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- #261
purplequeenvt
Herd Master
"Gimme a smooch!"
purplequeenvt - Ivy Knoll Farm
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elevan
Critter Addict ♥
That mane on Helen is just too cute 
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- #263
purplequeenvt
Herd Master
Ya like it?elevan said:That mane on Helen is just too cute
I just cut it off on Saturday. I was a little worried that she would look awful, but her mane was a huge mess so I decided to hack it off and start over. Now I think that the short cut looks really good on her. I may keep it in the 1-2" range so it stands straight up.Just out of curiosity....what color would you call Helen?
RemudaOne
Ridin' The Range
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I would say that Helen is a Liver Chestnut. She's a cutie
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- #265
purplequeenvt
Herd Master
See that's the thing...she *looks* like a liver chestnut (has been that color her entire life). She also has a black dorsal stripe, dark points, and a brownish body so I thought she was a dun of some sort for a while. Then I did genetic testing on her just for the heck of it.......she is black. Boring old black, no dun, no grey, no other interesting modifying genes that would explain why she has never actually been black. Her mom is a bay tobiano (we also own her) and her dad (there is some confusion on what color he was) was a dark (I would assume black) horse that either greyed out or was a roan. He died before I got Helen so I never saw him.RemudaOne said:I would say that Helen is a Liver Chestnut. She's a cutie
*sigh* I always get the strange ones.
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- #266
purplequeenvt
Herd Master
I've been meaning to post the results of our 2012 lambing season for a while now. Here are the official numbers.....
Length of lambing season: 86 days
Total number of live lambs: 38
Rams: 16
Ewes: 22
Number of:
Singles: 7
Twins: 13
Triplets: 2
Breed Break-down:
Border Leicesters: 18 - 9 ewes/9 rams
Shetlands: 5 - 4 ewes/1 ram
Crossbred: 15 - 8 ewes/7 rams
Total number of ewes lambed: 22
Number of Border Leicester ewes: 9
Number of Shetland ewes: 3
Number of Crossbred ewes: 10
Total lambing percentage: 172% or 1.72 lambs per ewe
Border Leicester: 200% or 2 lambs/ewe
Shetland: 166% or 1.66 lambs/ewe
Crossbred: 150% or 1.5 lambs/ewe
We had a lambing percentage of 125% last year, so I am pretty happy with these numbers. I think we had some nice lambs. We've picked out the lambs that we plan to keep as replacement stock. Lyd and I are already thinking about breeding for the fall.
Length of lambing season: 86 days
Total number of live lambs: 38
Rams: 16
Ewes: 22
Number of:
Singles: 7
Twins: 13
Triplets: 2
Breed Break-down:
Border Leicesters: 18 - 9 ewes/9 rams
Shetlands: 5 - 4 ewes/1 ram
Crossbred: 15 - 8 ewes/7 rams
Total number of ewes lambed: 22
Number of Border Leicester ewes: 9
Number of Shetland ewes: 3
Number of Crossbred ewes: 10
Total lambing percentage: 172% or 1.72 lambs per ewe
Border Leicester: 200% or 2 lambs/ewe
Shetland: 166% or 1.66 lambs/ewe
Crossbred: 150% or 1.5 lambs/ewe
We had a lambing percentage of 125% last year, so I am pretty happy with these numbers. I think we had some nice lambs. We've picked out the lambs that we plan to keep as replacement stock. Lyd and I are already thinking about breeding for the fall.
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- #268
purplequeenvt
Herd Master
Remember this little cutie???
Nemo got her wrap off a couple weeks before we went to Europe. And, as I feared, she couldn't straighten her leg. We did a little physical therapy with it and it got a little better, but not significantly. At that point I decided that we would just grow her out and slaughter her this fall. Nemo had other ideas though. When we got back from our trip her leg was completely better. She doesn't even have a limp! And to top it all off, she is definitely better quality than her sister.
Here she is today.
Valerie has completely wormed her way into my heart. She is the sweetest lamb ever. Lyd was worried that all of the animals would have forgotten us by the time we got home, but as soon as we went into the paddock to see the sheep, Valerie came running over to be pet.
Eloise on the other hand is a spazoid. She didn't get handled as much because she was so young when we left, but I am showing her this year so I am sure she will be obnoxiously friendly by the fall.
