Triple Treat
The first spring lambs have arrived—triplets!
(Since most of our ovine hussies got pregant three months early and had their lambs in February, we only have 13 pregnant sheep this spring. We’ve never had such a light lambing load.)
Some ewes are calm and let the camera approach. But #2 is not quite so cooperative.
Here she is leading her babies away from the camera:
Hiding behind a tree:
Glowering at the camera, head lowered threateningly as her babies take a nap:
(Note the pregnant ewe in the above photo, wistfully wishing she, too, had lambs able to walk on their own instead of having to lug them around inside her.)
Finally, everyone is up and standing still.
Yesterday’s winds have died down, and the sun is shining. #11’s been in labor too long, so I’m off to help Melissa and Mary corral the old girl and give her a hand.
This past winter is just a really bad memory. Today’s a lovely day on Rising Moon Farm.
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Update: By the time we reached the pasture, #11 had birthed twins, who were cleaned off, and were on their feet and nursing. This is the way we like lambing to go!
The arrival of new babies never gets old. Triplets are especially exciting, even if the mom is known for it.I was just outside looking over my 6 week old triplet doelings, each a different shade of brown, they are just too sweet Most of my does have already kidded, but I still have a few stragglers coming up, can’t wait to see what they have coming!
Enjoy all your new lambs!
I’m glad #11 delivered her little ones without any problems. Some ladies just need a little more time than others!
Oh, I’ll bet your kids are cute. We just visited a farm last night with oodles of Boer goat kids scampering around, and I had one in my arms for most of the tour. I almost brought him home!
As for #11, I think Melissa told her she was bringing me out into the pasture, so that convinced the ewe she’d better get down to business. 🙂
Oh, lovely lambies! Thanks for a lift. I needed to be scooped up and carried around somebody else’s farm, at least virtually, so I can stop looking at my sad little garden and thinking about the frost warning they’ve announced for tonight! Bah, humbug to Northern gardening!
Mainecelt– we had that frost warning all the way down here in Pennsylvania last night! At 11, I was throwing blankets on the strawberries! (Thinking “Do I say, ‘sleep tight little ones’???”) Crazy weather! Love the lamblets, that nice green meadow with the trees is gorgeous!!
Enjoyed the pictures.
Very cute lambs. That is great to have trips!
Hope all goes well.
Just read your book today and it was quite entertaining. (every few weeks I am adding to our menagerie)
Thank you for the reminder of why I don’t want sheep- 3 weeks w/o sleep and spring snow storms.
just wondering if you guys have considered yaks yet?
Yaks?
Acck. Although Melissa said a few months ago she thought it might be interesting to have a few yaks, I don’t think we’ll be heading down that path anytime soon.
Just brought in one of the triplets to sell as a bottle lamb. She’s doing great, but in a few more days Mama won’t have enough milk for all three. (We don’t supplement the ewe with grain because she’s out on pasture.) She’s going in a few days to another farm to keep another lamb company.
Not sure if yaks are cuddly, but lambs sure are….