Eight Ladies Waiting ~ Countdown Begins !

 The first lambs of 2016 were born yesterday.

 Twins ! Bide-a-wee Buttercup gave birth to twin lambs, a boy (ram) and a girl (ewe). Buttercup is 11 years old. The lambs' sire is Cedar Pond's Goth, also 11 years old.

 Have I mentioned before how much I love this time of the year ? Lambing time ?

Now there are only eight ladies waiting and just look at this bunch of plump ladies. I suspect there is at least one more set of twins to be born any day now. Sassafras is also 11 years old ,she is the ewe in the foreground and spent breeding season with Buttercup and Goth. Sassafras may very well be the next ewe to have lambs Oh I am sooooooooo excited !

February Spring

Here are my two Sebastopol geese Ella and Fella splashing in our pond along with the ducks. I took this video last year . Ella and Fella spend part of every day in the pond but lately have taken to hiding themselves in unlikely places. I have found them in the wood shed, the kiwi arbor, the hay shed,  behind the veggie garden hiding in the long wild grasses on the other side of the fence, and behind a tall shrub in the front yard flower bed. I had a suspicion that proved true...

 ...they're ready to lay and hatch a clutch of eggs. My husband found the first goose egg of the season today. Look at the size of it compared to 3 large chicken eggs I just gathered. I am going to try to incubate the eggs in a small incubator I own. The last 2 years Ella and Fella were diligent parents and tended their eggs faithfully. For some reason all the eggs developed fully but the goslings were unable to hatch and survive. ( Even with help.) This year I am hoping to accomplish what Ella and Fella were unable to do and return successfully hatched goslings to the nest for them to raise. We'll see.

The weather has been warm for this time of the year and the sound of the frogs at night is almost deafening. Our honeybees have been out and about and it is a good thing my husband supplements them with sugar boards he places in their hives because there are not enough flowers or trees blooming to sustain our hives at this time.

My Jacob sheep were sheared last month and I can see 9 of my ewes seem about ready to pop with lambs. Their udders are full and lambs should begin arriving any time from now until the end of March. The ewes ( female sheep) seem almost comatose in the sunshine as they lean against fence posts or soak in the heat of the compost pile. It looks so funny to see sheep literally stretched out all over the pile. Later on after the lambs are born they'll have fun leaping over the pile. Who knew a manure pile could provide more than garden enrichment ? SHEEP ! ( 11 year old and very pregnant Sassafras shown in the picture )

I know the calendar says it is still winter but our animals , bees, and wildlife say it is spring.

Smile for Crackers !

 

How my sheep smile as they wait for crackers.