PerlDog http://www.perldog.com/?rss PerlDog en Copyright (C) 2006 PerlDog http://www.perldog.com/-/skin/logo.gif http://www.perldog.com/?rss Eight at the Gate Wed, 16 Apr 2008 07:44 GMT http://www.perldog.com/2008-04/8?rss First time mum Sonia carefully picked her lambing spot to give shelter and protection from predators and photographers.

Lamb#8 Lamb#8 ]]> Six and Seven Tue, 15 Apr 2008 07:20 GMT http://www.perldog.com/2008-04/67?rss Finally, Number 27 delivers the goods. We found the happy family enjoying the early morning sun.

Lamb#6+#7Lamb#6Lamb#7

]]> Number Five's Alive Mon, 14 Apr 2008 20:50 GMT http://www.perldog.com/2008-04/5?rss Harlequin was obviously hanging on for a clean pen, since just a few moments after we had cleaned up, number five arrived.

Lamb#5 Lamb#5

]]> Two More Makes Four Mon, 14 Apr 2008 12:07 GMT http://www.perldog.com/2008-04/34?rss Creamy has been looking bigger and bigger for a few days now. This morning, she'd finally had enough waiting. Please welcome #3 and #4.

Lamb#3+#4 Lamb#3+#4

]]> Second Lamb of 2008 Fri, 11 Apr 2008 16:54 GMT http://www.perldog.com/2008-04/2?rss And here's Dot with her new lamb. She seemed a little cold at first, but seems to be getting on ok now.

Lamb#2 Lamb#2

]]> First Lamb of 2008 Sun, 06 Apr 2008 07:21 GMT http://www.perldog.com/2008-04/1?rss Apologies for the radio silence. I will try and fill in the gaps, but haven't got around to it yet. We've been a bit busy - we moved house for a start. We're having lambs again this year (not that we really meant to) and today Nellie had hers (in the snow!)

Lamb#1 Lamb#1

No LambCam yet, sorry.

]]> Third and Fourth Lambs Sun, 15 Apr 2007 10:59 GMT http://www.perldog.com/2007-04/34?rss This morning, we woke to discover that Nellie or Tippet had lambed. We thought that maybe Nellie was going to lamb soon, and very nearly brought her in last night, but decided against it. From a distance, it wasn't really very clear what had happened.

Nellie, Tippet and two lambs

On closer inspection however, it was clear that both lambs were Nellie's, but since they had been born in the field, Tippet was keen to claim one for herself. Much bleating later, both lambs are now safely penned with Nellie to increase the bonding process and avoid "mis-mothering" - Tippet is still bleating! Hopefully she'll have her own lambs soon (although we're not entirely sure that she will).

Nellie with her girlNellie's boyNellie's family

The other lambs are doing well (and busy exploring outside now that their home as been invaded). Plus they now even have proper names - #27.1 is now 'Sawyer'

Sawyer (aka #27.1)

And #27.2 is now 'Kate'

Kate (aka #27.2)

]]> The morning after Fri, 13 Apr 2007 09:18 GMT http://www.perldog.com/2007-04/morning-after?rss Everybody seems to be doing well, and since the lambs were getting milk, it seemed only fair to give #27 a biscuit (you might have to look closely - they don't last long!)

The #27 family enjoys a snack Lamb #1 relaxing Lamb #2 relaxing The happy family ]]> Second Lamb Thu, 12 Apr 2007 14:35 GMT http://www.perldog.com/2007-04/2?rss An about an hour later, #27.1 has a sister - please meet #27.2.

Lamb#2 seconds after being born The happy family

You can keep an eye on the whole #27 family over on the LambCam

]]> First Lamb Thu, 12 Apr 2007 13:53 GMT http://www.perldog.com/2007-04/1?rss Well 'Number 27' has finally delivered - it was a little drawn out and we were beginning to get a little worried that we'd need to give her a helping hand!

Lamb#1 seconds after being born Lamb#1 seconds after being born Number 27 starts the clean up operation

You can keep an eye on #27 and #27.1 (name coming soon) over on the LambCam

]]> LambCam Returns! Thu, 12 Apr 2007 09:54 GMT http://www.perldog.com/2007-04/the-third?rss LambCam is back for 2007, currently in the basic form from last year, but hopefully I might find some time to do something a little more interesting at the weekend.

This year, things are a little less organised - we don't have precise dates like we have before, and that's not really helping much. For a couple of weeks now we've been checking on the sheep looking for any sign that something might be about to happen.

