‘Tis a puzzle meant
You will all remember that Hairy MacLairy left the property to go to the big farm over the rise in mid January. Due to the high rate of problem deliveries I decided not to have any more lambs. So he went off to play with some other ewes. Mid January.
Yesterday I was taking photos of the sheep. 
It was hot. No-one was complaining, (we still remember the cold.) Hullo, Mama.
Then I saw this. Can YOU see something we should not be seeing?
Let me give you a close up. We are all farmers here, armchair or otherwise!
Minty is bagging up. 
Surely a sheep would only develop a full udder if she were pregnant. Minty is pregnant?
I looked up the date that the man picked Hairy up. January 15. A sheep is pregnant for five months. Between 140 and 159 days. I have not had time to count the days, but it seems to me that if she had gotton pregnant from Hairy, even right before he left, and how that happened I have no idea as they were not together, then she is already overdue. But it is almost feasible.
But why else would she have developed an udder if she is not pregnant? ‘Tis a puzzlement. Lets hope .. well.. lets just hope all goes well.
In the meantime I shall give her some extra rations though she is in a good pasture with mineral and salt and lots of clover and fresh water. And healthy and active. But still.
John’s mother the Matriarch called from California and asked why she had not seen her dog on the blog yet. This is why! Joey loves the pig wallow!
Poppy turned up on the verandah yesterday morning and made a rush for the kitchen door. All perky and happy as could be. Led by Tima and followed by all four dogs. They were having a parade. Tima wanted to show Poppy how you could climb into the dishwasher. Well, I said they could just take that parade right back down the steps and back into the field, thank you very much. This is one pig who does not belong in the kitchen! Though she is a happy wee thing is our Poppy. 
I cannot walk very fast with her as her favourite thing is to run around in front of my legs and throw herself at speed, length ways right onto my feet. I am literally pinned for the patting.
Later in the evening we took the Rampage for a drive. With The Tall Teenager due his truck needed to blow some cobwebs out. 
Nice.
I hope you have a lovely day.
Your friend on the farmy.
celi
57 Comments on “‘Tis a puzzle meant”
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thekitchensgarden 
I don’t suppose you could use a pregnancy test kit on a sheep….?
You can but its so hard to get them to pee on the stick!
Oh my — Tima showing Poppy how to climb into the dishwasher — now there is a giggle inducing thought
Do the dogs follow by order of age or size?
Good question. Ton is always right behind the animal who is out of place, in this instance Poppy,completely focused on the pig – Boo is right behind Ton trying to annoy him, paying no attention to the pig- Joey is hurtling along side hoping someone is going to open a door and Big Dog with his curious big dog gait is lurching to the side trying to get out of the way. So it is a curious kind of parade. c
A wonderful parade indeed!
wow, that is a mystery, can’t wait to see what happens in a few months –
I think that’s most unfair – Poppy should be allowed in the dishwasher too 😉
She did try to explain that to me.. morning mad!.. c
It looks like she needs a scrub 🙂
Joey! You little dickens. Time for a dip in the rain barrel again! I miss my little shadow aka Joey. 🙂 Minty pregnant? Will she let you feel her belly? Perhaps the vet can look at her when she comes to do Daisy’s and Queenie’s AI?
My darling lady vet knows nothing about sheep and is quite happy to admit it. Though my reading tells me that sheep can have phantom pregnancies but it is rare.. c
Minty is either due tonight or having a phantom pregnancy …. I know dogs and cats are prone to this but are sheep? Laura
Love the image conjured up of the animal parade, made my day ha ha! I like the look of the truck, very retro, have a fab day xx
Hmmmm, another mystery on the farmy. Villains (bird killers) and possible pregnancies!
I think she is faking it.. probably after some attention!! I am trying to find out if it is some mineral deficiency or something.. c
No ram-dom escape…no ewe break out of the pen? We had a cow that would finally give up on us (if we were trying to cycle her to deliver at a certain time) and take herself off to a bull near to us. Sometimes as far as a mile away?
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
It is so long ago now though.. almost 5 and 1/2 months.. time will tell i suppose. c
Poppy looks like she would do well to have a cycle through the dishwasher! I have two new little piglets, they are saddlebacks and very cute. They are a scratching a bit but I cant really catch them yet to do anything about it as they are still in the “taming prcess” and wont stay still for a minute. I dont think it is too serious but I wondered if you know what I might use to stop the itch? The bigger pigs dont seem to have got the itch despite alll of them trying to fight through the fence. This is starting to abate a bit after a week but what has not stopped is the terratorial peeing. My big pigs are peeing in their bed which they never do, it is so much more work to clean up and smells, I never have smelly pigs. Ugh.
Often if they have itchy lice – worming them will get rid of the internal and external parasites. This has helped me in the past. I got some wormer you can put in their feed for three days and it is effective. Can you get anything like that over there? When the plonkers came Sheila was peeing into her water barrel which was close to the border of the intruders.. hope they stop peeing in bed for you soon. You are in the flux period by the sounds of it.. lots of work that period is.. c
thank you, I have just looked my wormer only does worms so I will look for another that does worms and lice.
