A Typical Montana Spring Day….

And the first day that lambs could make an appearance…IMG_3734 IMG_3738 IMG_3745 IMG_3750 IMG_3752 IMG_3755 IMG_3759

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Montana At It’s Finest…

Last night we had pouring rain and 40 degrees, sometime in the night it changed to snow and wind.  This morning it was brisk -30 degrees Fahrenheit!  I don’t mind the cold or snow but sure get hard on critters when we have wet conditions and then gets really cold.  I was happy to see every one fared the night alright and were anxiously awaiting breakfast this morning…

Teigen feeding Thor…

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Even though he has a cozy little place to hide out in, Thor has to hang out with his guys…IMG_9199

Horse raspberries…IMG_9167IMG_9257IMG_9184 IMG_9270 IMG_9193

Waiting for breakfast…IMG_9196

Frank’s a bit frosty too…IMG_9205 IMG_9194

Hayden giving Frank some love…IMG_9212

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Hauling bales…

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At least some one is happy outside…IMG_9179

The sun even tried to break through…IMG_9275

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A Little Evening Walk with the Sheep…

Victoria and Madeline walking their 4-H fair lambs every evening…

 

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Most of the time they have a little shadow…

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Up and down the big hill, it helps exercise the lambs and builds their muscles…it helps exercise the girls too!  ;0)

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Then they practice setting them up…

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And getting them to brace…IMG_1974

Hard to believe we have fair lambs already.   I don’t even want to think forward to fair which means fall is just right around the corner but I’m sure it will be here sooner than I am ready for it…

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Fabulous Day…

 

We spent a wonderful spring day moving sheds to the lambing paddock.  Only a week left until we should start seeing lambs!

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While dad moved sheds the kids had wheelbarrow rides…

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The sheep romped…

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and ate…

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Dugur watched…

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and the chickens did… chicken things.

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First Taste of Spring…

We’ve had our first taste of Spring this year!  Finally, the four Suffolk ewes we had bred last fall lambed.  They were all a week later than expected but it worked out wonderfully as the week they were due we had temperatures 20 to 30 below zero with lots of snow.  The temperatures have shifted to the high 30’s and low 40’s, a bit better for lambing in.  Smart mamas!

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The first ewe to lamb was Garrett’s ewe, Velma.  She had no problems and lambed in front of a large audience, giving birth to a large, single, ram lamb

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The next ewe to lamb was Teigen’s ewe, Cookie, she is a yearling and it was her first time lambing.  Sometime in the wee hours of the morning she gave birth.   When I went to check the ewes in the morning, Teigen’s ewe was out standing with a little lamb beside it and then my eye caught a little lump in the snow.  When I went closer I found another lamb, I thought she was dead and then she moved just a bit…wow…made me go into hyper-drive. She was sooo cold, cold mouth, body, etc. I couldn’t believe she was still alive. She had the full spa treatment…warm water soak while in a garbage sack to retain all of the mama’s smells, tubed with mama’s milk, then on to a warming box with a hairdryer, and eventually a warm rice sock on the belly and she gradually came to life. She started to nuzzle and looking for something to eat and drank most of her bottle…

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And as things typically go in our house, the recycling had just been taken out and the only bottle we could find was a 2 liter bottle!  But it did the trick…

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The kids have affectionately named her Elsa from the movie Frozen.   Elsa, eventually tried out her little legs and then did some more snuggling with the rice sock. When she woke up and she was hungry and her temperature was back to normal, so she was reunited with mom and brother.  The mom ended up taking  her back no problems, let her nurse and all is well!

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The next one to lamb was Maddie’s ewe, Wild…

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Again with a full audience hanging out in the feed bunk…IMG_8840

Two onlookers…

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The second little ewe lamb was having a bit of trouble breathing so I was busy using a nasal syringe  to help clear the mucous from her throat. IMG_8850-001 IMG_8838

A nice set of twins, one ram and one ewe!

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Garrett and Emmy watching…

Then Sunday morning we were greeted with this…

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A strong, healthy ewe lamb.  Dried off and had a full belly!

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Now we have a few weeks off until the Icelandics start their run.  Which will mean long days and short nights. But I look forward to it all year!  Hopefully the Icelandics have as good of a run as the Suffolks did.

Coming Soon…

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Linking up with friends at:

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