Jenny Miracle: Lambing Update

The other day - Tuesday - we had a bit of a problem.

Actually, we had several problems, but this one is the more interesting.

A sheep expecting twins was having some serious trouble. A tangle of arms and legs coming out at the same time, confusion ... enough info! Once we got the first one out (it was dead), we started on the second one. We totally expected this one to be dead to but.......... it wasn't

Instead, this is what came out:

Yup, it was black. Coal black. From the tip of her nose to the end of her tail. Now, this may not be unusual in some places, or breeds, but I've never seen the like. Uncle hasn't seen the like. It's a genetic freak. It just doesn't happen to pure Blackfaces. We called it Jenny Miracle. I provided the Jenny (as in genetic freak) and my more soft-hearted aunt called her miracle, cos she wasn't meant to be alive.

And in other lambing news:

 

 This is the other major trouble we had on Tuesday. This pic was taken when he was less than 24 hours old. The massive horns and big shoulders meant we had to call the vet to take him out. He is from the exact same stock as Jenny on the mother's side and has the same father. Like I said, she's a strange 'un!

This one.......... is perfectly ok. I thought I'd better show her to you so you know that not all the sheep have problems. Most actually do give birth without our help

PS I take it back. Just been out helping take a lamb from a sheep. SOME give birth naturally! The rest take pleasure in starting their labour in the worst weather, at the worst times. Sometimes I wonder why we bother ............ but then, we had Lamb Curry last night, and all of a sudden I realise it's worth all the effort.

Joys of Homeschool.... pt. 1

Tuesday was a great day


Better than a birthday


Better even than Christmas


On Tuesday............... the scanners came to town.


Yup, on Tuesday morning, all our hopeful mothers-to-be got herded to the fank at the moor end of the village.

No, not the women: we may be old fashioned, but it's the ewes I was talking about.

The joys of homeschooling means Uncle can call on us when ever he needs us!

Tangent.... Isn't it great how the sheep get priority on our roads here. All the cars stop. 

Incidentally, did you know that the right to herd geese through the middle of London is enshrined on the statute books. It would be interesting to try one day.....

You can just see the fank to the right of Catherine, beyond the fences. It's just a glint really.

OK, I'm back. Once at the fank, they are asked (read threatened, forced and shouted at) to climb into this odd looking trailer. There is a guy inside that wee hut thing with an ultrasound scanner and a wee screen, and he tells the guy on the outside whether the sheep is expecting singles, twins, or, horrors of horrors, she might be expecting triplets. Occasionally the dreaded shout will come "dry" and that sheep will be ignobly put out to pasture that year..... if it's her first year dry.....

They process about 7000 ewes in the five days they are on the island

The guy sprays them to signify what they're expecting: one dot on the neck for twins, on the tail for dry, two dots for triplets and a cross if they are well on in their pregnancy.

Do they look like happy mothers to be to you? Hard to tell really.

As for our own sheep... well, we had a reasonably good year. Roll on March!!

Sheep

Sheep.

They are possibly the daftest animals on earth. They are conclusive proof against evolution. If beasts evolved, sheep would know that:

1. wandering in the middle of the road is bad,
2. when the shepherd comes with the scissors/medicine/anything else, it's good for them.
Thousands of years of domestication, and not one tiny sign of any sense.

Anyway, despite all that, I give up many, many days a year to help my uncle work on them.

Work on them? With them? Around them? Whatever.

My uncle's sheep are Blackface. That's the name, of the breed, not a description of the sheep. Although they do mostly have black faces. No lack of imagination there. To be honest, it's the only breed worth having.

These are the pride of the flock. Rams we (well, my uncle plus me..) have brought up from tiny wee lambs.

Well, when I say worth having, it's from a point of view of personal preference, not financial gain....

 Anyway, last Saturday was one of those sheep days. We dosed the pregnant ewes, and shifted the lambs from the croft onto the machair. 

This isn't a pregnant ewe, but it was the closest I could find. This picture is from last year's lambing season

The bible says a lot about sheep. Christ is called the Good Shepherd. It compares Christians to sheep, who need constant guiding and feeding. Left to fend for themselves, they waste away, and put themselves in dangerous places. (Matthew 9:36) Yet we have a Shepherd that not only showers us with blessings, but gave His life for us. (John 10:11). For that, He deserves our very best, lacking though that may be.

These are not Uncle's sheep. I just added it to show WHY we have Blackfaces, and not these....... other breeds. These are Texels.