Loss

There are times that in spite of ourselves, we can't be everywhere at once.  Such was the case this morning.  When I went to the barn, in spite of checking on everyone after midnight, there was Grace with the super large head of a lamb protruding from her nether parts.  She was in great distress and the legs of the lamb were no where to be seen.  His head was dry so he had been in this position for some time.  Without hesitation, I knelt down and searched for his legs, got them out and assisted in removing him from Grace.  He was dead and it was obvious before I knelt down as his tongue was hanging out of his mouth and he had that look that is inescapable with death.  This lamb was HUGE! A Shetland/Finn cross just can't do 15 pound lambs.  Grace received an antibiotic and we covered her as she went into shock.  She was eating her hay when I came to the house, but I don't think I will breed her again.  She always has such an awesome fleece.  This ram lamb was as large as my Bluefaced/Border Leicester cross lambs when they are born.  Most of my Cormo lambs are 5-6 pounds.  And here I thought she was carrying twins.

Polecat had Triplets!

Okay, I know the title caught you, but honestly, I have a ewe named Polecat.  A few years ago when this black sheep with the white strip on her forehead lambed for the first time, she decided she wasn't going to be his mother.  As her luck would have it, I was determined that she was going to be "Lyka's" mother.  So every 3-4 hours, I would march to the barn prepared for battle.  Since she was already trapped in the stall with her newborn, all I had to do was put my knee into her shoulder to push her against the stall wall and push Lyka under her.  She did not like it one little bit, but soon learned that escape was impossible.  But every 3-4 hours was taking its toll on me.

So to help me have time to rest, Matthew H. and children came one day to help with this ewe and baby.  Matthew pretty well summed it up by saying, "Does she have a name?" to which I responded, "No!" to which he replied, "Well, since she's being such a stinker, she should be called Polecat." And so she is.

After I arrived back from TSC to pick up barn supplies Saturday evening about 7:30 p.m., I went to do my barn check and found Polecat with three tiny lambs, a black one with white on his forehead (Polecat's signature lamb), and one white ewe lamb, and one white ram lamb.  The little ewe lamb was weak and unable to suckle so I milked out some colostrum into a bottle so that she could have some nourishment.  After strawing them down, I went to the house and broke out my only bottle of colostrum to feed the little one.  So all night Saturday night, every two hours, I made a trip to the barn to feed the crying little lamb.  She would drink a bit and then wander off and lay down with her siblings.  All day Sunday and through Sunday night, I made the trip to the barn every 4 hours to feed this little one.  To my surprise on Monday, I went to the barn and she was jumping around with her siblings and no longer needed me.  When she saw me, she ran to her momma and began nursing.  Whew! I escaped two months of feeding that one! LOL!!!

BFL Twin set #3

Yesterday, Thursday, March 14, 2014, I made it to the barn about 30 minutes after the birth of another set of Bluefaced/Border Leicester twins.  This time, a boy and a girl.  My lamb count is now 4 boys, 2 girls.  One girl has been spoken for.  The other, if not sold first, will be taken to Hoosier Hills Fiber Festival and sold.

What are all the other ewes waiting for?  Some of them look like they will pop any time.  I hate waiting.

BFL Lamb Batch #2

Today, Tuesday, March 11, 2014, I was fortunate enough to almost be present for lamb birthing.  I got up and was in the barn by 10:00 a.m. EDT and noticed mucous hanging from a ewe's backside.  I went to get some straw to put down and before I was back (walked 175 feet to get straw and then back), there was a very long-legged soaky wet and yellowed ram lamb.  Momma (all my girls are 'Momma' at birthing time) was licking him, but it appeared that another lamb would soon be there so I went to get some towels from the tack room (100 feet to the towels) and turned the water on while I was down near the spigot and by the time I was back there lay another lamb covered in birthing fluids and the sac over his mouth and nose.  He was not moving and even though I was ready to go to town, I jumped in and pulled him from his fluid-filled existence and swung him by the hind legs to clear his nose and mouth.  He began kicking so I wrapped him in a towel and cleared his mouth of all mucous with my fingers.  This little fellow was sopping wet and covered in blood and birthing fluids and I rubbed him to get him closer to dry than he was.  After exhausting two large bath towels, I put him near Momma where he began to scream for her at the top of his lungs.  Momma responded by licking him and at last look about 15 minutes ago (3:40 p.m. EDT) he and his brother were hungrily engaged in a nursing contest.

These are two nice sized Bluefaced Leicester crosses, but mostly Bluefaced Leicester.  Their mom has blue skin on her nose and these two boys are definitely BFL because their little faces look almost black.  If anyone out there needs I nice-sized silky-fleeced ram for breeding purposes, I now have 3 BFL crosses, all between 65-85% BFL.

I have other things to do this afternoon and informed "my girls" that the time to birth is this afternoon before the cold moves in tomorrow.  I almost turned the warming box off this morning and I'm glad I didn't.  Well, I have Visiting Teaching to do so I must depart until later.  I have to find my camera.  I have lamb pictures as well as warming box pictures to post, but where is that dratted camera when I need it!!!!

