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If this thing was any more adorable, it would probably be illegal.
Annabelle showed up with this lil pup a week ago. I didn’t say anything for several days because 1) I was in the middle of an ongoing BP story that was taking up a lot of Barn page space, and 2) it’s a LAMB. You know that means it’s probably going to keel over dead. Just plop, dead. We have zero luck with lambs. So I wanted to wait and tell you all in one breath–Annabelle had a baby, look how cute, and THEN IT DIED. I just thought that would be easier on you.
ONLY IT LIVED!!
AND IT’S STILL ALIVE!!
But it could plop, keel over dead any minute, I’m tellin’ ya. IT’S A LAMB.
And it’s the cutest thing since– Annabelle!
It was covered in yellowy goop right after it was born. We thought it was a really funny-colored lamb. Then Annabelle licked it off.
We’ve never had a little white lamb before, so who knew. Annabelle is a Dorset-Suffolk cross (and obviously favors the Dorset genes). The papa is Mr. Cotswold, so this is a half-Cotswold, half Dorset-Suffolk cross. It will be interesting to see if it has the long curly Cotswold fleece or the quilt batting Dorset wool. You know, if it lives long enough to grow out its fleece!
After losing Miss Jacob’s twin lambs this year to a predator, we were quick to bring Annabelle and her baby up near the house, to the goat yard. It’s the safest field on the farm. We gave her a few hours to finish expelling the afterbirth and clean up her baby, then dragged her kicking and screaming up the hill. (She didn’t want to go!) However, once she got up here, she settled in fairly quickly……after she got over the giant calf. The giant calf, unfortunately, is incredibly curious about everything. New mothers don’t like giant calves sniffing their babies.
In case you were wondering.
I was sure the baby would be dead by the next morning, but lo and behold, next morning it was still alive!
And it just keeps living! But it could plop, be dead tomorrow. Don’t say I didn’t warn you! IT’S A LAMB.
Annabelle is being a good mama and feeding her baby, so no bottle pup here,
A week old now, it’s starting to get curious and frisky, checking out the other animals, seeing who might play.
Then it takes a nap, and I’m all, IT’S DEAD! IT’S DEAD!
A baby can’t hardly get a nap with me around.
Here’s the kicker–it’s a girl! Which means we can keep it! And Annabelle finally has a friend of her own. Someone to love, and to love her back.
In other sheep news, within a few days, Miss Jacob-Cotswold (the yearling, aka Crazy) popped out a little lamb, too.
This one is a boy, so it’s not a keeper, but it’s just as cute.
They have also been brought up to the goat yard. Miss Jacob-Cotswold is the wildest of our sheep and so far she has written her Congressewe, the President, and Gloria Allred demanding her release.
So, after the failed attempts to get Glory Bee stationed in the meadow bottom and clear out the goat yard except for, you know, GOATS, we now have the giant calf AND two mama sheep and babies in there for the duration.
Just back the hay truck up to the gate because we aren’t growing any grass in the goat yard this year!
(Digression: This is our hay, though it’s not yet in our field. We’re buying 29 round bales off our neighbor Sonny across the river. We’ve been getting a good deal on our square bales, but this is even cheaper. And we’re gonna need it! Not just for now, but this will get us through the winter, too. Skip baled it for Sonny, and Skip’s going to loan us his trailer to get it over here. I love our little “neighborhood” here.)
Peek into a little lamb’s world in this video. Notice that the baby is not eating grass, but just nosing over it, imitating mommy, and hear Annabelle’s “mommy noises” to the baby!
Anyway…… We may not be growing grass in the goat yard this summer, but if we’re really, really lucky–and they don’t plop, keel over dead (seriously! they’re LAMBS!)–
–we’re growing this. Posted by Suzanne McMinn on June 20, 2011
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Nancy in Iowa – close to the Missouri River but not flooded out!
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In answer to cin13 – we always docked tails because flies cause problems —
So cute to watch the tails go when the lambs nurse. Maybe Miss Jacob-Cotswold will warm up to you now that you have contact on a regular basis. She might learn to like cookies!
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I wish everyone continued health!
Judi
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Texting hubbie now. Thanks for sharing the love.
Hugs Granny Trace
http://www.grannytracescrapsandsquares.com
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Mind you that pup is the cutest thing I have ever seen!!!
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I like the name Bella too! Beautiful Bella
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Dianna
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I think Bella suits her, too.
Your ram-bo lamb is cute, too. Will he stay that dark? That would be pretty wool. You could name him Barnabas, since he looks like a dark shadow. Never mind, you’re probably too young to remember Dark Shadows, and you might not want to name a lamb after a vampire, anyway. Even a handsome one.
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Being a farmer is not for wimps.I admire your courage and stamina AND your sense of humor,Suzanne!
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She is just gorgeous, and I thought I spotted her in one of your Daily Farm photos the other day…I thought, what is that little white head I’m seeing here?! PLUS 52 mentioned in a comment about the new lamb being born, but I thought maybe it was Frank’s or Skips’s since you hadn’t mentioned anything about the birth.
I HOPE, HOPE, HOPE AND PRAY that these little angels get to grow up and live happily ever after!!!!!!!.
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Whaledancer, I loved “Dark Shadows”. Okay, if I ever raise sheep the ram that I keep will be named “Barnabaas”, get it, get it? HA! Oh, I hope its a black ram. Ooops!
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Mrs. Turkey
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I think I’ve read this post at least 10 times and have looked at the pictures even more. They just make me smile! Please post more!!
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Now, if I could just find that post about regrowing celery. LOL