As cute as the little girl below is, I had 3 more after her!  Most of them all have a little white on them, but not nearly as much as she does.  All are black girls!  One was born at 3:00 am, with my assistance and the other two (set of twins) were born this afternoon sometime, unassisted.  They were already dry when I got home.  That's the way I prefer it! 

I think I have 4 ewes left and then lambing '09 will be over.  I am looking forward to a full night's sleep.

Here's the latest addition to the flock.  She was born this morning while I was doing my chores.  I saw the ewe in labor, pushing ~ pushing ~ groaning & pushing.  Then she stood up, the lamb hanging half out of her, and out she plopped!  It got me thinking that it probably is nature's way.  That sudden thud onto the ground probably helps to get their lungs going.

I ran over to make sure the nose and mouth were clear for her to breathe and then I just left them alone for a bit while I finished my chores.  I won't go into detail about how long it took me to CHASE Miss Snow (the white goat in my header picture) into the barn for milking.  I made the mistake of tossing hay across the fence before I milked.  She absolutely refuses to come in for her grain if I feed them hay outside.  It was totally my own fault, but she made me SO MAD!

She has a slight bit of tan on her front "knees".  Her nose, ears and around the back side of her head are white.  So is her tiny little hiney!  Love at first sight!

I have a ewe in labor as I sit here typing.  It's best for me to leave the barn and just do some checking periodically.  I think the ewes appreciate it too, so I will post some lambs pics for all to see.

The first one is of the only colored lamb I have so far this year.  She's a twin to a white brother.  The interesting part about this little black lamb is that she has white inside the ears, around the eyes and muzzle.  That generally indicates that she will turn just the opposite.  Here head will remain black, but she will be a silver ewe.

The next two are just a couple of cute shots I got.  Lambs are just so cute!  Who can resist?

Being born really is hard work!

12 lambs from 7 ewes so far~~~~~~~and counting!

Frolic is the perfect work to describe lambs.  They never cease to bring me great amusement as they frolic about.  Last night I stood in the barn watching 3 lambs at play and just laughed!  It was as if they were yo-yos on a string.  They would bounce straight up and down like someone was jerking their string.  You can't laugh very loud or they stop what they're doing and look at you as if to say, "What's so funny?"

My flickr account is not cooperating with picture loading at the moment.  I managed to load this one of the sheep maternity ward.  I thought it was funny that they finished their alfalfa breakfast and then a great percentage of the pregnant ewes went to congregate in the corner.  The sheep maternity ward!

Look at how wide that brown one is!

I am working on some pictures of those sweet little lambs!

Sleep!  Ahhh, after a very long night Saturday night, and a busy Easter Sunday, I actually got to sleep for 6 straight hours last night.  It sure felt good.  I honestly don't know how 40 y/o women have babies!  Helping my ewes lamb is work enough!

Saturday (actually Sunday at 1:00 am) I went out to check on the sheep.  I've has to assist with all of the births so far, so I am on hyper-alert about checking them.  As luck would have it, I had this sweet little black-faced Shetland in labor.  I sat out there on my milking stool listening to the other sheep chew their cud and waiting.......and waiting.......and.....finally I decided she needed some help.  This lamb wasn't turned wrong or backwards, but it does seem that their heads are larger this year (due to my new Romney ram, I believe) and they are just having a time lambing.  She delivered the second one on her own just fine.  I make sure their noses and mouths are clean and then my tendency is to let nature take over and I just leave them alone to get adjusted.  I went into the house at 4:30 am and set the timer for 1 hour.  I slept in the recliner and then went back out to check on them.  All was well, so I crawled into bed at 5:30 Easter morning. 

Three more were born just before dinner time.  Yes, I helped with 2 out of the 3.  So we are currently up to 10 lambs out of 6 ewes.  I need to check my records to see how many are left to go. 

I will post pics soon!

There are joys and there are sorrows when you raise animals.  Mostly there are joys or I couldn't handle all of it.  This morning was no joy.  I put the ram in on Halloween, as a rule.  It's just a good date for me to remember in my head.  Then I know anytime around the first of April I will have lambs.  I checked last night at 12:30, nothing.  Chris checked this morning just after 6:00, nothing.  When I went out at 9:00 to milk, 2 dead ewe lambs.  It's so very disheartening, especially to start out lambing season like this.

The reality of it is, one just never knows.  In order to have total control, you really must be with them 24/7. 

I can't beat myself up trying to explain the whys.  It just happens, but generally not both lambs.  I have a sneaking hunch this mother is not a good one.  I will need to review my records and see what her "experience" is.  Some ewes are just idiot moms.  They can have lambs and just walk away and leave them to their own devices.  Her 2 girls were nice and big and appeared healthy.  Darn!

The first question was how many sheep does it take to make 30 lbs. of wool?  That all depends on the breed.  Some of the larger breeds will wiegh in at 10 lbs per fleece!  Mine, on the other hand, are a small breed and I have had fleeces weigh anywhere from 2 lbs on a lamb to 7 lbs.    Mine average 3 lbs. each, so approximately 10 sheep.

