Olivia is just sooo cute!

Shawn gives birth

Shawn had a boy. No surprise there, but he's very nice and as yet unnamed. God do I love boys!

Rahab and Trooper

Ok things are moving along, however slowly and stressful. Ended up packing Rahab in the truck and off to the vet for the 3rd time about 8 this morning, but this time with cervix open and a tangled stiff mess inside. She never did go into labor, had to manually dilate her to be able to get my hand in there. Had an upside down lamb with 3 legs. I tried but was unsuccessful at getting anything in order much less pull it out. Jeff had a bit of a struggle as well, so I didn't feel so bad. He crammed a bunch of slime in there before pulling a 2 nd time and that seemed to do the trick. 1/2 out he was quite surprised to find out the little guy was still alive, a ram of course! After a 2nd dive in, he pulled out another ram, this one not so lucky. Probably the reason for the strange Rahab behaviors the days before. The new little guy was a bit weak, we tubed him and have had to warm him a few times. He just finally got the idea of sucking the nipple, so I am hoping we are home free. Rahab will be in pain, but with the help of drugs and some alfalfa, she seems to be progressing. The new little guy is white with black spots and a mask and his name is Trooper.

Now waiting on Shawn, she is exhibiting her prebirthing behavior. Cross your fingers for easy birth and GIRLS!

Olivia

Just a gratuitous picture of Tracy's favorite.

Lambs so far...

Well the good news is all the lambs so far are healthy and beautiful with consistently great conformation. The bad news is we now have 8 boys and just 2 girls with three more ewes to deliver. And from our Gotland experiment, of course... 2 boys. Julia is the latest to give birth and though all the lambs appear to have very nice fleeces this guy is "Oh my god!" soft. Despite being a boy still a very exciting little lamb.

03/22/10

The latest is little Melvyn and Miracle's babies. Two boys! The boys are winning 5-2 now and I'm really talking to the last five ewes. These guys are really wonderful though, and all the lambs healthy and doing well.

About 8 AM Aurora gave birth our first Gotland cross. A very nice black boy. Where is the little girl that was supposed to be there as well? She wasn't, just one big boy. A disappointment as that Misty line is usually prolific. He's big and healthy though.

Three deliveries so far today. At about 2 AM Strudel had a beautiful boy and girl. She did it all on her own.

Aurora meets Obsidian

I think Aurora has a bit of her mother Misty in her. Misty was a renouned baby stealer. Aurora.. wait your turn!

9 lbs. 10 oz. !

Well it was a long night at McTavish farm. Neon's water broke at around 1 AM, she really wasn't making any progress so Tracy went in to see what was up. There was a lamb so we decided to give her more time as she didn't really seem that stressed. After some time went by we decided we have to take a more active role, so in we go... Well, there's a leg, there's a nose, but where's that other dang leg? Boy, that's a long leg! After some manipulating and pulling, one leg's out and a head but, where's that other dang leg!? More time has gone by than is comfortable, like a ticking time bomb, stress is starting to rise. It's now about 2 AM. After some delicate twisting and some not so delicate yanking he finally flopped out at about 2:55. Strained but healthy and big... very, very big. Neon decided laying down was the appropriate way to attend to him and we certainly weren't about to disagree with her. He started nursing right away and both mother and son and the shepherds were at peace. Now 5:00 and back to bed. We'll see what the rest of the day brings...

Callie is interested in the lambs.

Almost a day old

Obsidian is hungry and Olivia is curious.

3 hours old

Mother and lambs doing great.

Katrina gives birth

Well there they are. The first lambs of the season and boy did Katrina do an amazing job. First time mother, she slid them right out and was patient and attentive. Much to my relief as Tracy was at work today. A boy and a girl, both strong and healthy.

First night check still no lambs...

Well, the first day of watching for the lambs and nothing happened, as usual. Started our middle of the night checks last night so I guess we're getting serious now.

It seems like spring, the tulip tree is in full bloom, but it sure is cold.

Shower finally

After 2 years and some plumbing issues I think even Tracy would say the bathroom remodel is done. Phew..

Shebaa is wondering when her new friends will arrive.

Here's Clancy w/ his favorite frisbee. He's hoping we'll stop work and do something really valuable... like play.