♥ Good morning all! ♥
Just thought I'd pop in and drop a quick update on Lamby and her future 'husband', whom we have dubbed 'Jacob'.
They are just fantastic!
If you don't know about Lamby and Jacob, here are some back-posts and some cute lamb photos:
Lamby comes Home
Lamby update
More Lamby!
Introducing Jacob!
Anyway, time has passed, as it has a way of doing. The lambs are growing. Lamby is about 7 months old now. Almost old enough to breed. Not quite though. I want to wait until she is good and ready.
She's filling out nicely, although looking rather ragged due to a mid-summer shed, that just wont finish up. Its a good thing we live in a warm climate, or she would probably be cold this winter!
(She is a Katahdin sheep, which is a 'hair' sheep, rather than 'wool', meaning she sheds her hair seasonally, rather than needing her fleece sheared.)
Jacob has been growing like a weed as well. He's about 3 months old. Weaned and doing fabulously. He only has 2 horns, but that's quite alright! He is 3/4 Jacob's sheep, 1/4 Barbados, and is growing what promises to be a large and lovely set of horns.
(Munching on acorns, the seasonal treat that falls from the sky.)
He's a friendly and sweet little dude.
We are spending time training him though, to make good and sure he respects everybody, because a ram can be quite a dangerous animal when fully grown. So far, so good. He doesn't much like being led in a halter, but he's getting used to it.
His fleece is 'wool' type though. We will eventually have to get a pair of trimmers and shear him annually.
That should be interesting, to say the least. I don't even know what we will do with the wool of one sheep, but I'm sure we will find some way to use it.
(Yes, it is every bit as fun to scrunch your fingers in as it looks, and he loves it!)
Now the question that you are all on the edge of your seats asking is, DO THEY LIKE EACH OTHER YET?!
Well, I hate to disappoint.... but no, not really.
Jacob is SUPER interested in her, but she only tolerates him at best, pushes him around at worst. I had the hardest time getting a picture of them together, but here you go:
She was annoyed that he existed, kind of like a little brother, and he was just glad she wasn't head-butting him.
Here's another picture. She had lain down to relax and chew her cud. He had casually strolled up to see if maybe he could snuggle. This picture was taken seconds before she leapt up and chased him away. Poor him. ;)
It's okay though. Neither of them are ready to get romantic. They don't have to like each other yet. ;)
Tolerating each other is just fine for now.
I can't wait to see what kind of beautiful lambs they eventually produce! ♥
Thanks for stopping by to check in on Lamby and Jacob!
I hope you enjoyed! ♥ Have a lovely day!
This work by @SquishySquid is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
very cute! I have often thought about getting sheep I like the hair breed. That is very cool. Love on the homestead :)
They are interesting animals for sure. I thought they would be very similar to goats, but they are actually very different.
Thanks!
Both of them are cute :)
Thanks! ♥
My pleasure.
I don't know how to break this to you except for bluntly. They don't have to like or even tolerate each other. So long as they have the correct tooling when the time is right they will do what's necessary to protect the species. Everytime.
Sorry. Like and love are completely unimportant there. It's just a big bonus when it happens that way in your pen.
Hahahaha! Yes, @bigtom13, I know!
I raise mostly goats, so the sheep are an experiment of sorts. From the beginning, people have been super interested, asking lots of questions about them, and honestly, we've anthropomorphised them a little.
Im not too worried about if they 'fall in love', LOL! I know what will happen is they will establish their pecking order and that'll be that. It'd be nice if they were buddies, but it's not important.
I was just being silly with it. ;)
FOR TSE: So what kind of lambs are you hoping for -- and why are you breeding them? And why do you "mix the breeds" like this? I know nothing at all about any of this. But this isn't intuitive to me.
We just wanted a source of healthy, home-grown meat for our family. At first, we bought Lamby as a feeder lamb, to raise up through the summer and butcher in the fall. Then we decided we would rather breed our own lambs than buy one every year. I kept my eyes open for a ram lamb nearby for a good price, and thats how I got Jacob.
Being sheep just for our own use, not for selling, the crossing of breeds did not matter much. We just want healthy meat. There is always a hybrid vigor from crossing breeds just due to the different genetics being combined, no chance of inbreeding.
They are meat animals, but i have to admit, since I already milk my goats, I will probably milk Lamby when the time comes, and see how much milk she makes, and how good it is compared to my lovely goats' milk. :)
Awww this was such a cute post to start my day!! They are just soooo adorable! 🤗💗
Thanks for all of the cute pics!!
Haha, thanks! ♥
Aww so cute!
Aw, thanks!
Not as cute as when they were little babies, but still pretty sweet. :)
Too bad they can't stay tiny, haha!
Critters can be so funny! I can't see the pics today; for some reason, nobody's pics are showing up for me. I'll try again tomorrow!
Aw, Steemit is pretty crazy lately. Glad you came by anyway! ♥