(pictures by Emily)
Mike picked the kids up from school and was coming up the driveway and saw a little baby lamb! Mom did great but Mike says he then panicked. I think he did a great job given that we thought we'd have another 3 weeks before any babies showed up. He moved the ducks out of their house and gave momma and baby a temporary shelter, filled it with water, hay, etc. and got out the iodine for the umbilical cord stump.
I came home and jumped up and down with excitement and changed clothes as quickly as I could. Baby hadn't found milk yet so I was worried. I quickly skimmed the book "Managing your Ewe and newborn lamb" (will be reading that book tonight in a little more detail) and got even more worried as this is a first year momma and she didn't look like she was figuring out nursing. Mike says they'll be fine, let them be-- but MY momma sense said no way-- 1 hr and we are helping them out. So I made Mike come into the temporary barn with me and he turned mama on her back and sat her in his lap. I wish I had a picture of that. Big momma sheep sitting on her butt in Mike's lap. We trimmed her up as she had lots of wool hanging and baby could confuse wool with an udder and then we got her udders going and got the baby nursing. Oh my goodness. I love this farm and the experiences of life it brings. I will not forget that scene. It's also 60 degrees or so outside so we couldn't have asked for a better day. Margaret named the baby Wagon because she wags her tail when she nurses.
Wow-- what next? Maybe we'll have calves this weekend. Gulp.
5 comments:
The earliest the calves should start dropping is the 23rd. They could be any time for a month or so after that. Depends if the bull did his job right away. They only cycle into heat every 17 days and only for a short time when they do so if the bull isnt around she might not get pregnant the first cycle. The bulls are in with the females for at least 45 days in order to catch them in heat.
Im going to sleep.
I'd like to see Mike flip the momma cow on in his lap!
I've had friends that have had belties, mommas are fierce. They had a calf that had knuckled under, trying to catch that calf every 3 days and redo the cast on it's feet was great fun. Distract the mom enough to steal her calf!
Have fun Mike!
Congrats! So exciting. And so CUTE.
Sounds a lot like kidding. Our little ones wag their tails when they eat, too.
We normally bottle raise, but did let June (the guest goat) dam-raise this year. I know it is hard not to worry, but the newborns can go several hours without getting up to get their colostrum.
...but I'm with you. I'd rather watch them eat than assume they have.
Way to go. Now I gotta run. We have one due today plus Naomi, the wildcard.
Wow that is soooo exciting!
:)
He hee. Ill be watching my momma cows. No intervening. I figure, something that is born at 75 pounds or so can probably figure out what to do. The hard part is going to be the ear tagging. That is going to be fun. I just hope Im there when the first one is born.
We have a couple of ewes who arent due until mid March at the earliest but they look like they are going to burst. Im hoping for octuplets.
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