Spring's First Lambs

Just like I figured, I had to be gone all day Saturday, March 1, to get my first lambs.  Momma gave me a set of 10 pound twins, a ram lamb and a ewe lamb.  I got home from my syrup festival about 9 pm and went to the barn.  The lambs were still wet and Momma was still down.  Fortunately, last week, I took a solid-sided wooden crate, turned it on end, boxed up the top 2/3 of the crate, cut a hole in the top big enough to run the plug end of an electrical cord through and then hung a heat lamp on the inside of the box.  Both lambs were in the box.  Momma was laying nearby.

Last year this same ewe had 17 pound-apiece twins and because they had to be pulled and both lambs were lost within 36 hours of birth.  So I milked the ewe by hand to supplement other bottle babies.  This year, Momma isn't sure that she wants lambs to suckle, so I'm making periodic trips to the barn to tie up Momma and let the lambs suckle.  Things are looking better as she no longer tries to run them over and reaches back to smell them.  A big improvement.  I will get pictures of the "warming hut" and post them.  Seems like by the time I get done ensuring that both lambs have eaten, I'm cold and my main goal is to hurry back to the house.

Photos of the lambs will also be posted.  Did I mention that these lambs are by my Bluefaced Leicester ram and a Border Leicester X Bluefaced Leicestser ewe.  Their coats already are showing great promise.  And they are cute and follow me everywhere!

Naked Sheep in February!

Whew! Thank God! The sheep shearing is done for another year!  It was like an "All Hands on Deck!" adventure.  Tonia and Kevin Graves came to help as well as Martha, Lana, Alina, James, and Jonathan Fairbanks. And of course there was the farrier, Steve Kennedy and all the sheep.

It amazes me how sitting a sheep on their butt, makes them quite docile.  They don't protest in the least while the shearer is skimming their skin with a buzzing wide tooth piece of equipment.  The shearer zips through the fleece and in 5-7 minutes has a sheep 'naked.'  Paying for a shearer is so worth it compared to me doing it myself.  I can do a sheep in an hour and when there are 17 of them to do.... Well, it sure is worth having a good shearer!

Anticipation with Roberta

The freezing rain and sleet continues to melt our last snow preceding our next snowfall.  The weather here is cold and nasty to say the least.  How much snow will we get?  It is anyone's guess as the weatherman is all over the map with the expected accumulation totals.  Anything is better than the drizzle that is falling now.

I am posting a pic of my Ertoel Roberta electric spinner.  I have used her twice in 5 years.  Once just this past June when I had a torn meniscus repaired.  I need to sell her because she isn't loved as she should be.  $500 plus postage is my firm price.  The electrical cord is over 20 feet long and she also has a foot control.  As you can see from the one photo, she has a backward and forward switch, a variable speed control and an on/off switch.  Somehow her front left corner got chipped and there is a slight scratch on her right front corner.  But considering the price of a new one, she is a great deal.

Shearing Angora kids

I worked up the energy yesterday to shear one of the triplet Angora kids, Babette.  While she protested at first, she soon realized, "Ahhhh! I can feel air on my skin again!"

Then today, I managed to get Brie, Barney, and Dove sheared.  So all the 2013 kids have now had their first shearing.  In spite of the cold coming in, I must spend this week shearing the 3 adults.  I looked at their fleeces today and if I don't get them removed in the next week or so, I will lose those fleeces.  The kids will get to spend time in a stall in the barn far removed from the wind.  I don't want them chilling.
I happened to remember that I sheared one of the BFL ram lambs before sending him to market.  I have 20 ounces of beautiful white BFL lamb fleece that would be awesome blended with some of the kid mohair.  I can't wait to get started!

Merry Christmas!

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).

Luke

7 And she brought forth her ^afirstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the ^binn.

 8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

 9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the^aglory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

 10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you ^agood tidings of great ^bjoy, which shall be to all people.

 11 For unto you is ^aborn this day in the city of David a^bSaviour, which is Christ the ^cLord.

 12 And this shall be a ^asign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

 14 ^aGlory to God in the highest, and on earth ^bpeace, good will toward men.

 15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

 16 And they came with ^ahaste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

 17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

 18 And all they that heard it ^awondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

 19 But Mary kept all these things, and ^apondered them in her heart.

 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

A legend?  I think not.  The story of Jesus Christ is written by ancient prophets in both the Bible and The Book of Mormon.  His story is a true and will inspire your life and bring you closer to God.  To read more about the birth of our Saviour go to http://www.lds.org/

Angora Billy Goats

I still have two Angora billy goats that I need to sell because they are related to all my girls.  Billy will be 2, April 2014.  As a 9-month old, he bred two of my does.  The one doe had a set of triplets (2 does, 1 billy), the other doe being her first kid had a single.  The billy kid's name is Barney (one of the triplets) and he has beautiful fleece and lots of it.  His fleece extends to his face and sometimes blocks his vision so trimming is essential.  Barney will be 1 in June of 2014.

I would like $100 each for these billys or a trade for an Angora billy of similar quality.  I can drive half way (up to 150 miles) for a trade.

