Serious Lamb cuteness

We have a new baby.

She is just one week old. She is wearing a wee possum jacket here because I leant all my felted ones to the lady who gave us this baby. She is an Arapawa Island sheep, and she needs a name.

The sheep industry in NZ goes back a long way. Sheep were left on various islands as a food supply for whalers and shipwrecked sailors, a 100 or more years ago. These sheep went wild, and for a while the department of conservation tried to get rid of them. Then it was realised that these remote flocks contained valuable genetic material, and not only that, but had developed useful traits over the years they had been left to fend for themselves.

They are resistant to parasites, don’t tend to suffer from foot rot or fly strike, don’t need to be docked and don’t tend to get a daggy bum. A lot of them self shear (loose their wool)  and they are as tough as old boots. Have few lambing problems, and on top of all that, a fine dense wool from their merino ancestors.

They are mostly black, with some white markings. Have no wool on their legs or face (so they don’t get wool blind) and generally make an easy care flock. (apparently their meat has a fine grain and gamey flavour)

This little girl is one of twins from a very old mother, who had difficulty feeding them both. So now we have her….

She’ll be kept as a pet and eventually have lambs of her own.

I don’t think we need another sheep called lamb-lamb. What should we call her?