Discovering LambsTerri talks about the joys of spring lambing
When did the oak trees sprout new leaves? When did the chickens and
ducks have time to sit nests and hatch their young? Spring has come and
gone so quickly that we didn’t even notice its passage. Roy and I were
too actively involved in bringing new life into this world that we just
didn’t see it. Never would I have guessed that time would flow by me so
quickly.
Proud mom and newborn lamb
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The flock at Windward is composed of many ewes, most of whom were
expecting lambs. The first deliveries were eagerly anticipated. Each
day there were lambing checks, times when we would walk among the flock
to see if any of them had delivered their lambs yet. It was a
frustrating task at times. We would walk down the hill with a spring in
our steps in anticipating of finding a lamb, and then trudge back up the
hill disappointment showing in every step. And lambing checks weren’t
just once or twice a day, we also had to walk down during the night to
check, and you could see our little flashlights bobbing in the night as
we made our appointed rounds.
Arriving during the early morning hours, Pretty Ewe’s young lamb was the
first of many. Sadly Roy and I weren’t there to see the birth, but once
we heard the news we raced down the hill to see the baby. He was very
pretty, almost all black, with just the distinctive white on the top of
his head. Pia also gave birth that day, to twin girls, Pepper and
Patty. Pepper was easy to distinguish. She is very white with black
speckled around her. She has an adorable face with lots more black
speckled around her eyes and nose.
After that day it seemed that we were always swamped with things to do.
There just didn’t seem to be enough time in the world to finish what
needed to be accomplished, and boy was there a lot to do. Never would I
have realized just how much goes into producing a lamb. The image of
sheep giving birth on the range with little interference was not
something that we had here. At Windward, each lamb must be given an
injection containing necessary medications to protect the lamb. The
tail is docked and if it’s a male, then it must be banded. The cord is
cut and disinfected, and finally each of the babies is given a tiny coat
to wear. Several coats might be needed if it’s going to be a cold
night.
With lambs being born quickly the coats became even more time
consuming. At night one extra coat was always given to the lambs, and
in the morning they would all go down to just one. Catching the lambs
with coats was an easy task. The coats gave us something to grab as
they went by. And of course it gave us an excuse to cuddle each and
every one in the morning and again after dark.
Terri celebrates with a Lamb Cake
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Interestingly enough, the mothers didn’t escape our notice or our need
to attend to them. Besides being given extra feed, we needed to check
each of the mothers for milk. That meant being sure that each side of
the mother’s udder gave milk. Twins needed to be supplemented if the
mother didn’t provide enough. Of course none of us was going to protest
the need to give a baby lamb a bottle. After last year getting to care
for Kayla, I was eagerly anticipating getting to feed a baby.
The first lamb to need extra help was Dolly’s. For some reason she left
her newborn little boy in the snow. Roy found him when we were feeding,
and not having a towel I stripped off my jacket to get to my soft warm
sweater and wrapped him in it. Even after he was dried off Dolly just
wasn’t willing to accept him. He became our first bottle baby and spent
the first night of his life snug and warm in our home. Of course that
meant every two-hour feedings, but believe me the experience was more
than worth it. Soon we had a second lamb that needed feeding due to
lack of mother’s milk, and we were all actively engaged in their lives.
Sadly, since bottle babies are so time and resource consuming they were
taken to the sale very early, but Walt shared with us how two children
purchased the two babies, so we were hopeful.
After many births, I was finally privileged to watch the birth of Opal’s
baby. We found her in full labor and while Roy went for more expert
help for her, she proceeded to deliver without a midwife. It was a life
altering moment. The baby’s head was out and calling out to its mother
before the rest of it was born. At this point Opal stood up and with a
wet splat the baby fell to the ground headfirst. Later we were able to
witness LeeAnn’s delivery. That one was memorable since as we moved
LeeAnn and her baby to a smaller pen Roy suddenly observed a second lamb
in with another sheep. She had delivered a twin without any of us
noticing.
Today looking out at all the lambs I am amazed at how rapidly they are
growing. They leap and jump and play and not only is it amusing, it’s
one of the most relaxing experiences. Just watching one of their play
sessions most people would be instantly hooked. They have races and
leap and jump as they run. Sometimes they will play "King of the Hill,"
and you can see them butting one another for possession of the highest
point of ground. They grow too quickly though and now facing the sale
of several of them in the coming weeks saddens me. I knew from the
beginning that we would keep very few if any and tried to guard my heart
by playing with Kayla and Buffy. These two kept me focused on what goes
on with the lambs.
The flock has birthed its last lamb, and today we are focusing our
attention on fattening them up for sale. It’s a sad moment for all of
us. Anyone can tell you that the lambs always bring a smile to my
face. No matter how much work or how difficult it is, the rewards are
worth it to me. Lambing time might be over here at Windward, but the
great thing about it is that it comes around again next year. Until
then, it’s off to new adventures and discoveries.
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