I weighed the ram's fleece this morning, which is pure Romney.  His weighed in at 12 lbs!  That's amazing for a sheep on my farm!  Awesome!

I generally shear about 2 -3 weeks before lambing.  I have heard of lambs being born on the shearing floor, although I have never seen it.  I've also heard that the shearing process sometimes brings on lambing, but I've also never had that experieince either.  I have had sheep deliver before I got them sheared.  To me it's just messier and problematic with all of that wool in the way for the lambs to nurse.  I like to get it done before lambing, but sometimes the weather doesn't cooperate or the shearer's not available.  Now I have a barn I can put them in to keep them dry.  Shearing a wet sheep is not a good idea either.  Not safe for the shearer and not good on the shears!

Shearing for this year is complete.  It's always such a good feeling to have it behind me.  Shearing is very necessary to the health of the sheep.  It also helps the shepherd visually.  With all of the wool on the sheep, you can't tell if they have big bellies.  You also can't see their hind ends, which is one very big tell-tale sign that they are getting ready to lamb.  Taking the wool off allows the lambs to be able to nurse freely.  All of that wool just gets in the way.

Here's a few of the sheep awaiting shearing, including my new ram.  He's 100% Romney and his fleece is absolutely gorgeous!  As you can tell, he's quite a bit bigger than the rest of the sheep.  I planned it that way, hoping for larger lambs.

Here's Erick shearing one of the brown sheep.  They look like a big blob on the plywood form.

Here are some naked sheep after shearing.  The one looks positively blissful.  The reality of it this year is that most of them ran around baa-ing, as though they were looking for their "hair"! 

After the sheep is sheared, I take the fleece and put it on the skirting table.  It's a wire table Matt (from the garden) made for me.  It allows the ickies to drop down through.  I spend quite a bit of time skirting the fleece.  That is removing any (poop) tags, the dirty wool from the back end of the sheep, straw, hay (otherwise known as VM......vegetable matter.  Then the fleeces go into paper mulch bags or wrapped up in sheets.  This year with my CSA, I separated them into colors for the yarn to be made. 

I sat down last night to calculate weights.  Sometime soon I will be taking 30 plus pounds of wool over to the mill for yarn to be made!  Exciting!

It's no secret that my shearing days can be, um....let's say, "problematic"!  Today was no exception.  No shearing today because the shearer is having equipment problems.  It's not his fault.  That's what happens with mechanical things.  I know how frustrated he probably is. 

So, we will try again Sunday.

Happy Spring everyone!  It's BEAUTIFUL here today!

Tomorrow we will start shearing sheep here.  I have a tendency to play it down here because I have a history of bad shearing experiences.  Something always seems to go wrong. Last year I managed to escape anything note-worthy with a new shearer, Erick.  I will have him again this year.  He takes his time and is very good with the sheep.  He will be here tomorrow to get started and back again Sunday to finish up.  (Saturday I am doing the Winter Market in Bozeman, so I won't be here.) 

Today I will spend part of the day getting everything situated.  There's not a lot to prepare for, but I want to try and have it all in place for tomorrow morning.

For those of you who have joined my CSA or there may be some of you who have logged in to see what my Twisted CSA is all about.  Well, here's a little sneak peek of the beautiful yarn my sheep provide.

This is a sportweight yarn.  Shetland and Shetland Romney X.

Perfect for socks.

If you join my CSA, you will receive yarn just like this in many of the natural colors of my sheep. 

Sheep amaze me.  If you ever need proof of how warm there wool is, just take a look at them in a snow storm.  I had sheep for 10 years before I had a barn.  I had a make-shift little affair that was completely laughable, but it sufficed for a lambing shed.  That's really the only time the sheep use the barn and that's only because I put them there!  Well, I have seen them all crowded into the barn during severe storms when the wind is whipping and it's snowing or raining.  For the most part though, they don't mind the snow and cold.  Here's living proof.  We must have gotten 6 - 8 inches of snow in the last 24 hours.

The sheep are perfectly content to lay out under the stars and let the snow fall upon them.  You'd think it would melt right onto them with their warm body temps, but it actually acts as insulation.  Once the stand up they just shake it all off.  They might be a tad bit wet at first, but the least little bit of sunshine and they are completely dry, especially the darker ones.

You can see the sheep on the left has already gotten rid of most of the snow on her back.  They amaze me at how content they are while the snow is falling.  Serene!

This has to be my favorite time of year for looking at the ewes themselves.  They are plump with wool and plump with lambs.  I love the way the winter growth of wool drapes down them.  It's a hard one to explain, but it really is beautiful to see them with their full coats.  A living work of art, to be sure.

Shearing is less than a month away.  It will prepare them for lambing.  They'll be all cleaned up and ready to give birth and nurse their young.  You can imagine how all of that wool might be in the way for both.

It's no secret around here that I am a sucker for wethers.  Wethers are altered males.  They can be some of the friendliest animals.  I've always kept a flock of wethers for their wool.  Sometimes nature doesn't provide a ewe in the assorted colors that are my wethers, so I keep them solely for their wool.  I call them my band of brothers.

This picture shows several wethers and my new Romney ram.  He's the big guy on the left.  I bought him last fall in Idaho.    Funny how those guys hang together!