As for does, I plan on keeping the two triplet does and hope for a good season again this year.  If interested, any doe kids born this year will be for sale.  This post was updated 28 December 2013.

Silent Night

I try to keep politics out of my blog, but tonight I heard on the radio where a NYC school took the song "Silent Night" and eliminated any religious words from the song and re-wrote it so as not to 'offend' anyone.  I am offended that anyone would even think to do that to one of the most beautiful, but yes, religious Christmas songs there is.  What was their real purpose?  There are hundreds of Christmas songs that are non-denominational.  Why not sing "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus," "The Twelve Days of Christmas," or any other number of Christmas songs that leave out Christ?

I am tired of our nation's need to ALWAYS be politically correct.  We are so obsessed with not offending anyone with anything.  Yet, no one cares if they offend us.  Take for instance women wearing burkhas.  I don't know about anyone else, but my parents taught me the philosophy of "When in Rome, do what the Romans do."  In other words, fit in and quit trying to stand out.  I see so many people screaming loudly "Look at Me!" through their actions and what they wear (tattoos included).  Is this really fitting in?  Why can't we celebrate the real reason for Christmas?  If we don't want to publicly celebrate the birth of the Christ child, then let's just do away with the holidays and pretend it is just another week of the year.

Oh! Wait! We can't do that!!! What would merchants do without Black Friday and the need to sell stuff to get out of the red?  So I guess we will continue to celebrate Christmas and eventually no one will really know what the holiday is all about.  I hope not.  So I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!  Please try to remember the Christ is the reason for the season and with out Him, there would be no Christmas.

Here it is the day before Thanksgiving (or Turkey day as some folks say).  The weather is nippy out, actually cold, and something outside keeps causing my windows to reverberate with a soft boom.  It is happening too often to be deer hunters unless this fellow is quite a bad shot and has a self-loading chamber.  At any rate, I am still loading items onto my Square Up site (www.squareup.com/market/windsong-fibers-farm).  I now have some alpaca yarns and some wool yarns loaded.  As I remove tubs from my car after my three day long event in Southern Indiana, I am removing items from the each tub, snapping the photo and placing it in my store.  This is a great time to shop with a small local business of American made items.  I appreciate your business.  Thank you.

Here's a head's up for those of you who like hand-made items, fibers, hand spun yarns and other farm items.  I am building a store at Square Up (www.squareup.com).  Go take a look there may be something that floats your boat.  I'm still working on how to get my yarns listed as the yardage isn't consistent from skein to skein.  I am getting rovings listed 1 animal at a time. But not only will I have rovings and yarns listed, I am listing finished products such as my team colored stocking style hats.  Check it out.  Do your shopping with an American small business owner producing American made goods --- Me!  Thanksgiving Day almost 3/4 of all my products should be on Square.  Give good old American ingenuity a try and buy American made.

Thank you.  kate of WindSong Fibers Farm

October Surprise!

Can you believe the weather this week!  And to top it all off for about 1/2 an hour this afternoon, the snow came down in flakes as big as small birds and as fast if it was a light rain shower.  Fortunately, the ground is still warm and the snow didn't add up except for car windows.  Quite unseasonable for sure.

Yesterday, October 23, 2013, my 10 year old black alpaca, Jeanne, had her first cria -- a chocolate colored little girl!  I had pretty much given up hope of her ever having a cria as she was bred numerous times, confirmed each time, yet never a live birth.  This chocolate colored little girl is sure worth the wait though.  I have been thoroughly blessed this season with 4 cria babies and three of them girls.

     style="display:inline-block;width:300px;height:250px"
     data-ad-client="ca-pub-4462077485610581"
     data-ad-slot="6365521872">

September 11, 2013 Cria

I knew I had one more cria on its way, but it is hard to know exact days when gates are opened without my assistance and without my knowing.  So the boys were found running around with the girls a couple of times between August 15 and September 25, 2012.

On the morning of September 11, 2013, as I approached the barn, I noticed that all the alpaca girls had their heads peering either out the gate or over the gate eagerly awaiting my arrival.  I greeted them and then did my usual thing of feeding the triplet kids followed by gathering goat feed and alpaca feed in buckets to deliver to the usual feed pens with the goats getting fed first.

As I walked into the alpaca pen, the girls and the two crias milled around in a nervous manner.  I walked around the pen and on the other side of their shelter lay stretched out a beautiful sun-kissed cria.  She raised her head up as I approached and allowed me to cradle her in my arms.  I knew her mother had to be Svetlanaa or Lana as I call her.  But Lana was too busy eating hay to even pay attention.  I carried the little girl to her mother's side and left the pen to give them a chance to bond.

Throughout the day I made various trips to the barn to check on the bonding process.  While I did see Sunkissed nursing a couple of times, I also noticed that she is more aloof with the other alpacas and very unlike the other two crias that are always at each other's side.

Sunkissed is now 6 days old and still not clingy like the other crias.  She is growing quickly and is a beautiful light gold-tipped cria.  This is wonderful to have two female crias born in less than a month.  It has been a good year!