Looks like we are headed for a lamb bonanza this year! We bred 46 ewes and expected about 35 to be pregnant, as our pregnancy rate has been about 75% every year since we started with the fiber sheep, whose fertility is not as high as the East Friesian dairy sheep. But the fertility gods were smiling on us and when Dr Dotti came to ultrasound the ewes yesterday we were amazed as ewe after ewe after ewe showed us beautiful “first baby photos,” on the ultrasound screen. Out of the 46 ewes, only TWO were not pregnant! Ultrasound day was a bit later this year, relative to the breeding dates, so the pregnancies were further along and it was harder for Dr Dotti to count fetuses, but we were enthralled with the beautiful images clearly showing the lambs’ ribcages, spines and heads. Unfortunately I was too bowled over by the fertility rate and didn’t get a good photo of one of the images on the screen. It is always such an exciting day I often forget to take photos. We will have lots of lambs to sell come March! And if we have as many triplets as last year, I’m hoping to have people with livestock experience who can provide good homes for lambs lined up to take bummer lambs off our hands, so email me if you are interested in a bottle lamb this season.
