Two New Lambs!

Sheila and the new lambs.

That was unexpected!  Everything I have read said that before the ewe goes into labor, she'll go off her feed for a while, separate herself from the flock, and labor may last from 12 -24 hours. Didn't happen like that at all!  I went out Saturday morning to feed the animals a little later than I normally do.  Sheila was acting just as she always has.  She ate the alfalfa hay, then ate oats out of a pink bucket I held for her. No signs of labor. 

Twin lambs only a few hours old.

So, I decided that I would do a bit of yard work while my husband was outside doing chores, too.  We were taking near the sheep pen, when I started to count the sheep, something I do often.  I did not see Sheila, but instead heard a very tiny bleating sound from the barn.  I yelled, "we have lambs!"  Sure enough, I went into the barn, and Sheila had popped out two lambs!  Doug ran to get my camera for me (only to find I needed to charge the battery, of all times!) He then hen started taking camera phone pictures, and texting people like a proud grandfather.  Sheila was just finishing licking them clean by the time we discovered she had given birth to twins, a ram and a ewe. We got to watch one of the lambs stand for the very first time in order to find the mama's milk.  I didn't get to watch the birth, but there are still a few more sheep to go!  Maybe I'll get to see it, maybe not.  I am so glad that everything has gone so well, and that we have two new lambs on The Derby Farm.