This is Dodge, Acorn's humongous ram lamb. He was a whopping 12 pounds at birth.
Poor Acorn! Those horn buds made for a hard labor.
Dodge was sired by Charlie:
We'd hoped for horned lambs from this pairing (LambS being optimal of course...) and it appears that Dodge will have them in spades! He is moorit gray and, have I mentioned, HUMONGOUS?
If this trend continues, we'll have to re-examine our feeding program. We've fed the ewes nothing but hay for the last month or two, but I'm wondering if perhaps our hay is too rich for these thrifty Icelandics.
Anyway, mom and babe are doing great. And there's no better way to celebrate spring, rebirth, and just plain "birth-birth" than with four new hoofs on the ground?
Happy holidays everyone!
2 comments:
I know nothing about Icelandic sheep, but I can tell you that Icelandic horses are less tolerant of a rich diet than other breeds, so maybe there is a connection.
That's exactly it, Christine. Icelandic sheep are very efficient eaters. Grain is bad for them. We've been feeding hay only for a long while now. Same hay as last year. But evidently, it's pretty rich hay this year.
Our second lamb was also large-- 10 pounds!
We are a bit worried....
Beautiful puppies, by the way!
Perri
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