The Mia sized version of the Boudreaux sized blog. This is mostly a BACK UP BLOG and a smaller version for smaller screens if the main blog is too hard to navigate. For complete posts, giveaways, corrected grammar and punctuation, the "rest of the story" and any additional posts that might not make it over here for some reason, please check the BOUDREAUX SIZED BLOG :-).

IF AT ALL POSSIBLE, PLEASE USE the main blog.


Wednesday, April 20, 2011

My Bottle Lamb Is Smarter Than...



Currently my favorite picture of Lila. In two weeks when I'm having to make that collar larger, I will be able to look back...



Okay, not to be bragging...wait, well of course I'm going brag about this. Somehow Lila decided that when she needs to peepee and she's in the house, she runs into her crate, pees, runs back to whatever she was doing. Seriously. Picture to prove it.

To take this one step further, this evening when we were up at the barn feeding, she was playing around in the barn aisle, stopped, ran into the only open stall, peed, ran back out. I am not making this up. Does that just not beat all?!?



Then, tonight when I was fixing dinner (yes, it occasionally happens) I locked her out on the back porch with Iris and Weaslie. She played around for a little while, didn't get into any trouble and then I found her sleeping in the condo. I'm beginning to think Keebler might have been a little tiny bit of a brat. Possibly ;-).



We spent most of the afternoon up at the wool house working on Boudreaux's messy fleece. Luckily she was able to find some friends to hang out with.

"Hey, it looks like your mom made you take vitamins too!"

Aren't those sheep planters awesome? Alice found them at Home Goods. Great find!



I was able to salvage both of Boudreaux's sides - in good order. His back? Yeah, um... This is one of my favorite fleeces though and one of our favorite sheep too. Lila and I spent several hours snipping off sunbleached tips and shaking out VM.

The worst of it is just going to have to find it's way into some bird nests, but we made a pretty good dent in saving a decent amount. We have some major barn renovations planned for this summer so this won't happen again.



So, then Dad gets home.

Who is the one who makes all the ba-ba's? And feeds her every two hours? Who slept on the kitchen floor next to her the first night? And again when it started to storm at 3:00 a.m. last night and she (and the dogs) were scared?

Yeah, it wasn't Saint Tim.

Who does she follow around if she has a choice?

Kids...

To answer some questions:

Lila was a triplet from the same farm Keebs came from. She was a little oxygen deprived at birth and was having trouble connecting all the nursing dots. Kathy worked with her for two days and got her sucking (bottle and momma), but couldn't get her to figure out how to do it herself. The green stripe was so she could easily find her among the other 163 white lambs she has running around right now.

She's not bred anywhere near the same as Keebler and I'm not sure where the spots came from. I believe her mother was a Rambouillet cross and her father is a Texel ram, but don't quote me on that. Not sure how her fleece will turn out. She's just here for entertainment and to make sure she gets a good start in a hopefully long and happy life.

Her name just popped into my head as soon as I put her in the car. Sometimes that happens. Occasionally. Usually Tim comes up with the clever names. I think as cute as the Mud Ranch lambs are, I'd have fun trying to come up with 60 names :-).

24 comments:

Alice said...

And whose lap does she lay on for a little lovin'? That makes all those sleepless nights, and bottle washes worth it! I cant believe she is litter trained! She's a smarter cookie than Keebler!

Lori Skoog said...

Only you would have a potty trained lamb. Hope you have taken a couple of naps.

Michelle said...

Oh, what a good little ambassador she is going to grow up to be! "Have sheep (and spindle and wheel); will travel."

~Tonia~ said...

What a smart little cookie! You mean you are not keeping her? She could teach the others some things. ;)

Peacecat said...

Can Lila come live in Alaska?

Gayle said...

If a lamb is smart enough to not potty on the floor then she has the right to be a permanent "person" in your house. :)

Christine said...

A housebroken lamb? NO way! That would be awesome.

Shirley said...

Lila is cute and smart! She really needs to be a lifer at your place. Pleeeease?

Susan said...

I can't even get my dog to behave that well! She is a special little girl, for sure. I just love the picture of Lila and the dogs. It's wonderful.

Dreaming said...

What a wonderful lamb - if Lila had followed Mary to school, the teacher never would have turned her out!!
What a cutie!

Jenny Glen said...

From my point of view, there is something very wrong with that last picture! And letting her play on the porch with the dogs?! We sure do have different kinds of farms! I was thinking her wool looked like Rambouillet.

schoonoverfarm said...

That is the smartest (and cutest) bottle lamb ever! I love the photos- thanks!

The Sprollies 'n' Border Collies said...

Cute girl!

Sarah said...

what a sweet heart! She must be a smart one, as you say! Convenient that she's "crate trained."

Sheepmom said...

Little Lila Lambie really is small. What does she weigh?

thecrazysheeplady said...

Shhh - Iris would really rather Jenny's working stock dogs didn't find out she didn't boss Lila around ;-).

Terry said...

She's darling!

K. Crane: Big Fat Art Cloth said...

Even though I know how to spin (not that good at it but enjoy it), I know nothing about raising sheep. I am smitten with Lila. Last year I fell in love with Diane's Olive. They're cute 4-legged children.

~Kim at Golden Pines~ said...

I think Lila is perfect!! :-)

Claire the Shepherdess said...

that's incredible! I wish my bottle lambs or kids had been potty trained! Lucky Nickel went about 50% of the time on a blanket that I had laid out for that purpose, but she was usually in diapers so it was only in case of leaks. If she'd been like Lila, I think she'd have stayed living in the house. :) Love the spotty ears, by the way! That happened with a white lamb of mine in the past whose mom was half Rambouillet.

flowerweaver said...

Precious and smart!

Ed said...

Too cool, looks like she gets along with everyone..:-))

mudranch.com said...

You've got a deal! Next year I'm calling on you. ;)

DayPhoto said...

You are the best, Sara...thank you for sharing her with us. Two house dogs, no WAIT three house dogs!

Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com