Baby update

When I went back out last night, the young doe had just had her second kid: both bucks - a relief in a way. If I can't sell them to a breeder, they will be easier to sell in the fall after the wool festival.

Since she was a first time mom, she needed to be moved into a shed, so the babies could get warmed up. One was already too cold and had to be blow dried. You know that someone is a true friend, when they are willing to drive out at 10 at night and hang out till babies are warmed and on their mom. Judy came out last night and stayed till almost midnight. Marc is on the east coast, so he managed to dodge the baby routine this time.

Catching the doe was a comedy routine worthy of a video. Too bad, Judy and I were both too busy to take one. Once the doe was in the pen, she was pretty good about letting me milk her and then get the babies on her. I think the catching wore her out and made her realize that she was not going to get away. She still had the tendency to back away from her kids when they tried to drink, but they both had enough and were sleeping contentedly when I was last out.

I had another first time doe dripping at dinner time. Right now, you would never suspect anything, because she is chewing her cud among the rest of the goats. I will check again at 10 and then figure early morning babies. If I weren't always checking, I could probably sleep easier at night!

Animal things and yellows

Precious' daughter, Pear had triplets last week and they kept me busy for quite a while. One buck was up and drinking with no problems, another was really little, and the third was spreadeagled for days. I had to support the last two on their mother and bottled feed them some to get them up and on their feet. I am happy to say that they were both on their mom three days later. The mother refused to leave the pen when I tried to evict her two days ago, so I am going to leave her in there as long as I can. The two kids that I had to handle a lot are going to be very friendly. They will curl right up in your arms and fall asleep.

Babies find a quiet spot to sleep.

The Shetland ewe was born last week. I regret not having locked her and her mother into a pen. The mother freaks out every time the lamb goes to play with the rest. Her cries can get annoying!

The Shetland lambs have had some really cool colors this year. There is no guarantee that they will keep the same colors, except on their faces. The markings are all quite distinct.

As the does get ready to have their kids, they tend to isolate themselves from the herd. This mesquite tree has become a popular place for the younger does.

The kids have to be cleaned off in a hurry because the wind chill factor - even in 70 degree weather - can be fatal. This doe kid was born first and I have named her the Wanderer.

I put all of the does in a pen in the large shed to make sure that the moms and kids have bonded and to make sure that they are actually drinking off the mother. Above is Evening (202) and her kids - The Wanderer, who got confused and thought that Winter, the alpaca was a source of milk, and Homebody, the buck who knew who his mother is.

I have been carding and spinning. The above is a batt of black kid mohair. You can easily pick out the variation in color in one fleece.

This is a Georgia O'Keefe inspired freeform yarn. I loved the colors in one of her pictures.

Above is a piece I wove during one of my pinweaving classes. I might frame it.

This is a piece that I wove during the last class I taught. I loved the color combination.

So - I spun two freeform yarns and have a third almost finished. They are each quite distinctive, but can be used together. I used a lot of the fleeces that I have been washing from the spring shearing.

The second skein.

I am currently waiting for one of the young does to deliver. She has had stuff dripping for hours, but has not started going into serious labor. They rarely deliver after 8, so she is going to be one with a problem for sure. I might not get much sleep tonight!

Spring Shearing

We started the spring shearing on Friday. Danny arrived a day early, so we did the sheep that were further out and the goats in the far out pasture. Marc helped bag and prepare shots for the animals.

Since so many people asked - no animals were given tranquilizers. Animals resting on their tailbones are immobilized, so they do not struggle. Most of the ones sheared had been sheared before, so they knew the drill. The blue stuff that was poured on the animals' backs is a wormer that kills lice and internal parasites. The shots are CD&T which prevent overeating, diphtheria, and tetanus. It was like a spa day for them, because in addition to being sheared, they also had their hooves trimmed.

These sheep were sheared during the festival. There was a lot of racket until the moms and lambs found each other.

Miss Oregon had twin ewes mid afternoon after the shearing moved to the goat pens. She is moorit and it looks like her lambs have shades of it. Only time will tell, since Shetland lambs are born one color and can be another by the time they are two months old. I named the lighter colored one Spring and the other Shearing. I will remember them easily that way.

Thanksgiving looks like something from a science fiction movie. I was not planning on having her sheared, but an alpaca breeder friend suggested that her second fleece will be nicer, if I did.

At the end of the day, The Witch's kids escaped their pen (ran away from home), so I let them all out. They are returning there for their naps and bedtime.

