Another Lamb Tail

As much fun as lambing is, it can be sad too. Some of the girls lose their babies but when all the pieces fall into place at the right time, we can give them a new one. Remember this ewe? She's been around a while and has always had an easy lambing. This time it didn't work out. She was expecting triplets. The first lamb born was a small one but the next two were large and stuck in the birth canal. Scott pulled them both out, but they were dead. Two days later the first born died too. She's a good mother and it wasn't her fault so when another set of triplets were born we decided to give her one. Triplets aren't exactly welcome by ranchers. Sheep can easily feed two lambs but if there is a third, it ends up not getting enough. They rarely do well unless someone (aka Jenny) walks out to the barn every couple of hours to feed it a bottle. So we took one new baby and left the new mom to bond with her twins. OK, here's where it gets a little tricky and well, quite a bit gross. You have to fool the faux-mom into believing this is her dead baby come back to life. (hey, it's sheep - they're not all that smart) In order to do that you gotta make it smell like her baby. You (aka Scott) have to skin the dead baby and wrap the new baby in the pelt. The new baby hasn't bonded with anyone and dosen't mind her new coat. She would be happy just to have breakfast so for her first meal we (aka Scott) roll the ewe on her back and make sure the lamb gets a belly full. The ewe doesn't know what to do with this lamb. It smells like hers but then again it doesn't. She keeps butting it trying to see if her lamb is under this impostor. The baby just wants to be loved but for the rest of the day we (aka Scott) will have to keep checking on her and make sure she's getting enough to eat until the ewe accepts her. Sometimes it can take a week. It's another "wait and see" situation. The next morning I snuck up to their stall to see what they were doing and I found this cozy and happy situation...

A Happy Tail

Scott has declared Super Bowl Sunday an official holiday at our place. No phone calls, no visitors (unless they are there to watch the game) and certainly no work. But someone forgot to tell the sheep and they decided to drop a bunch of babies on us. During one of the pre-show breaks Scott found a baby that had been born outside of the barn in the snow and wind. It was only about an hour old and it was suffering from exposure. We decided to bring her inside to warm her up. If you haven't had sheep before then you will be unaware of what bad mothers they can be. If distracted, they can leave their babies and refuse to claim them afterward. Taking a lamb away this early can make them forget they even had one so it is a risk. We brought the little one in the house and wrapped her in heated towels and put her on the heating vent in our kitchen. (I know, I hate having them and all the straw in the kitchen but you do what you have to) We had to be careful not to rub her dry with the towels because it would rub all the mother's scent off of her and the mother would be sure to reject her later. We didn't hold out much hope that she would make it. The inside of her mouth was cold which is a sure sign that death is near. Scott milked the mother and brought in a bottle but this lamb didn't have the strength to swallow. All we could do was keep her warm and wait. By the first quarter of the game she could lift her head. I felt the inside of her mouth and it was warm!

She took the bottle and swallowed as much as her belly could hold. By half time, with her own cheering section rooting her on, she stood up and yelled, "Maaaa" (some people think lambs say Baa but if you listen close, you will hear that they are actually calling for their Ma) We rushed her out to the barn and her anxious Ma. Keeping our fingers crossed, we watched to see if she would accept the baby back but we had nothing to worry about as she contentedly nuzzled her lamb.

Keep on Truckin'

We got a new truck. Wait a minute. Let me try that with a little more enthusiasm. WE GOT A NEW TRUCK! It's not that I'm not excited it's just that I wasn't finished with the old one,but Ford leasing said otherwise.

It put us in that proverbial rock and hard place. We were way over the allotted mileage, (I know, it was stupid to do a lease in the first place but know that it was just as hard a place then as it is now) and the buyout just wasn't worth it. After many late nights of research Scott decided that we needed to switch to a GMC because the mileage was so much better. Oh, yeah, and we're buying this one and even though the payments are painful, the savings on fuel should be worth it. The new truck had to be big enough to haul all the dogs down the road in our dog box, pull our 30 ft. travel trailer and do farm duties like hauling bales since we don't have a tractor. An aside here: this is why we turned the Ford in with a severely damaged tailgate that we had to hand back to them (aka don't try this at home) .

The new truck will have the dog box added in a few weeks and has all the bells and whistles that Scott was hoping for. Of course, Scott didn't have the final say. He had to pass it by the navigator first. It had to have one very important feature.

A Skid Stoop.
NOTE: Skid has requested that he not be used as the butt of every joke or the punchline to every blog entry. I will try to be disciplined to his request for at least the next couple of entries.

Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid.

This summer I will be traveling, by myself, from my home in Canada to where I grew up in California. I've done alot of traveling alone and I have never worried about my safety. I always take my dogs with me and as long as Nessie has been around I have felt protected. The truth is that Nessie was a big sweet dopey dog who loved meeting new people, but if I whispered the magic words "Watch 'em" Nessie would change into a barking, lunging attack dog.

If you didn't believe her show of bravery and continued to come toward us, she would bite.

Nessie is gone now and this will be my first trip without her. I have been wondering what I will do for protection from now on. The border collies would be more likely to wag their tails nervously if I was harassed than do anything constructive. I am now proud to say that someone else has stepped up to be my new guardian.

You laugh. Maybe even mock but I'm here to tell you that Scott has learned his lesson. Skid thinks Scott is a good buddy UNTIL he starts to pester me. Then woe to his shirt sleeve!

So watch out all you evil doers. There is a new dog on the block and he will not tolerate any funny business. Think to escape? Think again.

Old Bones

The dogs are allowed on the couch. There. I've said it. My name is Jennifer Glen and I am a dogaholic. ( I also have some great photo's of Scott and his dogs on the couch but I'm saving those for blackmail when I really need it) Bob and Chip have lived in the house since they were puppies and they have always been allowed to climb up for a nap or a cuddle. And, of course, Skid has his own use for the couch.

There are times when the dogs can't get on the couch. (gasp) If Scott and I want to stretch out or we have guests, then Chip and Bob are expected to lay on the floor. They don't have a problem with this but we put in hardwood floor last spring and the dogs are getting old. Chip will be 10 next week and Bob will be 9 next month and the floor can be uncomfortable for older dogs.

I was feeling bad for the aging dogs so I decided to invest in a couple of dog pillows and put them on the floor for the dogs to sleep on. I went out and got them yesterday and I am very happy with them. Yep. Pillows for the dogs. Good idea. I'm so glad I bought some pillows for the dogs.

Waiting

We've had no new lambs since the first two. The girls are pregnant alright but I guess they don't think they are ready yet. They seem to be handling it ok. I haven't noticed any uncontrollable food cravings and nobody's ankles are swollen. Although it looks like those skinny legs couldn't possibly support that weight.

Apparently this girl is going to give birth to an elephant.Despite what it looks like, this one isn't pregnant. HE's been neutered.

Work and Play

I don't want to give the impression that Kit is all work. On the contrary. She's quite playful and has even made herself a friend. Meet her friend. When you have friends you hang out together alot. Friends also partcipate in the same activities.
And friends share.

After hangin' with her friends, Kit likes to relax a little.

And THEN it's time to go back to work.

After all, she has some very important charges to protect.