Lamb-Along Update: More Triplets!

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 so I could fish for her two front legs and gently draw them forward. Then she had a proper "toes first" arrival. She was quickly followed by two brothers.

Verbena's ewe lamb

In case you're wondering, the triplets did not arrive wearing pretty cable sweaters  (and no, I did not knit them myself). The new sweaters were a gift from their Auntie Marcia in CT,  arriving in my mailbox yesterday, just in time for another chilly April morning. (Marcia, big hugs from me and Verbena).

Lambs in pretty sweaters

Evidently inspired by the triplets' arrival, Pansy went into labor presenting me with a single very large ewe-ling. Pansy, my 9 year old veteran, is lavishing attention on her lamb, licking every square inch of her fuzzy body. She was licking her lamb so hard, the lamb kept falling over!

The lambs all seem to be larger now, more developed and faster on their feet. Which is great, because I'm pretty wiped out from too many nights of broken sleep and midnight barn checks. I'm grateful for a barn full of ewes who are all doing their jobs – and for having reached the half-way mark. Also encouraging is the ewe:ram lamb ratio of 2:1 at this point!

Crackerjack is as exhausted as I am. Ordinarily not a napper when there's action in the barn, he totally crashed while I was busy with Pansy and her lamb this morning. Poor guy! I think he realizes his work as lamb nanny is just beginning. At least he looks dapper with his new haircut.

Crackerjack sleeping

I just peeked at all the comments from last week. Many of you (Emily, Ikkinlala, Madeline, Mikell, Kristy, Margene, Anna Marie, Rebecca, Sue and Valerie) had a hunch that either Verbena or Pansy would be next. I don't think anyone (including me) imagined that Galveston and Corona were ready. And so much for my theory about the full moon.

Here's who's left:

Kodiak~!

Calypso, Cassandra

Zuni, Helena, Aberdeen, Mystic

At this point your guess is as good as mine. Kodiak is huge; I suspect she's carrying a three-pack, a VW beetle, or the world's largest single. Mystic looks furthest away to my eye, with an udder the size of a grapefruit. Everyone else is right in the middle, looking pretty darn ripe.

You're welcome to give it another shot this week. We'll compare notes again next Friday (or Saturday if I'm tied up in the barn or too exhausted to type on Friday). Everyone gets entered in the drawing for "the Goods" at the end of the season – 2 skeins of Foxfire wool & alpaca twist and a copy of Lisa Lloyd's Thistle and Fox Socks book.

What d'ya think?

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