Lynnae from Chamomile Connection came out to see the animals at the end of the day and mentioned that there was a lot of hair. Turns out that a goat managed to hide somewhere all day long and not get sheared. Marc and Danny caught her and she is now as naked as the rest!

Another ewe delivered an ewe lamb yesterday morning. Agave, an angora goat, delivered a buck last night (he took a while to get on mom) and Pear, one of the Texas Doe's daughters delivered twins this morning. At least 1 more goat will deliver today. I am still waiting on an ewe in the arena. She must be carrying twins.

Someone has sent photos of the booths, but I have not been able to load them. I was too busy to take any - par for the course!

Thanks to all who came. We had a record turnout. The nuno scarf raffle brought in $113 for the Casa Maria Kitchen and was won by Anne Tebo.

Other winners:

Cheryl Wendt - Simple Felted Flowers Kit donated by the Gypsy Studios

Amy Oliver won the Sari Silk donated by Chamomile Connection

Cheryl Michael won a bag of yarn donated by Unique Designs By Kathy

Jessie Virgin won stitch markers donated by Handmade by Sheri

Bernadine Richey won stitch markers donated y Handmade by Sheri

Amy Holzgrafe won a nuno felting kit donated by Unique Designs By Kathy

They will be notified by email, if they provided one. Otherwise, I sure hope they are reading my blog!

Almost ready

I got my shop put back together on Monday and then spent two days spinning. Above is a picture of all but three skeins that I am adding to the shop. With the 4th Avenue over and the spring shearing almost here, I felt a little pressure to have something new in the shop. My favorite of these is the one at the far right in the front. Shirley, if you are reading this, what was left of your nuno felted shawl are the center front skeins. They turned out really pretty. I am currently spinning a single in every shade of blue that was at hand - almost all kid mohair.

Forest was the sire for all of the black does. If you remember, The Witch had her twins on Monday. Well, her son is Forest (Gump) Jr. He is not getting the idea for drinking. I have had to lock The Witch's head in the panel in order to milk her, then feed the buck and then put the buck on her. Will try one more time tonight. Hope he does not become a bottle baby. He was nudging my leg this afternoon in hopes of extracting milk.

The ranch is almost all spruced up. Marc took a trip to the dump and I raked three hours today with some help. All of the pens got a once over. I have two school groups coming in the morning to see shearing, get an animal tour, and a fiber demonstration.

Saturday is going to be a big day. I have had lots of calls about the spring shearing, so I expect a good turnout. There were mentions in three places in today's paper, which is awesome. I was afraid that my submissions would get lost in the listings, but they caught my eye. Sure wish the paper would print the website - makes it easier for people to find directions and know a little about what they are coming to see. We are going to have great weather.

Danny is supposed to be here any time. After shearing for the school group in the morning, we are going to shear the adult angora goats and most of the llamas an alpacas. I am keeping some in fiber till the tours are done tomorrow. Hate for anyone not to see how cool they look in full fleece!

Spotted Lambs

In response to a question about whether the spotted lambs will keep their colors and are they part Jacob: The lambs are 100% Shetland. My Shetland named Spots has spots. Her wool turned all white. I won't know for two months whether they will keep the spots, but my assumption is that the black will fade to gray or white, since it has happened to all of the rest. Too bad, because I think they are cute!

Lots of babies

This is Onyx with her ram lamb born yesterday morning right before I went dow to the 4th Ave Fair.

The two lambs in the foreground were born yesterday. Marc said he saw them at 11 a.m., but he did not think that they were new since they were large and dried off. I knew they were as soon as I saw them. It is amazing how many variations there are in coloring and how easy it is to pick out the different ones. I have a lot of spotted lambs this year.

Dell and her mother were evicted from their pen this afternoon after she got her shots. I figured that I would be needing the pens soon. She was not ready to move out, so she found a spot in the large shed. Her mother is hoarse from calling her.

The Witch had twins this afternoon, so I moved her into Dell's old spot. We have named the goats Broom (doe) and Handle (buck.)

Jalapeno had a huge buck right after The Witch delivered. Based on her size, I was expecting twins. Her afterbirth is out, so he was Lonely and was given that name.

My shop is set back up. It always takes longer to do after a shop. My morning customers were very understanding. I hauled them out to see babies. I am a proud mama, after all!

Onyx

Onyx had a ram lamb this morning. He looks like a Border Leicester and is huge!