Day 2

Freckles Update: still holding her own... eating and drinking but clearly not moving in the direction we had hoped for... in discussions about how we want this to end as it is clearly headed for an end. 

TWO OF OUR OLDER LAMBS... BORN EARLY FEBRUARY

Day two was what we hope to see more of moving forward. Two births, three lambs and everybody healthy and happy. During the last check in the barn Tuesday night we saw one of our Katahdin ewes just have that look… her udder was HUGE, her belly seemed to have “dropped” to be more low and deep as opposed to having a sidesaddle look on both sides of her body. It was clear that she would go in the night or the following morning. Its a look that we know well at this point…. and sure enough this was the reality in the morning... one lamb, 14 lbs! 

 

As cute and amazing as this lamb was I can not help but share some of my disappointment. We hope for twins each and every time, we have not been the most meticulous in our herd building so we know we have some ewes that should have been culled by now considering their habit of birthing single lambs. However, we are an emotional bunch and tend to think…. well maybe next year. I will say we are growing more determined and ruthless in our selection as we get into our 8th year….  I mean, enough is enough. I say all that because as we left the barn after looking at that huge ewe we were certain she would have at least twins. She has a habit of producing triplets so twins felt safe. To find that ENORMOUS single was a bummer… It is not often that we have a 14 lb lamb at birth… but she had triplets last year all over 10 lbs. I’m over it but it was a bit of a downer considering our goal of reaching 50 lambs this year for the first time with our own flock…. still on track but each single ups the ante… 

She is so big that she has already learned that its easier to eat lying down:

 

Later in the day we had a nice afternoon birth, some twins out of one of the new Cheviot ewes we bought in last summer. Small lambs… but mom did well, is attentive, and looks to have plenty of milk.