Another Spring, Another Sproing!

I woke this morning to my German Shepherd Dog, Connor, freaking out. I mean completely. He was barking and tearing around the living room, pausing to howl... it was unlike anything he's ever done. I stumbled down the stairs to see what was up and he immediately began running around me in circles, barking and barking. I even shooshed him (which always works) and he ignored me. This dog wanted to be heard. Something was up.

I pulled on DH's muck boots and ran out to the barn... as I approached I heard the usual Baas. Low Baa from the ram, nasal baa from brighid, higher pitched baa from Gretel, gruff baa from Blair... and then a short, quiet baa from Nance? That wasn't right. Nance is a loud mouth... this was the baa of a new mother!

Moments later, a teeny little high pitched baa cut through the night. My heart leapt as I dashed into the barn. There they were... two perfect little lambs, a ram and a ewe, both black-gray (with "sugar lips") and both standing, getting flustered and divided attention from their mother.

This is the ewe lamb. She has "flashing" and likely carries the spotting gene.

They're dry and warm now, and napping in the straw in the sun. They figured out how to suckle with a little help, and Nance (who is normally my skeptical hands-off ewe) allowed me to handle her in order to get them latched on. It was such a wonderful thing to wake up to, even if it was 4AM!

This is the ram lamb. He has a teensy bit of silvering on his shoulder and little "sugar lips" which indicates he will grey as he matures. 

These are just the first photos; I'm sure I'll post more... There are still three pregnant ewes to go, and everybody looks like they're going to explode! Fingers crossed the other ewes will lamb as easily as Nance did.

Meet Tanglewood's Fuzzy Little Visitor, Jack!

Alright, I'm gonna give this regular-blogging thing another shot. I'm just so busy, anymore!

We welcomed a fuzzy little temporary addition to our home, two weeks ago. This is Jack! (As in Jack-in-the-box... lol) He is an Icelandic foster lamb from our friends over at Queso Cabeza Farm in Olivet, Michigan.

Lemme tell you, those first few nights of bottle feeding every three hours was really somethin special. I was near losing my mind at one point, but now that he's a little older and eating cold milk from his bucket feeder, life is a lot easier to deal with for everybody.

Jack and our German shepherd, Connor, are the best of friends. They LOVE each other, and they like to chase each other around the yard, hoping and leaping. It's seriously adorable. I can't even handle it.

I'll be posting more updates on Jack in the next few weeks, and I'll have a few little splishy-splashy peepers arriving this coming Wednesday to rebuild our Khaki Campbell flock, so I'm sure you'll be seeing plenty of them as well!