Three?
As of 6 this morning, Polly had delivered three white, large and healthy lambs. Two rams and a ewe.
All three jockeying for one teat.
Her swollen udder has decreased by about 1/3 already, so I guess they all must have figured out nursing, though that will bear watching. Guess who else has had a nip at the milk bar? Pansy, from the pen next door, who is the runt of her litter, but a tough and determined little ewe.
Prissy, Pansy’s mother, has rejected her and tosses her away with her nose. Prissy stopped feeding her smallest triplet last year, too. So I’m bottle-feeding Pansy, but I’ve left her in with her family because she needs the warmth of her siblings to sleep with. Nevertheless, she manages to get some mama milk everyday when Prissy is otherwise occupied. And as soon as she figured out what was going on next door, she hopped over to steal some sips from Polly’s pendulous teats. Polly didn’t like her in there, though, and as she’s less than half the size of the giant new lambs, I didn’t think she’d be safe. It also didn’t seem quite fair to expect Polly to feed four and possibly continue giving birth this morning! So I’ve lifted a little tarp between the pens.
Here are the next pen neighbors, including that tiny Pansy, who obviously recognized a good thing when she saw it. Now there is a tarp to keep her from stealing milk from the triplets.
In the meantime, I’m waiting for baby number 4 or the afterbirth to tell me we’re finished.
Angela Matthies said,
April 10, 2008 @ 10:30 am
Hi there!
I received some info on your farm from a friend, and was wondering if you will ever become part of the MACSAC group? Both my boyfriend and I get rebates from our insurance companies if we join a CSA farm that’s registered with MACSAC.
Thanks,
~Angela
kriss said,
April 10, 2008 @ 11:07 am
Excellent question. I planned on joining MACSAC this year, but missed the deadline for interviews as it was in fall. Don’t know why I thought it would be winter, when we’re all taking care of indoor work! So look for us next year.
We are, however, members of REAP, the Research Education Action and Policy on Food Group – an organization out of Madison that is advocating for local food in schools, among other good work. They publish the Farm Fresh Atlas and spearhead the Buy Fresh Buy Local campaign to connect small market farmers to local consumers. We feel very strongly about supporting their work and that of Slow Food USA, to which we also belong.
We hope you find a farm to meet your needs. And you can always feel free to visit us during festivals (see Events on the left sidebar) or order homestead meats for delivery. Thanks for looking us up!
Keri Middaugh said,
April 10, 2008 @ 1:38 pm
Kriss, I’m continually amazed at what you’re doing! I want to convince my family to come and do a working farm stay one summer. My daughters (ok, I do too) really love the videos of your animals that you have on your site. I’m currently reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle which you’ve mentioned a few times here as well. Loving it, and planning to hook up rain barrels this spring for our expanding vegetable garden. Keep up the good (and hard) work!
With love,
KM
kriss said,
April 10, 2008 @ 4:07 pm
Hey, hi stranger! I LOVE seeing pictures of your beautiful family at Christmas and on the fridges of our various friends in common. It would be just great to have you out. Come!