It was time for one last check on the girls before heading to bed.
Frosty’s ram lamb
Black ram lamb with spotting – 8.5lbs
Farmer\'s Blog
Updates from Stoneybrook Farm
Lambing continues…
With new lambs from Tansy and Isis.
Tansy white ram lamb with badger face, 7 pounds
Isis
Black ram lamb with white spots, 9 pounds
White ewe lamb with black and brown spots, 8.5 pounds
These lambs were actually all born on April 1st. We have now been a week without any new lambs and have resumed bagwatch.
A bit of excitement
Yesterday was an exciting day with Wren starting us off with a set of triplets. You’ll have to search for the 3rd set of legs but they’re in there!
- Ewe Lamb – 7lbs – Primarily white
- Ram Lamb – 8lbs – White with a couple brown spots.
- Ewe Lamb – 8lbs – White with brown pants
Then in the middle of the night Lily decided she wanted to lamb and she’s quite the yeller!
- Ram Lamb – 9lbs – Coloring difficult to tell, will become more apparent.
First out the gate
This year Bevi was the first of our girls to lamb. She had a good health 7lb ram lamb.
Lambing Kit
As we get ready to lamb each year we like to have a convienent kit that is easy to use and contains the essentials for some common situations we might need to deal with.
- Rubbing alcohol – Essential for sterilizing tools/implements
- Iodine & scissors – Used to cut the umbilical cord and kill any bacteria that might travel towards the naval and cause infection. It also helps to seal off the umbilical cord.
- A syringe, 6″ rubber tube & some lubricating gel. A common problem with lambs not feeding at birth is constipation. Some glycerin or warm soapy water or will help relieve this problem by enema.
- Variety of bottles to hold implements or collect colostrum.
- A stomach feeding tube and bottle. Stomach tubing can be tricky so ensure your confident in your intubating abilities first.
- Rubber gloves. If any pushing/pulling is necessary, get the long kind.
- A sling, scale and notepad for record keeping.
Bag Watch 2015
As spring approaches our ewes begin to look ready to birth. This girl, Wren, will be our first as we’ve been watching her closely and all signs point her way. What do we watch for? First we keep an eye on the udder and as it swells we know she’s approaching. Our next clue is her vulva and as it swells its time to start watching at night. The last clue, if your lucky enough to see it, the lambs will drop and a hollow will appear along her spinal process and this is your 24hr notice.
Hope you enjoy and if your animals are having young ones this year send me some new birth photos, not to gruesome though, a little bit about your farm and we’ll host them on our web page.
Rooster Results
The Rooster Contest is now closed and the results are in!
The winner is…
It was a tight race between El Pollo and The Experienced Gentleman, but luckily for these two they are now both guaranteed a spot in the flock. Many thanks to those that voted, our hens will be very grateful once our rooster population is reduced. The scores of all the roosters are in the graph below.
Wool
Our first batch of wool has returned from the Gulf Islands’ Spinning Mill on Salt Spring Island.
Check out the specifics for each type on our wool page.
The Rooster Contest – Vote Now!
At long last, vote for your favourite roosters in The Rooster contest
We have five great contenders, if you need a refresher check out the profiles for:
Ready to vote? Use the survey below to help us decide which roosters to keep.
Last but not least…
Our last competitor in The Rooster contest is…
The non stop excitement continues here at Stoneybrook, watch for the rooster poll soon to vote on your favourite.