Update on the Sheep

Someone asked in an email how the sheep were doing.  I like talking about sheep, especially our sheep.

We have one sheep that we call SCC.  It stands for sugar, chocolate and caramel.  These are her colors.  SCC is certainly our biggest ewe.  She is probably our biggest sheep.  We have been unable to weigh her in a long time because we use a bathroom scale, weigh ourselves, then weigh ourselves holding the sheep.  We have great difficulty lifting her, and her weight plus Johnny's weight much less mine are over the limit of the scale.  To give an idea of Johnny's strength, he can carry a 100 pound bag of corn from the car to the house with little trouble.  He might just be able to lift SCC.   But we don't really know.  SCC moves and is built like a tank.

Five months ago, we noticed SCC and My Little Dog were being affectionate with one another.  We stopped counting after thirty "displays of affection" and just presumed that SCC was preganent and would give birth sometime in early October or Late September at the earliest.  SCC is not a black belly sheep, she is probably are cross between dorper and dorset or something like that.  We purchased her in Shipyard, a Mennonite community.  Anyway, it is not typical for sheep of her genetic background to have twins. So we were hopeful of getting one female, half black belly.

As her udder began to develop we began to watch for more signs that she was close to delivery.  Early on the morning of September 29, SCC began talking.  Now, I am not crazy, imagine making a sheep sound as a birthing contraction passes.  It sounds very much like a sheep talking.  It is the second to last sign that delivery is about to occur.  The last sign is a great deal of fluid being expelled.

Everything went smooth.  And we were surprised and delighted that SCC delivered twin females.  SCC has turned out to be an excellent mother.  She is very responsible with her babies, although she is pushing them rather soon to go deep into the pasture and keep up with her.  Whenever one falls behind or takes a nap in a soft shady spot, she keeps track of where the baby is and gets the baby up and following her before she moves on to another area.