Eloise's brother, Eugene, is just plain cute!
Nice ears!
Best buds...
Hetty had an accident the other day. She was escaping from the paddock and got her leg stuck. She has a big gash in her back leg and was in a lot of pain, but the vet gave her some banamine and she's feeling better now.
On a side note.....it is extremely difficult to take pictures when there is a goat climbing in your lap, nibbling on the camera (and sticking her nose in the way of the shot), and licking your legs. This is why there are no new pictures of Lyric.
My little Star (I did NOT name him, LOL). I have had him for 6 years since he was 2. He was a stallion when I brought him home, but you never would have known.
We've never raised pigs before and I was rather nervous about it, but I am finding these piggles to be very entertaining. They love water!
Nemo got her wrap off a couple weeks before we went to Europe. And, as I feared, she couldn't straighten her leg. We did a little physical therapy with it and it got a little better, but not significantly. At that point I decided that we would just grow her out and slaughter her this fall. Nemo had other ideas though. When we got back from our trip her leg was completely better. She doesn't even have a limp! And to top it all off, she is definitely better quality than her sister.
Here she is today.
Valerie has completely wormed her way into my heart. She is the sweetest lamb ever. Lyd was worried that all of the animals would have forgotten us by the time we got home, but as soon as we went into the paddock to see the sheep, Valerie came running over to be pet.
Eloise on the other hand is a spazoid. She didn't get handled as much because she was so young when we left, but I am showing her this year so I am sure she will be obnoxiously friendly by the fall.
Eloise's brother, Eugene, is just plain cute!
Nice ears!
Best buds...
Hetty had an accident the other day. She was escaping from the paddock and got her leg stuck. She has a big gash in her back leg and was in a lot of pain, but the vet gave her some banamine and she's feeling better now.
On a side note.....it is extremely difficult to take pictures when there is a goat climbing in your lap, nibbling on the camera (and sticking her nose in the way of the shot), and licking your legs. This is why there are no new pictures of Lyric.
My little Star (I did NOT name him, LOL). I have had him for 6 years since he was 2. He was a stallion when I brought him home, but you never would have known.
We've never raised pigs before and I was rather nervous about it, but I am finding these piggles to be very entertaining. They love water!
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- #269
purplequeenvt
Herd Master
It has been an aggravating couple weeks.
I've been away at our church's youth retreat (great time!), but now that I am home there is so much to be done.
Most of the sheep are very anemic and it doesn't seem to be parasites. We had 3 sheep (1 lamb and 2 ewes) that got bottle-jaw last week. I de-wormed (again), gave them B complex and the bottle-jaw cleared up. I got back Saturday afternoon and shortly afterwards one of the ewes died. I did an autopsy of sorts and got some samples of poop and liver. I have to call the vet in the morning and have them come out and help me figure this thing out. I hate this time of year.
Another stress is that a predator has found my birds. I have lost most of the chicks that I purchased and hatched this year. I suspect a possum. My strategy for right now is to lock up all the important birds in dog crates to keep them safe. I also have a radio playing in the coop. I'm going need to do renovations to make the coop more secure.
My sister is home (after 3 weeks) from the hospital, but she is far from well. It is going to a long time before she is truly healthy again.
I've been away at our church's youth retreat (great time!), but now that I am home there is so much to be done.
Most of the sheep are very anemic and it doesn't seem to be parasites. We had 3 sheep (1 lamb and 2 ewes) that got bottle-jaw last week. I de-wormed (again), gave them B complex and the bottle-jaw cleared up. I got back Saturday afternoon and shortly afterwards one of the ewes died. I did an autopsy of sorts and got some samples of poop and liver. I have to call the vet in the morning and have them come out and help me figure this thing out. I hate this time of year.
Another stress is that a predator has found my birds. I have lost most of the chicks that I purchased and hatched this year. I suspect a possum. My strategy for right now is to lock up all the important birds in dog crates to keep them safe. I also have a radio playing in the coop. I'm going need to do renovations to make the coop more secure.
My sister is home (after 3 weeks) from the hospital, but she is far from well. It is going to a long time before she is truly healthy again.
Ya know, all i ever did is see your pics, but you need a hugs!purplequeenvt said:
Hope you can figure this bottle jaw out!and OMG what happened to that cuty little lamb???!!!! I love all your animals, their all so cute
(again)