Some friends sent me a newpaper article from their local paper.  It had a picture of a ewe and a lamb standing, looking directly at the camera.  The caption read, "How can you be grumpy looking at sheep?"

Good question!

RULE NUMBER ONE:  I need your name and email address!

I'd love to enter your name into the drawing, but I have to have one first!  I cannot contact you w/o an email address.

RULE NUMBER TWO:  Please blog about my CSA, not just the giveaway,  and add my links to your blog or pass the information on to at least 5 fiber friends, hopefully more.  I am trying very hard to get the word out!

http://www.homesteadblogger.com/serenitysheepfarm
http://www.SerenitySheepWoolens.etsy.com

RULE NUMBER THREE:  You have to post back to my blog with your info so I know you've actually done it and (rule #1) I need to know who to put in the drawing!

Now, a bit about the giveaway.  I am not giving away a CSA.  If, down the road, I can get to that point, possibly, but for now I am giving away your choice of 4 skeins of my yarn OR a selection of my roving.  Roving, for the uninitiated, is wool that has been washed and carded.  It's ready to be spun or used for needle felting. 

Take a peek in my etsy shop and you will see yarn, the CSA, roving, sheep and roving sheep, but I am not giving away or selling roving sheep (yet)!   Sorry Cooper!

Yes, sick and twisted!  Since sick is the new word for "cool" among the younger generation and twist is what you must do to wool to get yarn, I thought that was appropriate for my CSA!   

I have to explain the CSA part a bit, because it has come to my attention that lots of people have never heard of a CSA.  Community supported agriculture.  Most of the time a CSA is created, it is done with a large market-sized garden.  When Matt & Jacy had their 5-acre garden here, they had a CSA.  It started small and has grown over time, as has their garden. 

When you sign up for a CSA, you become a member.  There are working members in the garden who receive a discount in exchange for their labor.  There are also non-working members.  You pay a fee up front in order to allow the farmer to purchase seeds, irrigation equipment and other things needed to raise food.  Don't forget, this is how they are making their living.  In return you receive a box of fresh veggies, herbs, sometimes eggs and whatever they happen to have in season.  Deliveries are generally made weekly to a specified drop point. 

My "twisted" CSA differs in that I am raising sheep.  The end product is wool or yarn!  In my 13 years of raising sheep, my biggest problem has been successfully selling the wool.  It really is some lovely stuff and I have had many compliments on in.  Past customers love how clean my raw (just shorn) fleece are.  Even Becky at the mill has told me she's never had a problem with my fleece.  It's very soft too and the shine is unreal!  I think the combination of Romney with the Shetland is awesome, but then I am a little biased!

If you have any questions, please don't heistate to email me.  knefla@aol.com.

Don't forget, blog about this CSA, include the links and then comment back here and you'll be entered into the drawing.  If you don't blog, just tell 5 fiber friends (or more) and then comment back here and your name will go in!

Read more in my January 31 posting.

Anyone who blogs about my Yarn CSA and includes the links to my blog AND my etsy shop will go into the drawing for your choice of 1 lb. of Serenity Sheep yarn (that's 4 skeins) OR an assortment of Serenity Sheep roving.  Regardless if you're a knitter, crocheter, spinner or needle felter, I am sure you will love my wool and put it to great use!

You must post a comment here along with your blog address so I can go check it out!  Then I will put your name into the drawing.  The deadline is Feb. 13, with the drawing on Valentine's Day.

This contest is world-wide!

**If you don't have a blog and would like to participate, please send my links to 5 - 10 friends and then post a comment here and I will add your name to the drawing.**

I've been working on getting you to the country!  Stay tuned to this blog for more updates.

We truly are fortunate to live where we live.  So many have visited here from all over the U.S. and commented to that effect.  So many times I have wondered just how to share it with others. 

To everything there is a season.

Two things have happened here that could possibly help to extend our welcome to those of you who live in the city and long for the country.  The first thing is the economy.  Construction here has come to a complete hault.  That is where our income comes from.  My husband is a self-employed dump truck driver and the truck has set idle since before Thanksgiving.  With necessity being the mother of invention, I had the opportunity to purchase a vintage sheep herder's wagon last fall.  I jumped at the chance.  I also have a sheep herder's cabin.  With a lot of work and sweat equity, we plan to rent them both out to folks during the summer.  This is a project I've already started working on and it's going to require a lot more work before it's off and running, so please keep us in your thoughts.

Along that same line, I want to let you in on a new twist to CSA's.  That stands for Community Supported Argiculture.  I am introducing my Yarn CSA.  For a fee of $150, you are able to purchase a share of Serenity Sheep's Yarn CSA.  Inlcuded in that price you will receive a Yarn CSA contract with all of the specifics.  You will also receive updates on what is going on here on the farm.  After the March shearing, I will take all of the fleeces to the mill and have the wool made into various colors of yummy yarn.  Each CSA member will receive a percentage of the yarn, to be determined by the pounds of wool sheared.

Here's the link:  http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=20360249&ref=em or go click on the etsy badge on the right hand side!

Times they are a changin' and we've got to try to keep up/afloat!  Wish us luck!