The matriarchs of the sheep flock

My two favorite old girls.

The two oldest girls in the flock have had their lambs.  They are wonderful mothers and produce one lamb each every year.

 Chloe is the oldest.  She was born in 2002 so is turning 11 this year.  That's a great age for a ewe.  Normally you would only keep them until they are about five or six so you can have the younger replacements coming through.  Chloe was bottle fed after being rescued by my daughter, who had spotted her alone in the paddock.  She's starting to look a bit old and has earned her retirement, but against my advice she got friendly with the rams and has just had her 9th lamb.

Chloe has a big deep voice and is easy to find amongst the other 100 ewes.

Molly is the second oldest ewe at 8 years old.  She was also abandoned at a few days old.  We had quite a job catching her at first as she could run like the wind from early on.  She was bottle feed and grew up to be the friendliest sheep ever.
  

She is always first through the gate and leads the other sheep wherever I want them to go.  Molly started lambing early - at 1 year old - which is like being a teenage mother.  She has had 7 lambs so far and has looked after them all well.

Molly is always ready for a head rub or neck scratch but Chloe only comes up for a pat if she's in the mood.   I hope they both carry on being fit and well for a few more years yet. 

Linking to Home Acre Hop