I will ask my vet for you, she comes tomorrow.. Poppy came to the farmy crawling with lice and worms, this stuff fixed her right up.. there must be an australian equivalent.. c
Well, never a dull moment on the farmy is there C, hmm, an unplanned pregnancy – tsk tsk, children of today. 😀 Joey looks all very pleased to be muddy up to his armpits.
Have a beautiful sun shiny warm farmy day.
🙂 Mandy xo
Oooo eeer! What has been going on down on the farmy? Hairy McClery leaving behind his naughty ways, and if she is, znd he didn, t ….then who did. A puzzle indeed
Wouldn’t I like to chuck my little guy in the dishwasher? So nice to catch up with the blog today…(and dirty or not, that is one beautiful sparky little dog!)
I am grinning at the idea of the parade, dod you get a picture? Piggies that empty the dishwasher? You could make a fortune, selling that trick!
No camera, though i was tempted to do a reenactment, i am sure it would have played out exactly the same except they would have got INSIDE!! as I fiddled with exposures.. c
When foot and mouth disease was scurging Britain, every farm had a shallow tank of water and disinfectant across the drive for visiting people and animals to scrub their feet before setting foot on the place. It sounds as though you could do with one of those at the entrance to the house, or maybe a miniature carwash arch? I hope Minty’s OK
Love,
ViV
We had one of those ar our school believe it or not, when I was a kid, we ran through a shower, then a foot bath and then into the pool.. freezing cold of course! anyway yes, Minty.. have no idea what that is all about but she is fat and healthy.. c
What a puzzle indeed! Curious to see how this pans out. The kids will be delighted to see Joey. Miss A misses him. And it looks like it was a great night for a sunset drive. Beautiful!
Do tell Miss A that the little chick she helped me transfer is happy with the others and her name is Little. She is surprisingly tame and nips my finger every time she sees me.. or maybe she is just hungry!! c
I will tell her right now. She will love to hear that! On a side note…got a hammock swing. Attached to one of my trees. I love it. Spent several glorious hours in it yesterday reading a book. 🙂
Aren’t they just the BESTEST! and good for a tired back too.. c
Your Poppy makes me laugh. My little Poppy cat used to fling herself across my feet too! The number of times she nearly got her wee self squashed!… XO
Maybe Harry did some night visits from his far away farm. We had a very sneaky ram that traveled from his far away pen and got the whole lot pregnant one year. He always appeared in his pen with an innocent look. They don’t call it sex DRIVE for nothing. Maybe you should get one of those big round stock tank and all take a bath together. Too funny, Celi,
Had an old cow that did that… we kept her from the bull due to her age and her struggle to give birth, so every year she had a false pregnancy … grew an udder we had to milk, not that it was usable, but she just thought the time was right… or maybe she just enjoyed the extra rations they received in the dairy so she had a false pregnancy to get back in there… never heard of it in sheep before…
Hmm, interesting.. So what was the milk that she gave like? just white watery stuff?.. how interesting, sounds like something Daisy would do.
The milk was almost water and we were advised by the vet to remove it as it could lead to different diseases specially in old cows… she loved it of course all that extra rations… I could not get it over my heart to sell her her, have her slaughtered for meat and rations, she was just one of those favourites one keeps for an extra loss on the books every year…
hmm.. a sheila.. i think it is healthy to have one of those every now and then that you keep just because.. does ones heart good.. c
I’m wondering if Minty’s body is “acting out” because she is the one who treated Marcel with such love.
I have a precocious goat. Yes, that’s what it is called when they bag up and lactate without being bred. She hadn’t been exposed to ANYTHING that could have impregnated her so it was a mystery. Her bag eventually dried up and I later bred her. She’s on her second freshening now and produces a large amount of milk. Never had anymore problems. Not sure about her doelings doing the same as I sold them off. We’ll have to see about Minty.
Hmm, I bet that is it, precocious minty.. thank you, i had no idea it had a name.. c
Gorgeous photos Celi. My sheep have udders but they are on the plump side.
she is in a good paddock! maybe she is a fatty.. c
Minty might be pregnant? We’ll all be waiting with bated breath now, you know that, don’t you Celi.. 🙂
morning celia, i think she is faking it!!.. c
Molly had a phantom pregnancy after her first cycle. Our vet said it was common in animals with haywire hormones. Goodnight, c.
Goodnight Misky darling.. c
I love those last two photos and the one of Joey. Yup, the dog plays while the Matriarch is away.
An immaculate conception?
Excellent!! c
Who on earth told your brood about a ‘merry-go-round’? Ipso facto: dishwasher? That Q WOULD be fun to see 🙂 !! Hmmm: after all the problems of the past few months, it would be fun to learn whether Hairy McLairy did decide to leave a mark on the farmy . . . 🙂 !
The pigs were having so much fun, Joey jumped right in. I would have loved to see that parade. 🙂
Naughty little Joey – we’ll make him into afarm dog! And as for Minty and Hairy…perhaps they had a secret date behind the barn 😉
I think/hope those are probably fat girl boobs :-).
Ha ha , fat girl boobs, I think you are right. The numbers are all wrong. and like you I do not want these girls pregnant. They can live quite happily being the clean up crew in the fields and good wool once a year.. c.
Oh I want to see those pigs and dogs in the kitchen! Also- NICE car!!!