Friday, March 11, 2016

First Shetland Lamb of 2016

On Monday, March 7, we went to do morning chores and got a fun surprise. Ceinwen, a white two-year old Shetland ewe, had a new lamb - a white ewe lamb that has among the most curious color markings I have ever seen. She is mainly white, but has one 4 inch black spot along her topline, brown shoulders, and brown stockings. Her mother is pure white with a few stray black spots on her face and her father is a white mirkface called Mojo who comes to us from Rarefind Farm in New Hill, NC. The three colors in one sheep is what makes her unique in my experience. She was a bit of a surprise because, her birth date indicates that the ram must have bred her mother the day he went in. This is unusual for me because typically the ewes are with the ram for a week to 10 days before they start to cycle and settle. Plus because Mojo was a ram lamb, I thought it might take him longer to get started; instead he turned out to be a very fast learner. In the picture below, we have Ceinwen and her lamb with Ceinwen's dam in the picture too.