Iris is continuing to delay. She and her calf appear to be in no hurry. Her vulva is quite floppy (how’s that for a sentence you never expected to read in a family blog!?)
and there has been a little bit of mucus. She was a little slow getting up this morning for feeding, but otherwise is still pretty calm. She’s been through this a time or two.
We are continuing to keep an eye on her, and will update as we go.
Edna is starting to show some early signs as well. Her teats are starting to stick out to the sides, signs that her udders are starting to get full. We saw her mounted on Michaelmas, (The Feast of the Holy Archangels, Sept 29, for those who are not in the know), so today (2/17) would be 141 days. Average ewe gestation for katahdins is 147 days (142-152), so we will see if we have any lambs in the next week or two.
Eunice (not pictured here) is also looking a little wide, but no teat or vulva changes. We did not see her mounted. Matilda is the smallest. We saw her mounted on thanksgiving. She does not look any different, just tiny. I would be okay if she skips this year and lambs next year, as she is still really small.
I need to check the paperwork on the rams and figure out a day to butcher them. We have two rams and three pigs that will all need to be butchered this spring. We are working on improving the infrastucture for butchering.
Little Farm in the Big City 