Lambing In Full Swing

feeding time

Lambing is well upon us at Mountain Glen as can be confirmed by the almost constant vocals coming from the well-fenced pasture area next to the chicken house.  The ‘baa’ing, which sounds more like ‘ma’ing, rarely stops.  There always seems to be a little one in search of its mother ewe especially when that little one is hungry, and sometimes when that little one gets separated from its mama which happens often when the lamb falls asleep and the ewe keeps wandering as it eats.  The lamb awakens to find it has been temporarily abandoned and cries out to be rescued.  Mama ewe quickly returns to her baby.

our only black lamb of the flock to date

 

Most of the births to date have been twins.  Twins are typical for a ewe.  A few single births have occurred. These usually come from a much older ewe.  So far, we have had no triplets which makes us happy because it is difficult to keep that third lamb alive.  Either the mother ewe rejects that third lamb or we remove that lamb from the ewe and try to keep it alive by bottle-feeding.  A ewe is ill-equipped to feed three lambs as she only has two teats; thus, a triplet’s survival is challenging.

this ewe is ready to explode

 

The other day Glenn announced that a ewe was lambing.  I rushed out to the birthing area.  There is something special about actually observing a birth in progress. 

 

The ewe was definitely laboring.

 

I watched as the first little lamb slid out.  Within minutes, the lamb was up on all fours wobbling around its mama.  A few minutes later, a second lamb followed.   A few more minutes and the twins were looking to have their first meal.  All was well.

 

Glenn would return later to check on their progress.   And, Snowball regularly checks on their safety.