2/27/2019 0 Comments Bouncing BabiesThe ewe lambs are just about a week old and have really found their bounce! Capturing it with the camera is never easy! But if you fill your memory card with attempts, you are bound to get a pretty good one!
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2/27/2019 0 Comments Lambs!Thursday morning chore time we were greeted with a lovely surprise, twin ewe lambs! The lamb with more brown was clearly more vigorous but Iris has given extra attention and seems to favor the white lamb, but allows both to nurse well. They weighed in at 9lbs and 8 lbs! Iris has acclimated to motherhood well so far. Thankfully they were born during the warmer, sunnier days of last week! That face is sure to wipe away any winter blues! We would like to keep one of these ewes to add to our flock. It's going to be a tough choice! Iris has such nice conformation, coat, temperment, udder and does so well on pasture that we want to add some more of those traits to the flock. The other ewe lamb will most likely be for sale in a few months after weaning, unfortunately we cannot keep them all.
Contact us if you are interested! 2/4/2019 0 Comments IrisTo close our homestead introductions, meet Iris the Katahdin ewe. Iris is Buttercup's twin sister. The 2 of them along with their dam, made the cut when their owner traveled from California to Maine with his flock of Katahdins. Iris has grown into a beautiful ewe with fantastic confirmation, hair coat, easy shedding, high parasite resistance, and maintains excellent condition on forage alone. Last year, our ewes were only in with our ram for the month of October due to some terrible wind storms that ripped up our fencing. Despite her going through 2 heat cycles, she did not take, and only Buttercup lambed last year. That was quite the disappointment for the first year in our sheep venture. So this year Iris got to spend an extra month with our ram to ensure she would be bred. She wasn't so happy about being on the other side of the fence from Buttercup and Violet, but I needed to give Violet a bit more time to grow before letting her in with the ram. Thankfully our plan worked and she is bred to lamb in 2 weeks! In the last month of gestation we give our ewes grain to supplement their grass hay, kelp and minerals. It helps them to maintain their energy as it is near impossible for many ruminants to eat enough hay to satisfy their body's needs while the babies grow and milk production draws close. Additionally, in the last 2 weeks of our goats and sheep gestations, I supplement them with a mixture of herbs to support their functions, and give a Selenium, probiotics and Vitamin B boost.
We are looking forward to an exciting lambing season! 2/4/2019 0 Comments Treasured RosegoldToday's feature is our last Guernsey goat on the homestead, Treasured Rosegold. Her barn name is Ivy and she is something special! She traveled from the Treasured Sunrise herd in Idaho, to Delaware when she was a wee one. This summer we met her owners in New York where we purchased their registered Guernsey herd, and brought them north to Maine. Ivy is everyone's favorite lap goat! She doesn't know how big she is and still tries to climb into your lap for a cuddle! She is a super silly goat! It is quite the feat to get a good picture of the sweetheart cause she always wants to be close, sit in your lap and give kisses! Here are some shots of her fuzzy winter coat. I love their fuzzy faces! Not only is Ivy our Purebred British Guernsey Doe on the homestead, but she comes from some imprssive genetics and milk-lines. Her dam, BG Treasured GoldDigger won 1st place as a yearling at the Western Idaho Fair this summer. Her grand-dam, Treasured FoolsGold's one day test results were: 6.8# w/ 4.1% butterfat at the fair as well.
We are eager to see this doe mature! She is due to kid in about a month. She has been bred to our BG buck, Stumphollo Jeroboam, her offspring will be registered BG/Purebred Guernsey. If she has a buckling, we will retain him in our herd for genetic diversity and it will allow us to offer breeding pairs for sale in the future. |
We are the Lowers....a homesteading, homeschooling, family of seven living in central Maine. We aim to be purposeful in what we do each day as we strive to be good stewards of God's gifts. Archives
February 2021
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