Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Felicity Arrives!

 DonnaLisa gave birth to her first lamb at 2:30am on February 28th. We named her baby, Felicity, and she weighed 12 lbs. 5 oz.

Watch DonnaLisa interact with newborn Felicity in this video.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Frazier - Recessively Colored Romney Lamb

Frazier arrived on February 27th. As you can tell, he has a very unusual color pattern. This pattern is typical of recessively colored Romney sheep. His parents, Corinna and Jack, are both recessively colored. Frazier should have a beautiful fleece at shearing next year!

 Frazier - 13 lbs. 2 oz.

Doris Gives Birth to Twins!


Doris delivered her first set of lambs on February 25th, without any assistance from her shepherds! So far, she has been a good mother and her lambs are growing well!

Foster was born first. He weighed 12 lbs. 1 oz.

Fostoria weighed 10 lbs. 7 oz. at birth.

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Carrie's Midnight Delivery

Early on February 24th, Carrie gave birth to a beautiful ewe lamb. 

 Faith weighed in at 13 lbs. 9 oz.

Danielle's First Lamb

Danielle gave birth to her first lamb on February 24th. We named her baby, Flora. 

Flora weighed 11 lbs. 11 oz. 
Since Danielle is so tall, Flora can walk completely under her belly!  Do you notice any resemblance between mother and daughter?

Bernie's Baby

  Bernie gave birth to a set of twin lambs on February 22nd. Her first baby was stillborn, but her second lamb was alive.

Fa'Lisa weighed 8 lbs. 9 oz. at birth.

 After Fa'Lisa was born, Bernie became ill with postpartum shock. We treated her with medicine and vitamins for a few days. Bernie has now turned the corner and is doing much better!

Thursday, February 23, 2012

A Rainbow Over the Farm

After a rainstorm blew through, we were able to see a beautiful rainbow in the sky!
(Sheep from left to right: Dale, Dawn, and baby Frieda)

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Harriet's Big Girl!

Harriet was the third ewe to deliver on the afternoon of February 12th. She had a big lamb! 
Frieda weighed in at 15 lbs. 15 oz.

Frieda has very wrinkly skin. We've nicknamed her "Wrinkles" !

Farley and Finley Arrive!

On February 12th, Dale delivered twin boys. She gave birth and nursed both lambs without any assistance from her shepherds!

Farley (white) - 11 lbs.
Finley (black) - 15 lbs. 5 oz.
Farley takes a nap.


Farley has a cute, baby face!

Finley is a big boy.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

The Wait is Over!

Heather's waiting came to an end on Sunday, February 12th! She delivered two healthy lambs.

Freckles (white girl) - 13 lbs. 3 oz.
Foley (gray boy) - 14 lbs. 3 oz.

Heather and her lambs are sunning themselves.

 Freckles

Deborah and Dawn Deliver

Deborah and Dawn are twin sisters. They both gave birth to their first lambs on February 8th!

Deborah had a boy we named Festus. He weighed 10 lbs. 1 oz. at birth.

 This photo is of Festus at 1 week old.

Here is Dawn with her baby girl, Foxie. Her birth weight was 7 lbs. 10 oz.

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Waiting ...

 Heather is in the barn waiting to have her lambs!

Our First Lamb of the Year!

 Cocoa delivered our first lamb of the year on January 31st.

"Fancy" weighed 11 lbs. 12 oz.

 Fancy was born on the pasture.  In this photo, Cocoa can be seen cleaning Fancy off.
 
 It was a warm, January day when Fancy was born.

 Dora (left) came over to check out the new baby. Cocoa wasn't happy with her intrusion and pushed her away.

 After Fancy was born, Cocoa suffered a prolapsed uterus.  We have been blessed to have gone 5 years without a prolapse in our flock. The vet was able to come right out and replace the prolapse. We inserted a special retainer and put a harness on Cocoa. She is doing very well after her ordeal and we have since removed the harness.

 We named the baby, Fancy, because of the special white markings on her flanks and tail.

A few days after Fancy's birth, Cocoa and Fancy look out the barn door as snow flurries fall.

This is our "F" year for lamb names. Every lamb's name will begin with the letter F.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Grace Valley Farms 2012 Shearing

Shearing at Grace Valley Farms went exceptionally well this year! Since the number of our sheep has increased, shearing occurred over two days.We are grateful for all our friends who came out and helped us. The weather was beautiful for a January day in Montana.

The girls waiting to be sheared.

We were blessed with a skilled shearer this year. Karsten was gentle with the sheep and sheared them with care. Here he is shearing Diana

Two white Romney ewes move up the chute toward the shearing platform. Their coats are removed just before they enter the chute. 

A ewe waits her turn to be sheared.

Deborah is next in line for a haircut.

Elizabeth was harnessed in place at the head of the shearing chute. Why?  The incoming sheep will see another sheep up ahead in the chute (Elizabeth in this case) and go toward it. This is done to help the sheep feed smoothly up the chute. Elizabeth did an excellent job with her assignment!
 
Robert tried on a "sheep beard" 

 Karsten helping Keydon shear part of Elizabeth's fleece. Elizabeth was a very patient subject.

 Bullet, our German Shepherd, waited outside the gate while the sheep were being sheared. When Betty came to watch the shearing, he gave her numerous doggie kisses! 

The white sheep were sheared first and then we moved to the naturally colored girls.

Autumn and Evangeline wait outside for their turn to be sheared.

 Belle being shorn

 Elsie peeks over the edge of the sheep chute.
 
 Ashley and Betty watch the sheep being sheared.
 
 
It's Carolyn's turn for a haircut!

Lisa gives Elmira a hug.

The ladies worked inside our heated shop skirting the freshly shorn fleeces.

 The pile of fleeces after the sheep were sheared.

 The ewes all lined up eating after they were shorn.

After shearing was over, Ashley and Keydon practiced spinning some Romney wool on the spinning wheels.

We are currently in the process of sorting, photographing, and grading our fleeces. When they are all cataloged,  we'll post the fleeces on our website and release them for sale.

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Pre-Shearing Photos

 Enjoy some photos of the sheep just prior to shearing!

 
Dawn, Desibelle, and Darla

 Christina

 Caramel


  
 Lisa gives Jack a hug while Edison waits his turn.

 
 Clarabelle and Christina


 Dale


Bernie, Belvedere, and Murphy the llama

 Cocoa

 Dusty Anne

Cecelia

 Doris


 DonnaLisa

 Carrie, Dove, Sheila, and Cordelia

Darcy, Cinnamon, Curlianne, and Hazel
 Pat gives Enoch some lovin'!

Edison waits to be sheared.