We thought we were done with lambing this year when we noticed a couple of our older girls looking a little...rounder than usual. Patch and Nina were looking pregnant. When both girls "bagged up" with milk, we knew there were lambs on the way!
Early Saturday morning, Nina surprised us by showing up with this little girl.
Nina was one of the original group of sheep brought here a couple years ago. She was the only female that had not lambed. With her larger stature and bossy nature, we were wondering if we had a rare hermaphrodite sheep who looked female but lacked the internal plumbing for lamb making. Not so!
This girl is a decent size and seems very healthy. Big Onion's family was in town visiting the farm when the baby was born so we gave them naming rights as long as they stuck with the 'B" theme. They chose the name Belle.
Little Belle has been doing great, and Nina is a wonderful mother. She keeps the baby close and has never once wondered off and lost her baby like
some sheep around here.
We are still waiting for Patch to pop. She has been bagged up now for more than two weeks, and the anticipation is killing us! Big Onion's mother was so sure she would have her lamb while they were here and checked on her several times a day, but Patch is working on her own schedule. Judging by her size and age, we are keeping our fingers crossed for our first set of lamb twins any day now.
Three generations of HighTail ewes: Patch, daughter Fancy, and granddaughter Basil. Here's hoping Patch makes Fancy an auntie very soon!
