KitKat lambed this morning. They were both born by the time I got out to the pasture at around 7 am, so I missed the full excitement. But, they are two very beautiful moorit ram lambs. One might carry the grey trait as he appears to have sugar lips already. We shall see!
They are both nursing well and they are huge lambs compared to some of our others.
Like many lambs, sometimes they forget which end has the udder!
This was before I had cut and iodine-dipped the umbilical cords.
Such cute little guys! Both will have horns.
Congratulations on your new arrivals. Look like healthy little guys!
Wow! They are jumbos! LOL Congrats Moxon! They are darling! I guessed 3, but they look big enough to count for 4! LOL
Congrats! I hoped for at least one moorit this year, but we had a very monochromatic lambing season. :-) Black or white and one black mouflon.
KitKat has magically deflated! :) How much do they weigh?
If I were closer, I'd trade you a black for a moorit! We haven't weighed them yet - busy day, but they are probably 8 lb or so each. Definitely hefty!
closer?? so if I was to maybe take a run to PA, you could bring yours here to IL, Claire & Galles can pick up in PA...
Not sure yet if I am going... can't make up my mind.. stay and play with the animals, go to PA, visit, pick up an frilly alpaca or two, or run to MI to check out a college..
So much pressure.
Such pretty babies.. and giant-sized, no wonder she waddled!
Congrats Dr. Doolittle on the new baby goatlings!
Tee hee Dahlianut....they're sheeplings!
This is Luna - she's our only goatling.
LMAO @ myself (snort). I thought they were curly goatlings. OMG it is SUCH a good thing that I don't have a farm. Poor things would go through life in identity crisis.
Giggle....it's OK Dahlianut, they would all be very happy to be with you anyway. I'm sure you would have a farm that would be full of fun things for goatlings and sheeplings to do. If we have angora goat babies someday, they would come out curly. Otherwise, not so much...so curly usually = sheep.
You mentioned that both lambs would have horns. How does the heredity of horns work in sheep? In cattle polled (hornless) is dominant; I know nothing about sheep.
In sheep, horns or polled-ness is sex dependent due to “interaction between the allele and the hormonal regime of the animal.”
If the allele for polled is P and for horns is HO at the horned locus Ho then the rules are:
Polled is dominant in ewes
Horned is dominant in rams
Ewes that are P-P are polled. Rams that are p-p are polled.
Ewes that are P-ho are polled. Rams that are Ho-p are horned.
Ewes that are ho-ho are horned. Rams that are Ho-Ho are horned
Heterozygous horns in rams may be smaller than homozygous horns. A ram showing any horns (other than scurs) carries the Ho gene, even button horns. Heterozygous ewes may or may not show horns but the horns will be noticeably smaller than a homozygous horned ewe.
Very useful article on sheep horn genetics here: http://www.isbona.com/vol5no4fall01a.html
I don't think it's very nice to call them hos dear Claire :(
Thanks Mox, once again you are a wealth of critter information.
I thought the same thing, Dear Dahlianut. Our culture has become so coarse:0).
Unless....Moxon was referring to the comestible usually paired with DingDongs.
You guyz are a crack up.
Gorgeous!!! What a pair of beautiful sheep. I smell wool socks. *kidding*
I am sorry you missed the experience. :(
