It Happened Again!

Yet another lamb took me by surprise.  Fiona wasn't as fat as Daphne or Sheila.  Her udder didn't look as full. She was eating with the others. The only clue, which of course, I missed, was that when I went to round of up the sheep to get them into the barn pen for the night, and I couldn't find Fiona. Turns out, she was already in the barn, and by herself. Since I didn't think she was due to have a lamb any time soon, I didn't think any more about the fact that she was the only ewe in the barn. Until the next morning, when it all made sense.  


Wednesday morning, I put on my red boots, my hat, my yellow jacket, my gloves, and headed out for what I thought was going to be a routine feeding of the animals, my farm dog Max at my side.  Max was running around like a crazy dog. He loves the cold mornings when I let him accompany me. He stops and waits for me by the duck and chicken coop, hoping I'll give him a treat of a duck egg.  So, I took my time getting to the sheep, and fed the poultry animals first so that Max could have his egg.  The sheep were impatient and making quite a few noises waiting for their hay.
"Okay, Okay, I'm coming." (I am always talking to the animals.) Grabbing a few flakes of hay, I went over to the feeder, split up the flakes, and saw all seven heads of the ewes, the two older lambs pushing their faces into where they could to get at the food, and the two little lambs curled up on the ground behind the others. All accounted for.  I casually unlatched the gate to let myself into the pen so that I could let them out into the front pasture to graze when they had had enough of the alfalfa. This was all very routine.  Then, I walked into the barn, and Voila! A lamb I had never seen before. All alone. But where was the mama? 

Fiona And Her New Lamb

Obviously, after giving birth, she was hungry!  Which sheep was it?  That became very obvious as I turned around and spotted some red on the back of Fiona.  I worried that because she left her new born of merely a few hours, she may not be a good mother.  Didn't have worried.  As soon as I picked up the lamb to move it to the jug (pen), she heard the wee cry of her lamb and followed me. I Closed the wooden pallet gate behind her. That went smoothly.  Fresh water was needed for her, and her own half of a flake of food was delivered to her promptly. Mama and lamb are closed inside a jug together, bonding.  So far, nursing seems to be going fine.  We'll see if the little, new, ewe lamb makes it through the night.


I am so glad that just the day before I had laid fresh wheat straw in the barn. There was a bit of a (bloody) mess for me to clean from the recently laid straw.  Neither of the three ewes before had had much blood. So, this was something new. 
Now, I am not so sure what to expect from the other pregnant ewes! So far, each one has been a different experience. I have no idea who is next. Earnestine? Jackie? I don't even know if 
Ol' Brownie is pregnant.  She's always fat and hungry with a droopy udder, but so cute. Next blog post I'll put up some more recent pictures of the other 4 lambs who are doing well on The Derby Farm.