Lambs are Weaned and All has Been Quiet!

Had a very successful lambing season with mostly twins, very little assistance, good mothering and no true bottle lambs. Even a few sets of triplets. Just how it is suppose to go! Now the challenge will be having enough forage to feed all the stock as we are in drought conditions and it is only about July 1 and the pastures are about grazed out with no regrowth due to lack of rain. Hay is short for the same reason so we will see what the rest of the year brings. Will try to move out lambs and sold stock earlier than later. Of course the direct market order lambs will have to sit a few months to get to weight. Rabbit production hasn't gone as well with small to no litters, markings not for show, etc. so we will see if we can raise any good young Juniors for Rachel for the fair. We have a few in the nest box now. If not the Seniors will have to get in shape and hope they won't be molting their fur. I am excited about Hope's(brindle female Cardigan corgi)abilities and progress training for agility. I am a newbie but I think we have gelled into a good newbie team and I need to learn how to run courses better for us to have good success. We are also attending dow shows as we need 6 points yet including a major to finish her Championship. She is maturing nicely. So life just plugs along and all has been pretty quiet yet plenty to do. Wish watering things weren't one of the daily chores. And the raccoons who were causing havoc and killing chickens are out of the picture now. Let's hope no more move in.

Spring Line-Up

Well with baseball season just around the corner, time to let everyone know our Spring Line-Up and Upcoming Events! The ewes are looking to be shaping up with nice round mid-sections and we are about a month away from the first lambs. The main Clun ram this year is Prairie T102 "Devon", who is well put together, and pictured. He bred about 16 pure ewes. The other Clun ram used primarily was Prairie R7, a FAF son from import semen and going back to lines of one of my original ewes. He has been a clean-up ram the last couple of years so this year got prime duty and bred about 11 pure ewes. Twin Creek U12 "Hal" was the clean-up fellow and only saw him mark one ewe so most should be bred early. I've only got 7 Clun ewes bred this year by the Bluefaced Leicester for Mules, and have 10 Mule ewes bred to Sully the terminal sire for market lambs. May have a few yearlings bred but didn't push them as I needed to be done lambing so I can go to the Cardigan Welsh Corgi Nationals in April. The Clun youngsters from AI are looking pretty good but want to wait until after they are shorn and have a few months grazing under them to evaluate them better. Will have some new ram possibilities for the flock from those efforts!

New baby rabbits will start arriving next month as well and throughout the spring/early summer and Rachel will have to make fair selections!

Hope and I will be hitting a fair number of the area dog shows and make a push to get more conformation points. She is half way to her Championship with one major and 7 points. She is shedding her coat now so maybe she will be in more coat for Nationals? Our other new venture is agility. She is eager about it and to date likes the tunnels, dog walk, and has just conquered the A-frame on her own. She is not crazy about multiple jumps but also she likes to plan her own course and do it her way! Right now the goal of class is for her to just learn the obstacles and like to do them happily so we are meeting our goals there and we'll see what the future holds. I think she has the right personality/attitude to make it work so it is fun to do and watch. I am a newbie at this so we will learn together.