Yesterday morning Mystic's twins arrived after breakfast. Healthy lambs, but alas, her milk supply is pitifully inadequate. I borrowed from Helena to feed both lambs at birth and have been sneaking them bottle snacks to keep them going until Mystic's milk is established. Which only leaves Zuni – poor girl is the only one without babes in the barn right now. Hopefully she won't have much longer to wait.  The lambs had many visitors today. It was a lovely  afternoon for spinning, knitting and tons of lamb ogling with Manise, Marcy, Diane D., Diane E., Bonnie and Laurie.  We watched napping
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We're in the homestretch here, with just two ewes, Mystic and Zuni, left to deliver. I'm so happy, completely exhausted, but drawing new energy now that there's an end in sight.  As many of you know, I rely on the baby monitor on my bedside stand which serves as my ear in the barn. I fall asleep to the banter of 23 new lambs conversing with their mothers. Each morning I wake to soft rustle of lambs scampering at first light. It's getting harder to tell the sound of a playful lamb dancing in the straw from the sound of
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As you can see, the oldest lambs are exploring all dining options.
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Today I am reminded that sometimes the work of sheep midwifery is nothing compared to the work that follows the arrival of lambs. I'm multitasking at the moment, typing this post from the barn as I keep watch over three sets of mothers with their youngsters. In pen #1 is Helena who birthed twins at 2 a.m. today. Uncomplicated delivery, healthy lambs (one white ewe, one black ram), agile and hungry. All seemed fine when I headed back to the house at 3 a.m. Pen #2 holds Cassandra and her brand new twins. She went into labor at about 3:15
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Sending wishes for a wonderful day.
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This weekend we've gone from the tip of the iceberg to the tipping point with half the ewes having delivered. Here's the latest: Verbena (the only 3 year old in the group) delivered a set of triplets right after breakfast this morning. No wonder she was as big as a school bus. Her delivery presented me with my first malpresentation (otherwise known as dystocia). Lambie number one, a large ewe, presented nose first, front legs back, which is only really dangerous if no one is around to help. I rolled up my sleeves and sent lambie back to the womb
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The triplets have outgrown their sweaters. Today we let them out with mother to explore the world outside their little pen. They were tentative at first, but it didn't take them long to start bouncing all over the place while Thalia finished her breakfast. Another ewe lamb arrived last night, born to Corona. This seems to be a week of solo arrivals. Let's see what tonight's full moon brings.
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I stepped into the barn this morning in time to watch Galveston deliver her very first lamb, a large ewe. Single lambs are often large – and I had to stop filming toward the end to give Galveston a hand with the delivery. Momma and lamb are doing fine, resting in their pen. The lamb is strong and smart. I'll have to think of a good name for her! Enjoy.
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No new arrivals since Saturday night. As my friend Jo commented, the girls appear to be on strike.  In the meantime, we've had our hands full with shearing the Border Leicesters, goats and llamas yesterday. This is our last round of shearing for this spring. The Leicesters are shorn roughly twice in fifteen months, since a full year's growth (about 7 -8") would be too long for most processing equipment. Many two year olds in this group, with long pretty ringlets. After shearing I get a better look at their body condition. My Leicesters have a habit of gaining too
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Last night I added another sleeveless sweater to my wardrobe. A set of ram lamb twins arrived courtesy of Pheonix shortly after dinner. It was a wild night, snowing here and insanely windy. The lambs were all shivery so I made another set of sweaters. There's nothing like wool for wicking moisture and keeping warm bodies. Holly stopped by to help out. Before we had finished tending to Pheonix and her little boys, Tupelo, Pheonix's full sister, was clearly having strong contractions. So we hung out in the barn for a while and nothing happened. So we went to the
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