2021, Waiting on lambs!

[farmerjan]

The lamb that has the wide white blaze with the black nose and muzzle makes me think of a little bulldog.... just the way he stands there straight on to you, he looks like the "mack truck" bulldog. I think he is cute. (tough might be better for a ram lamb)

 

[secuono]

The lamb that has the wide white blaze with the black nose and muzzle makes me think of a little bulldog.... just the way he stands there straight on to you, he looks like the "mack truck" bulldog. I think he is cute. (tough might be better for a ram lamb)

That's Holly, a girl.

 

[farmerjan]

Whoops.... oh well, so it is okay that she is CUTE. And female bulldogs have that little "squared up stance too". My grandmother had english bulldogs when I was a little kid.... bulldogs just look so "formidable but hers had great dispositions. I barely remember them.

 

[secuono]

Whoops.... oh well, so it is okay that she is CUTE. And female bulldogs have that little "squared up stance too". My grandmother had english bulldogs when I was a little kid.... bulldogs just look so "formidable but hers had great dispositions. I barely remember them.

 

[secuono]

Sad news today.
Woke up so early today with a bad headache. If only I had gone out 30min sooner...
Articuna lost her ewe lamb. It was huge, fed only pasture, but still too big. Presented correctly, but head too huge to fit on its own. Very white eyes of a long dead lamb. Could tell right away by the umbilical chord that it was dead, eyes confirmed it.

 

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At least I didn't loose Articuna.

But to lighten the mood again, here is Tatiana's tail mohawk!

And her lambs still figuring how to master their very long legs.

 

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Woke up at 6am. No new lambs.
Supposed to rain today, we need it!
Second driest May for VA. Awful.

 

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Rain!

 

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Tomorrow, the sheep move paddocks again. Finally, 7 days. Lol. There's still leafy grass in there, but they aren't great at finding it.
Ponies will be pleased with this! Lol
I think Seadra is close to lambing. After loosing Articuna's lamb, I've been watching them even closer and hoping I don't miss it again. Articuna didn't look close in any way and then *bam* stuck lamb. Ugh. But Seadra is red n puffy n udder growing, so, we'll see. Her mom, Kibito, looks to have more time to go. Will have to check the previous posts to remember who else I'm supposed to be watching.

 

[Ridgetop]

Terrible news about the lost lamb. I always think the same - if only I got out earlier. But probably wouldn't have
made any difference. Better to think she lost it during the night than to beat yourself up over it.

Posing sheep is a lot more tricky than posing rabbits...
Need to make a chute with a plexiglass side. Lol.
Uneven ground, camera on wide angle, tilted & pointing at shoulder, sheep bracing & sinking. Ugh...

I know! So hard to get a good picture! Just when they look right and you snap it - they move!

The ADSBs magazine had a complete article on how to correctly shoot pictures of sheep. They suggested having several people to help you (like that will happen lol) and posing them with a good background, etc. If ever I have a full day to spend I will set up an area just for taking a picture. I think roll out a piece of fake grass, and attach a deep blue sheet on the barn wall. Then try posing the sheep. Oh yes, they have to be nicely shorn and washed first. Then posed. But not shooting down at them, you have to lay down or crouch, or have the camera on a tripod at ground level with a switch. Oh yes and don't take the photos with your phone either. You have to be able to filter stuff adjust the exposure, etc. Not happening. I will just settle for pictures taken on the fake grass inside a portable pen. Maybe I will remove their mohawks, maybe not. Lambs no problem, no need to shear. After reading the article, I really became depressed about ever being able to produce good pix.

When posing show dogs I used to tug gently on their tails and they would lean forward against the tug right into the proper position. LOL The 4-H way to train lambs to lean forward is to practice posing them on a bale of straw and put their rear feet right at the edge. If the tied to back up a step, they would fee their rear hooves starting to slip off and lean forward. It taught them not to back away while posing.