Author Topic: Spring is just around the corner ?? (Read 3809 times)

darkbrowneggs · « **on:** December 30, 2010, 11:52:26 pm »

I was looking for a photo - Lamb in the Oven - of a weakly lamb, one of triplets, that I had brought into the house to be warmed up in the Aga one year, and found this one - King of the Castle?

Thought this might cheer us all up a bit after the snowy weather.

I don't have any farm animals at present and I miss having them around.

All the best
Sue

Brucklay · « **Reply #1 on:** December 30, 2010, 11:56:40 pm »

What a great pic - just love black lambs - cheered me up xx

knightquest · « **Reply #2 on:** December 31, 2010, 12:13:35 am »

Lovely picture

Fleecewife · « **Reply #3 on:** December 31, 2010, 12:32:25 am »

Beautiful - just 3 months to go and we should have some similar. I like the firewood too - could do with some of that

Blinkers · « **Reply #4 on:** December 31, 2010, 10:40:54 am »

Lovely picture

Once New Year's Day is here, all the Xmas decorations come down and I'm focused on Spring, Spring, Spring. All the ewes are in Lamb, the nanny goats are in kid, a couple of the sows are in-pig,......the poly tunnel needs a muck out ready for prep'ing as does the big shed ready for lambing......Ohhhhhh its so exciting. I love spring.

andywalt · « **Reply #5 on:** January 04, 2011, 05:49:45 pm »

Great picture, are they black welsh mountain sheep?

darkbrowneggs · « **Reply #6 on:** January 04, 2011, 08:15:09 pm »

Yes I kept a small flock for many years and really enjoyed them, though had to part with them as I was unwell for a while. I do miss having them around, though maybe carrying water for the poultry was enough this year!!!

I nearly bought some more this autumn, but it looked that hay would be much too expensive- and I had a feeling we might have bad weather (though not as bad as it was - I think I only got out for a couple of days during Dec)

I can never get anyone to make small bales for me anymore round here. Everyone has sold their old balers, and gone to the big ones, which would be difficult for me to manage, but if I get myself organized I shall get some more BWM.

All the best
Sue

robate55 · « **Reply #7 on:** January 04, 2011, 08:20:39 pm »

Love the black lambs even if they're not Hebs
These were ours last year http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9z59BNbnLJY
Rose

Fleecewife · « **Reply #8 on:** January 04, 2011, 11:02:16 pm »

Oh thank you for that Rose. One of the main reasons for keeping Hebs is those wonderful bouncing, leaping, racing little silhouettes

Now I know spring is really not far away

robate55 · « **Reply #9 on:** January 04, 2011, 11:04:48 pm »

Only had Hebs for 2 years & I really love them (except when Dougal is in a butting mood). I like your 4 horn ram & am hoping to gradually grade up to registered sheep as the girls get old. I would quite like to get more multi horned

Fleecewife · « **Reply #10 on:** January 05, 2011, 01:02:43 am »

The multi horned Hebs are stunning to look at, especially out in the field, but they can be a bit difficult to manage especially when they are young as they tend to catch their baby horns and break them. However, when you consider there are probably fewer than 200 multihorned Hebs around, and only about 20-30 multihorned tups, they are well worth the effort, just for the conservation alone. The tup in the picture is Gladstone Laughing Boy who is getting on a bit now. We give him 2 or 3 ewes each season just to keep him happy - and because he has some interesting genes - but we now have 3 other younger multihorned tups, plus one 2 horned one. We only keep tups with a nice nature as those big horns could I suppose cause some damage.
I think it's a great idea to change over to registered stock as your older ewes move on. This is what we did with our Soays so that our breeding flock is now all registered, but we still have 3 older unreg Soay ewes who we no longer breed from, who just hang around to keep us company (along with several old Hebs and a Shetland

).
One advantage of multihorned tups is they don't butt things to the same extent as the 2 horns - but both are amateurs compared to Soay tups - old devils !! They don't butt us more than once but they do love a good go at a post, or a vehicle, or another sheep, or a bucket, or anything handy in fact.