Gotcha!
Yesterday we had a bouncing baby boy LAMB in our lot when I got home from work. The mama was WI-ld and didn’t think she needed to go into a lambing pen. Finally I got her into the pen with her baby, got her stripped (removing the waxy plug from each ewe teat), and ran to Dad’s to get alfalfa since we haven’t gotten our’s yet. When I got home with her hay I noticed she still hadn’t let the little guy nurse. He was crying and everytime he tried to nurse she bolted. She has a ton of milk, but wasn’t quite sure she wanted the baby to nurse her. Finally after some hands-on convincing/wrestling I was able to hold her still long enough for the baby to nurse. He was quick to pick it up, and I could feel her relax a bit. I loosened my grip on her, but still didn’t leave until I knew he had gotten enough.
Everyone seemed content and happy at midnight when I went out to check on them and then again this morning. Mama and baby will stay locked up two full days to make sure they bond.
I’m in hopes my brother or Dad can swing in later this morning and around lunchtime to make sure everyone is okay. Now that it has begun we will have to enlist others to help us out. Randy has a friend, Dan, who is so great to us when we are lambing. He stops by throughout the day to make sure everyone is okay and calls to give us an update.
This is a big year for us lambing with about 60 ewes bred. I am cutting my hours at work again so I can be home a little more, but they will still be left alone three days a week. Dan is so great to lend a hand those three days when we can’t be there.
Hopefully the remainder of lambing season goes as well as yesterday!
A Simple Prairie Life 