Spring lambs

The sheep that belong to our across the road neighbors have been busy lambing! The little ones are so light on their feet - just springing and bouncing every which way. However, they are like their stodgy parents in that they are cautious about strangers approaching from the other side of the fence and would have nothing to do with me. Actually, this photo shows them retreating from my approach.

The sheep seem to be a mix of breeds, and even though we love the color of the brown wool on the big guy, we suspect these critters are more for meat than for fiber, poor babies. For instance, some of them have been marked with a colored dye, which doesn't seem like the thing to do if you were primarily interested in harvesting their wool. But, then again, we don't know much about keeping sheep.

It is funny to see the undocked tails of the young'uns, something I'm not used to seeing. The first time I noticed those long tails, I did a double-take as I had forgotten that most sheep don't have naturally stumpy tails. (I'll save the "dock or no-dock" argument for those who know about such things.) The best part about the lamb tails is watching them waggle madly whenever the happy lambs enjoy an opportunity to nurse!

We're not the only ones who enjoy watching the wee lambs. We've seen our donks Molly and Ambrose gazing at them, transfixed, from across the way. Maybe their sheep guarding instincts were kicking in?

Comments

[liz]

If the adults have the "colored dye", that's often to tell the shepherd which ewe has been fertilized by which ram. It's from a waxy crayon that the ram wears during breeding. If it's on the babies, I have no answers. They sure are cute, though!

[Rachel]

Oh, they are so cute. I just love little lambs. Baby lambs and baby goats are so darling!

[Birdsong]

Thanks for sharing such a spring-like photo; it is still snowing and raining and spring seems far away

[Mannie]

First happened upon your blog as my wife and I were making plans to relocate to Western MD.

Best wishes.

http://volunteersinparks.blogspot.com/

[Heather]

I'm so glad you posted a picture of the lambs! My husband works with Keith, and apparently my sheep fixation is well-known enough that Keith told Conor about the lambs next door. I was so jealous that you had sheep for neighbors! Anyway, Keith said maybe you'd put up pictures, so I came to see.

My favorite thing is the way lambs wiggle their tails. Too funny.

(I love the pictures of the donkeys too. I'm a farm person transplanted to the suburbs, so I have to live vicariously.)
--Heather

[Janis]

Heather, how nice to hear from you! Keith has often talked of you and your devotion to sheep. If we ever decide to take the plunge and add a couple of fluffy critters to our small menagerie, we will make sure to consult with you first!

I had thought that all the little lambs across the way had already grown too big for the cutest frolicking, but was surprised to see some new little ones this morning. Being able to watch them from our kitchen window while doing the dishes is definitely a perk.