visual record of life here. It feels like everything on the farm is constantly changing, and I am always surprised to see just how many things stay almost exactly the same from year to year.

© FarmgirlFare.com

Daily Farm Photo: 9/30/06

Seeing Double
(Tana & her 1-1/2 year old daughter BB are still joined at the hip.)

A year of Daily Photos ago: I Hope Everyone Is Getting Along

Also on this day last year:
The Announcement Of The (Now Infamous) Name That Sheep Contest! If you missed the hysterical excitement and could use a good giggle, click here to read the original contest announcement post, then click here to read "At Last We Have A Winner!" It was almost too much fun. Just thinking about the contest still makes me laugh out loud.

Daily Farm Photo: 7/10/06

BB (born in 2005) & Her Mother Tana Are Always Together
Click here to see another recent photo of these two black beauties.

A year of Daily Photos ago:
Molly Doodlebug Makes Her First Appearance

Daily Farm Photo: 4/12/06

One Final Photo: BB & Her Baby Girl on 4/10/06

Tiny life, big impact. I'm happy I was able to share her with you. Thank you for all your wonderful comments and emails. Your kind and thoughtful words mean so very much.

Girls' Day OutorNo Room At The Bonding Suite Inn

I've Been Kicked Outside!

Well it's a good thing I didn't start leaving the farm every day, or I would have missed all the excitement. We've had five baby girls born in the last four days. That's why BB and her little cutie pie above were politely told that they had to check out of their bonding pen a day early--we needed the room. Snugglebunny had twins this morning, and first time mother Rosebud just gave birth to a big baby girl (start to finish was under an hour-woohoo!). They're are all doing fine, resting comfortably, and are of course absolutely adorable. Meanwhile, Bear & I are a little whupped. What a wonderful way to start the week.

Daily Farm Photo: 4/8/06

BB And Her 1-1/2 Hour Old Baby, Born Yesterday

The circle of life does indeed go on. Welcome to the flock, sweet girl.

What happens when you leave the farm for the first time in a week? You come home to find a newborn lamb of course. (This lambing business is dragging on so long I am seriously thinking about going out every day.)

BB, who is Tana's daughter and whose name stands for Black Beauty, Brown Beauty, and Bouncing Babe (a dear pal's nickname), gave birth to this darling little black girl all on her own and without any trouble. Not bad for a first time mother who is barely one year old. We don't generally breed 6 month old ewes, preferring instead to "waste a year" and let them mature, but these things happen. . .

Now unless we put a fabric "sheep coat" on this lamb (yeah, right), her wool is going to bleach in the sun. As you may have noticed, most of our lambs are born with lots of chocolate chip spots, but these quickly fade. Because BB and her mother are true black sheep (when we shear them they will briefly be back in black), this lamb may stay darkly colored. Time will only tell. Meanwhile, she is very busy sleeping and looking extremely cute. Her little ears flop down in the most adorable way. (You know I don't play favorites, LOL, but I have to admit that I love the jet black lambs the best.)

Of course I find every lamb born on the farm irresistible, including the two new members of the flock you haven't met yet. . . And as for baby names, I'm hoping to get to that this week. Hint: Jeffalina and Lefftey are (sorry, Jeff and girls) not on the list.