Lamb Birth

Although Rusetti’s ewe lamb was born a while ago, I decided to show the story of her birth.  Capturing the birth on film is always challenging because the lighting is usually terrible, the space is cramped, and sometimes, the camera lady has to assist!  And that is what happened this time.  But we managed to get a few decent pictures of the birth.  (Remember, I was shooting literally in the dark!)

She is starting active labor here.  Note how high she holds her head on the far above right.

Now you can see the amniotic fluid and mucous coming.  Her water bag burst inside her.

And now two feet!  I’m checking to see if there’s a nose.  Though I am not wearing gloves, I washed and disinfected my hands and arms.

She went down and is pushing harder.  Here the nose and forefeet are presented.

She is having some difficulty- and it’s no wonder.  The baby’s head is sideways, so where you would normally feel the poll there’s an eye socket!  I assist her by gently stretching the lips of the vulva, pulling on the lamb’s legs, and easing her head out.  I can’t emphasize enough that I again washed my hands and arms!  It’s critical to avoid introducing pathogens into the ewe, because serious infections may result.

And it’s a girl!  A gorgeous, strong ewe lamb seems to be the perfect reward for Rusetti’s hard work.  She is licking her off and bonding to her.

Her daughter, yet to be named, has blossomed into a beautiful, strong, muscular ewe with perfect conformation and fleece.  And she is a true gray!  I’m looking forward to watching her grow and seeing what kind of lambs she will produce.

The Lambs Are Coming!

I realize that I have been very tardy in updating this blog.  We’ve had so much going on but most of it has been good!  To start, we welcomed a new FBA registered Finn ram to our Finn flock.  His name is Quick Silver and he is a silver spotted badgerface.  I think that he is a true gray, not just a fading gray or what I call “gray factor”.  He comes from Borderhauss and he is a very sweet and stunning guy.  Many thanks to the Deshlers for selling him to us!

Lambing and kidding season is well under way.  In fact, we are finished except for Maria, our white FBA ewe, who will be lambing for the first time.  There seems to be nothing more joyful than a healthy birth- even if that means I need to check on everybody every two hours or so.  That of course includes the night.  I think that people who keep livestock are some of the most blessed because we are able to live close to the land, watch the endless cycle of life, and be there when brand-new life takes its first breath.  I like to just sit near the late-pregnant ewes and put my hand gently on their greatly expanded bellies, and feel those lambs squirm and kick.  The ewes seem to enjoy the company.

We unfortunately lost one of our Wensleydale ewes and her twins to milk fever.  Her cervix didn’t dilate and so the babies couldn’t be delivered normally, and were dead when delivered via Cesarean section.  She was too weak and did not make it much past the operation.  We worked with our vet who did a wonderful job.  I don’t know how well this applied to our case, since she was in early labor and it is difficult to know when to intervene, but the earlier you get veterinary assistance, particularly with difficult births, the greater the chance the mom and babies will be saved.  Another thing for those of you with sheep- keeping a bottle of calcium gluconate is a good idea.  In the case of milk fever (hypocalcemia), you can give it subcutaneously, instead of intravenously.  IV injections can stop the heart.  You need a large dose (as in 90 mL large dose), depending on the weight of the ewe, and you should divide it up for five or so injection sites. You could instead give calcium paste or even lots of Tums orally.  Definitely get assistance from your vet in diagnosing and treating this because other diseases mimic the symptoms of milk fever and it is critical to treat for the correct disease.  Also note that just because a ewe is hypoglycemic does not mean she also doesn’t have ketosis, for example.  Calcium can be powerful and it is important to give enough, but not a drastically higher dose than she would need.  Your vet is the best help in determining this- and since this is a true life-or-death emergency, the sooner you get that assistance, the higher the chances of success.

We had two lovely sets of Cotswold ewe lambs born to our Cotswold ewes- three white lambs and one black lamb.  I am keeping one white lamb, Gertrude, and Onyx, the black ewe lamb.  Unfortunately, the mom squished one of the white babies and we lost her.  Very sad, but it happens and there is not a thing you can do about it- either to prevent it or to bring that lamb back.  The others are doing well and Gertrude’s sister will be going to a very good home.

Gertrude and sister

Pearl and Onyx

Next, my Wensleydale ewe Nora had twin ewes!  She had a black lamb and a white lamb.  They are strong, healthy, and well-framed- I think that they will be big girls when they’re grown up!  The black lamb is yet to be named, and I am keeping her for my flock.  The white lamb will be going to a great home when she is ready.  I’m very excited to see how they turn out- these are 36% Wensleydales.

My Angora doe Nell had a white buckling, and I will probably just have to resist his adorableness and sell him…but he’s a joy to watch, with his curls and ears bouncing as he jumps for joy!  So sweet, like lambs.  I am toying with the idea of naming him Jeremiah- my family seems to think that fits him well. 

My sister’s Pygmy doe Silver had a Pygora baby.  He’s a white buckling too- and I think that he is a type C.  That means that he will have a cashmere fleece.  He is being bottle raised and is quite fun to watch.  He is best pals with Gertrude the Cotswold lamb.

Now- my Finn ewes.  I will be honest- I was disappointed this year with their lower lambing rates, but then it occurred to me why.  They were on clover before breeding season.  Clover has estrogenic compounds that impede ovulation.  Sometimes it’s so severe that ewes don’t conceive at all.  My silver ewe Lempi, bred to Quick Silver, produced twins (normally she has triplets every year)- a badgerface ram and a ewe that I am pretty sure is true gray.  Both are gorgeous and very healthy and so I am pleased and grateful.  Yes, the ewe is staying here.  Much as I would like to keep the badger boy, I don’t really have unrelated ewes to breed him to, so he will probably be for sale to some lucky person.

