Hannah and her ewe lamb before they left the jug yesterday. The poor ewes have a hard time telling their lambs apart. Cordelia and Hattie each had a dark solid lamb and a gulmoget, so they always have to sniff the lambs to make sure who's who. And adding Hannah's ewe lamb to the mix didn't help matters much. It's so cute how the tiny Shetland lambs will lead the way at the lamb races. I've got to get video of that.I hope everyone gets a chance to attend Shepherd's Harvest in Lake Elmo, MN this weekend. It's always a fun event. Lots of vendors this year and there is still time to sign up for classes.
Kelly Ward from Michigan and LeeAnne Richert from Cable WI will be there with Bluefaced Leicesters on display. Kelly is in charge of the Bluefaced Leicester Union Registry (BLU), she will bring the traveling BLU display and be on hand to answer questions about the breed. And Letty Klein will be there! On Sunday, she's teaching a class based on her book, "The Shepherd's Rug." Should be a great time!
I plan to bring my natural colored BFL ram, Granite, along with Bo, our horned Shetland yearling ram. They are both for sale. I was going to bring Peppy, our Ile de France ram, to show the sires in a three-tier program. Peppy has really put on weight lately and turned into a heavy ram. But I haven't been feeling well lately so the more I can lighten my load, the better.
I'll also have to leave my ewe lambs at home. When we had that cougar scare I put all the ewes together and the ewe lambs were exposed to lambing fluids within the past 28 days. That rules them out for display.
If you come to the festival stop in the Hall of Breeds display and say hi. BFL breeders are hoping to get together on Saturday sometime. I have lots to do to get ready!
It still goes on on Sunday, right? Maybe I'll have to take a trip down...
ReplyDeletehave a wonderful time, Becky!
ReplyDeleteI won't be able to make it to SH this year but I sure wish I could! I'll miss seeing everyone. Have fun!
ReplyDeleteI love your black Guls!
I hope you're feeling better and that it's nothing serious...
Loving your blog and all the lambing notes. But I'm curious about the part about being exposed to lambing fluids and the apparent quarantine time. This is new to me, if you ever have a minute and would care to share, I'm all ears. Kind of like a shetland mule lamb, eh?
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jean in Mt
sheepnsuch.blogspot.com
All ears- LOL! Thanks for stopping in here Jean. A year or two ago, the rules for displaying or showing sheep changed so that one (at least here in Minnesota) can not bring sheep who have lambed within the past 30 days or sheep who have been exposed to lambing ewes in the past 30 days or lambs under 30 days old. It is thought that scrapie is spread through lambing fluids, so this is one measure to avoid the spread of scrapie.
ReplyDeleteSince you asked, I went to look it up on the APHIS web site and this is the paragraph I found...it looks like other states/shows allow it and maybe that's why you hadn't heard of it before.
Quote from pg 38:
"If sheep or goats (other than low-risk goats, see definition) that are within 30 days of
parturition (or that are postpartum, have aborted, or are pregnant and have a vaginal
discharge) are allowed at a show, special arrangements must be made to keep them separate
from sheep and goats from different flocks such that direct contact does not occur and to
keep them in an area that will be properly cleaned and disinfected.
Should a lambing or kidding occur at the show, the placenta, placental fluids, and soiled
bedding must be removed immediately and disposed of in a sanitary landfill or by another
method approved by the State. The dam and her offspring will be removed from the show
grounds or separated from sheep and goats from different flocks using spacing or solid
partitions such that direct contact does not occur. The pen must be thoroughly cleaned and
disinfected before use by another animal."