It looks to us like the current star (known to us as 'Number 27', but her friends call her 'baaa') could be due today - she's been a bit restless and has come into the stable several times during the night (we've been leaving them free to roam outside, rather than penning them up). This morning we decided to keep her in so we (and you, through the power of the internet!) can keep a closer eye on events.

Number 27 looking a little confused

You can check on her progress over on the LambCam.

]]> Fifth and Sixth Lambs Wed, 19 Apr 2006 15:04 GMT http://www.perldog.com/2006-04/56?rss For a little while we'd been worried that Tufty wasn't really showing much signs of being pregant (despite a scan which proved she was carrying twins), but this morning at about 7am she looked a bit restless, and sure enough, at about 1:30pm she delivered lamb #5.

Tufty wonders what the heck is this?Tufty puts the pieces together and starts licking#5 looks for a drink

Roughly one hour later, #6 came along...

#6 gets a sneak preview of #5Tufty restarts the lengthy licking process on #6The new family unit

Meanwhile Stacey (#3), Ruby (#4), Martin (#2), Sonia (#1) wait outside with Harlequin and Creamy.

Auntie H + C with their lambs

]]> Cleanup on Lamb #4 please! Thu, 13 Apr 2006 20:55 GMT http://www.perldog.com/2006-04/4firststeps?rss Here's a video of Creamy cleaning the lamb off as it tries to take some first steps.

]]> Third and Fourth Lambs Thu, 13 Apr 2006 10:05 GMT http://www.perldog.com/2006-04/34?rss You wait all night and then two come along at once! We've been expecting Creamy to have her lambs any day now - she look fit to burst. Lamb #3 arrived at around 17:05, and Lamb #4 followed within the hour, both on their feet within minutes and looking pretty healthy.

This was our first outside lambing (Creamy and Tufty have been outside during the day) - luckily it's quite a sunny dry day. After everything looked ok, we quickly set up a second pen and brought Creamy and her lambs inside. You can check on their progress (and Harlequin and her lambs) on the LambCam.

Lamb #3 gets cleaned upLamb #4 makes an entranceLamb #4 seconds after birthLamb #3+#4 looking pretty good

In the meantime, Lambs #1 + #2 are doing just fine.

Lamb #1+#2 looking pretty cute

]]> Restless Night Tue, 11 Apr 2006 07:38 GMT http://www.perldog.com/2006-04/restless?rss Here's a time-lapse video clip of the overnight action - you can see how restless Harlequin was, and at about 03:30 she started getting down to business.

]]> Second Lamb Tue, 11 Apr 2006 05:38 GMT http://www.perldog.com/2006-04/2?rss At about 05:54, lamb #1 got a brother.

lamb #2 is fit enough to attempt escape Harlequin with her new arrivals

You can check on their progress over at LambCam

]]> First Lamb Tue, 11 Apr 2006 05:13 GMT http://www.perldog.com/2006-04/1?rss At 05:00, the alarm went off and I looked up at the laptop to see Harlequin showing signs of labour. I wasn't totally sure at first since she'd done quite a good impression the night before, but this time it looked a bit more serious and sure enough, at 05:08, lamb #1 arrived.

Lamb#1 seconds after being born (lambcam view)

The lamb was up on its feet and trying to suckle within 15 minutes so everything looks good.

Lamb#1 minutes after being born

Fingers crossed there should be another one along shortly - keep watching!

]]> Double Vision Tue, 28 Mar 2006 13:44 GMT http://www.perldog.com/2006-03/double-vision?rss It's been a little while since an update, because we've been busy outside shuffling things around. The chickens are now in their new home, and the sheep have been moved around a bit so the mums-to-be are on their own and can be checked on and fed more.

I've also just bought another webcam since our dry run with the chickens in the stable showed that we need two cameras to cover the stable properly. After lambing, we're going to move one of the cameras into the new chicken house and make HenCam a permanent feature.

Until the next shuffle (when we'll sort out the stable for lambing properly) you can now keep an eye on both the chickens and the sheep with LambCam and HenCam.

LambCam HenCam

]]> It's snowing! Fri, 25 Nov 2005 11:42 GMT http://www.perldog.com/2005-11/snowing?rss It's snowing, and I'm not really sure the sheep like it all that much!

Sheep in the snowHungry sheep, wondering where the grass wentHappy, less hungry, sheep

It came down pretty fast - this is what it looked like after just 30 minutes - there was no snow on the ground before!

Quite a bit of snow on the car

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