Lambing Is Finished! Hallelujah!

So lambing has been going on, in fits and a starts here at the farm since March 8th, when Blackberry Winter got things rolling, with Hope hot on her heels. Then things stalled out and the next lambs didn't make their appearance until March 24. After that things got hectic with five ewes lambing with a week. I thought Luna would be the last to go on April 12th. She went a few days early and lambed on April 10th. That left Duckie, whose lambing time was a mystery. I really thought she would go early on. But no, she just kept getting larger, and larger and more miserable looking. Every night I was sure she was acting fishy, but no, she was just uncomfortable. I was beginning to think she was just going to never lamb. Then last night when I got home from work, she was hanging out by herself and her sides were caved in. Ah ha I thought, finally! Of course it wasn't as easy as that. First she had to look secretive and sly, then she had to nest and dig around for an hour or two. Finally at around 10:00 she seemed to be going into labor, with water bags appearing. I finally went in to the house, as my relentless spying seemed to be making her uneasy. Around about 11:00 she started hollering and carrying on, and I ended up going out to see if things were going as normal. They were, and soon this little guy (yes--another ram!) was on the ground. This is Duckie's first lambing, but she was an instant mom. I've never seen a lamb quite this vigorous---it seemed he literally hit the ground running. I got them settled in a lambing jug, and watched awhile. Duckie was starting to pass the afterbirth, so I went on back to bed.

At around 2:00 a.m. I decided to take one last trip out to the barn and make sure all was well. There was Duckie, working on yet another lamb! This time a little solid ewe lamb. It was a bit weird because she passed an afterbirth, then had the second lamb--almost three hours later! The lamb was pretty slow acting, and I think it might have been because it took so long to deliver her. She just couldn't get the idea of where to nurse. I was starting to despair, when finally she got it. After that, I went back to bed, again.... So lambing is finally done here, and I'm so thrilled. It's been a little exhausting!
I am thrilled all to pieces to get this little smirslet boy. (Only thing better would have been if he was a she!) His mother is a plain black ewe, out of a plain black ewe and an Ag grey flecket. I had hoped she possessed some spotting genetics, as it frequently crops up in this line. I guess the girls just thought they would save all the spots for the last. These twins are out of Locksfield Griffen & Fairlight Duckie.

Duckie seems to have taken to motherhood, well, like a Duck to water. I was sure she was going to have twins because she was so large, but then after the first lamb was born, all signs pointed to him being the only one. I'm really happy she twinned.

So here are the statistics (to the best of my fading and exhausted mind):

16 lambs born--7 ram lambs & 9 ewe lambs

2 Ag grey rams

1 musket ewe

1 Moorit ewe

2 Moorit rams

1 Ag grey ewe

3 black ewes

1 black ewe with brown pheo type markings

1 black smirslet ram

1 black krunet ram

1 moorit yuglet ram

2 white crossbred ewes

It's a nice looking bunch this year, and I'm quite pleased. Many of them will be available to new homes.

That's it for now.