Mother of the Year Award: Sweet

Danny sheared the rest of the sheep and goats last Monday. I have decided to name the Merino ewe "Meri." Still trying to decide on the ram. This is Meri getting her first haircut. Her fleece is pictured below. It is the best fleece of all, with the ram coming in a close second.

In terms of statistics, 78 animals were shorn. The heaviest fleeces were: the Merino ram - 17.5 pounds, the Merino ewe and Mound, the Rambouillet, came in at 15.5 pounds each. The Merino will produce more yarn, since the Rambouillet is gorgeous, but coarser.

The kids are starting to assert their independence and developing personalities. All of the colored kids are black so far and the buck gave me lots of bucks. I have two more goats to deliver and expect that their babies will also be black.

Sweet has won the "Mother of the Year" award. She gave me triplets and had all of them up and drinking by the time I came back out last Thursday afternoon to check on her. Two does and a buck. I am excited, because she has always had the kids with the best fleeces. This is her first set of triplets and all are thriving.

The goat moms are very patient. The kid jumping on this mom is not her baby.

Pearl gave me triplet ewes yesterday afternoon. I considered her as a possible mother of the year, till I went out and found the smallest lamb too weak to get up. They have all been drinking or at least under her on her teats. I tried milking her and could not get any out, so they are sucking her dry. Since the largest one is really heavy, I figure the rest are not getting enough. I brought colostrum that I had saved from last year out and the smaller two inhaled it. I am glad they suck without having to be coaxed. I gave Pearl lots of grain and water, so I hope she fills up. Otherwise, I have two really cute bottle babies!

Someone asked for lamb photos. You would not believe how hard it is to get front facing photos of the babies. Their moms head the other way when they see me coming. I don't think backside pictures would be cute.

Cheryl came last week and claimed the rug. Hopefully, she will get lots of use out of it. She came with the TUSD school group that took the first tour.