Shetland Bonnie with her 1/2 Finn 1/2 Shetland Lambs
It’s a warmer spring day today. Finally! I promised more photos so I will keep the text brief. Above, is two-year old Shetland Bonnie with her 50% Finn lambs. The ewe lamb on the left has pretty white markings in her lighter brown fleece and her brother is a rich, dark chocolate-brown. This is Bonnie’s first lambing and I am pleased to report that she is an attentive and excellent mother.
Spotted badgerface Finn ram lamb 2011
Above is the gray Finn ram lamb sneaking a drink of milk from Bonnie. This boys mom, Finnsheep Little Red Oak Kiia, has been a reluctant new mother. I have kept a close watch on them – she doesn’t let him nurse for long. I’ve felt his teeth and they don’t feel sharp. And Kiia’s bag feels normal so he is getting milk from her. I will keep monitoring them and supplement bottle-feed him through the fence, if needed.
Australian Shepherd Molly with her pups
Our Australian Shepherd, Molly, whelped 7 puppies on Friday. Border Collie Gus is the father. Shepherd George was in attendance for the births while I was at work. Molly needed no help; she and the three females and four males are doing well. We weighed them today and all are gaining weight. Molly is tricolor and Gus is red so we will see how the colors develop. The pup at the top of the photo is lighter than the rest – I hope that pup will be red. I know nothing about dog color genetics and I decided I don’t care to learn. We don’t plan on breeding dogs in the future. We did want one breeding from these two because they are both great farm dogs. We were hoping to wait until the end of the year but Gus had different ideas. (A brief lapse in judgment by this Shepherd aided in his access to Molly.)
Two-day old Aussie/Border Collie pups
