What?
This morning after we finished feeding the calves, I went inside to start cleaning the house, and Melissa did a few more chores. Thirty minutes later she came inside, beaming. “Guess what?” she asked.
“No! It’s too early! I haven’t cleaned the house or bought groceries or anything.” And we hadn’t moved the sheep from the barn out onto the pasture, where they’d start lambing. We had a few more days until the lambs started coming.
Why do I think I have any control over these events?
Melissa had looked up toward the barn to see a ewe glancing furtively over her shoulder toward the barn, as if she was hiding something she didn’t want Melissa to see. That’s a clear sign that the ewe IS hiding something she doesn’t want Melissa to see.
Melissa tramped up there, and found three sets of twins that had been born either last night or early this morning. It was barely 40 degrees this morning, but the three ewes had gone into the barn to give birth…not the most sanitary of places, but the warmest.
So, it’s begun, again, and with a bang.
First set of twins:
Second set of twins:
Third set of twins:
Meanwhile, this ewe is still pregnant:
And this one is still pregnant:
And this ewe is still very, very pregnant (as are all the rest of the ladies):
It’s fitting that the ewes started giving birth today, of all days:
Happy Mother’s Day!
6 Responses
From one mother-of-only-four-legged kids to another, Happy (busy!) Mother’s Day!
You had unexpected lambs this morning, we had unexpected snow. I think I’ll take the lambs, thanks very much!
Wow! They are just so CUTE!! And, being a mom of both four- and two-legged kids…I sympathize with that VERY pregnant ewe.
I was going to write this morning and tell you we had a lamb roast yesterday that was fabulous…but seeing the new babies, I’m struggling with that “compassionate carnivore” thing…hopefully it’s ok to be a conflicted carnivore for now.
How fun! I’m from Saint Paul, but just picked up “The Compassionate Carnivore,” while down here in Tucson for Mother’s Day. As someone who hasn’t eaten lamb in decades and tries to eat only non-factory farm meat, etc., I was intrigued by your book. This morning, I thought I’d check out your site and – what a fun post to see! Anyway, I look forward to the book and will check out the rest of the blog.
Awesome! They all look great and appear to be pretty healthy. Congratulations. 🙂 I just spent a week at Heifer’s Overlook Farm helping with lambing. It’s something to look forward to each year. Have fun with them. I’m so jealous. 🙂
cjw—no need to even think about these animals’ fate at this point, since they’ll have at least eight months of good livin’ out here. Besides, all meat animals are cute—young or mature!
mseh—How cool my book is in Tucson…once a book comes out, it sort of has a life of its own…hard to predict if it’s a short one or a long one…
They were supposed to wait till, what, Tuesday or Wednesday you said on Saturday?
I love that last picture especially!
Holly K.