Changes in the Flock

What a difference a few months make.

After lambing season, the flock has almost doubled in size.

But the animals, too, undergo rapid changes in spring.

The ewes are almost shed out now.

(The above photo shows a shedding ewe. Hair sheep, like our Katahdins, shed their coats in spring. Wool sheep do not naturally shed and must be shorn.)

The mama ewes are also much thinner than they were a few months ago. Not only have they delivered lambs, but they've been nursing them and losing a lot of body fat.

Even our fat ewe, the one who sported a roll of fat around her neck, is looking trimmer. The neck roll is gone.

The lambs undergo rapid growth in their first few months of life.

The photo illustrates the difference between a 30-day-old lamb and 60-day-old lambs.

As the lambs graze more, they play less.

In  few months, the flock will look more uniform, and it will continue moving toward uniformity until the great change of spring next year.