Next, my black ewe Rusetti (who should have had twins or triplets) gave birth to a beautiful black ewe.  Quick is the sire.  She is all black except for white spots on the top of her head, her lips and chin, and the very tip of her tail.  And yes, she is staying right here.  What a beautiful ewe. 

I’ll do what I can for pictures and more, better ones will be posted as I get them.

Maria’s due to lamb in a few weeks!

New Breeds!

We have recently gotten involved with two other breeds of sheep, the beautiful longwools Cotswolds and Wensleydales.  We now have a flock of one ram and two ewes of the Cotswold breed, and two lovely 73% Wensleydale ewes.  We were also fortunate to have been able to buy three outstanding white Angora does, a five-year-old doe and her two daughters, three and two years old.  We are looking forward to working with all these great girls (and boy).  And shearing time will bring a new variety of fibers to our shop! 

We hope to be able to offer lambs and kids from the longwools and Angoras.  Of course, our main focus will still be on the Finns, but I am excited to be involved in the preservation of these different rare breeds. 

Our shearing plans are not finalized, but these are what I am considering shearing at the moment:

Lempi (gray Finn ewe), Curly, Samantha, Nell, Feather, and Popcorn (Angoras), and the three Cotswold sheep that currently are not named.  I am toying with the idea of leaving the Wensley girls in fleece for longer than six months.  I would love to play with the long curls.  Toivo, Vinny, Eero, Rusetti, and Maria will be shorn in the spring.  This will be the first time that Toivo and Vinny will be clipped only once per year. 

I am probably going to sell both the mohair and the Cotswold wool washed.  Most people seem to prefer longwool and mohair washed, and I can understand why.  It is a task that can only be appreciated by those who have done it!  The longer the staple, the harder it is to clean.  But the results are worth it!

We will be renting a reverse badger black Angora buck, Stryker, from Oak Willow Farm, to breed these fine Angora does.  Eero will be breeding my three Finn ewes, and my Cotswold ram will be breeding the Cotswold ewes.  I am not yet sure about my Wensleydale ewes.  My Pygmy doe Lulu is hopefully bred to Sonny Boy, the Pygora.

 

Our Cotswolds and Wensleydales

Post-Fair Update

We show at the Ingham County Fair every year both in open class and 4-H.  This was the first year we decided to bring our Finnsheep, and we also took three Pygmy goats and our two Angora goats.  We also exhibited six Finn fleeces, two Angora mohair fleeces, plus handspun yarns.  Overall it was a very good year.

Toivo, our three year old gray piebald Finn ram, placed Reserve Champion in the Any Other Breed Ram category.  A katmoget fawn Shetland that was bred by David Knight took Grand Champion, so there was very good competition.  Congratulations to David Knight for this win!  I am very happy that the rare breeds are being recognized and shown off to the public.  I hope that this continues!  It was a fun show.

Vinny, Toivo’s son, took Grand Champion in the Open Class Any Other Breed Yearling Ram class.  He appeared to enjoy the show.

My yearling Angora doeling Samantha took Reserve Champion in her class, as did her fleece in the Fiber Goat Fleece competition.  Curly, my two year old wether took Grand Champion in his class and in the Fiber Goat Fleece competition.

Eero, my FBA brown Finn ram, took Grand Champion ram’s fleece at the sheep fleece contest!  All the fleeces received blue ribbons in their categories.

I received Best in Show with my 4-H handspun yarn and Sweepstakes in open class for another skein.

I think that the public really enjoyed Vinny and Toivo hamming it up at the fairgrounds, and I enjoyed promoting the rare breeds.   We are now relaxing and I will be posting my fleeces online for sale soon.

I picked up our newest fiber pet, a PyNigora white buckling from David Knight.  His name is Patrick, and he is very cute and will have Type C fleece, I imagine.  He is quite playful and I am thinking that I will neuter him, as we do not have the facilities or the does to keep yet another intact buck.  It is already challenging to deal with three rams and two bucks.  Sonny Boy will be breeding Lulu, my Pygmy doe, sooner or later for Pygora kids.  I do not think that Samantha, our Angora yearling doe, is ready to breed yet this year.

New Arrivals!

We are happy to announce that we have two new arrivals.  First, we have our very first FBA registered ewe, Maria.  She is white, but I think that she carries for black.  She has an A+ fleece, and is out of fecund lines.  We are thrilled to have her and cannot wait to see her lambs, which will be sired by Eero.  She comes from Bramble Berry Finnsheep.

Next, we have a white Pygora Type A buck.  He has an impressive set of horns, and while he is currently shorn, he will have a lovely fleece.  I am very excited to be working with his fiber.  I have plans to breed him to our does.  He is high percentage Angora, and is not registered.  He has a very nice temperament.  I will be posting pictures soon, both of him and Maria.  His name is Sonny Boy, and he comes from Oak Willow Farm.

It has been very warm lately, but all seem to be taking the heat well.  I am already making plans for our breedings this fall.

2011 Lambing Season

Welcome to Finnish Fiber Farm!  This year we have had an exciting lambing season with our new FBA registered brown Eldorado ram, Eero.  We had six lambs born this year, all either solid black or with white markings.

Rusetti was the first ewe to give birth- she had twins, one ram(Oiva, see picture below) and one ewe, on 2/28/11.  The ewe, Helmi, we are keeping, but the ram is for sale!  Lempi then had triplets on 3/5/11, two ewes and a ram lamb I wethered and sold.  Then Dorothy had a single ram lamb, sire unknown but for sure not Eero.  This lamb is also for sale.

Our hope is that this blog will inform others of what goes on in raising sheep, goats, and Angora rabbits, hopefully educate, and let customers know what we have for sale.

Please visit our website at http://www.finnishfiberfarm.webs.com/ to meet our flock in the meantime!