Lambing Season

Lambing is almost over and I’m just now sharing some photos. We had about 65 lambs in 2 weeks and now we’re waiting for the stragglers—some ewe lambs who will lamb in the next couple of weeks.

When a ewe looks like she is about to lamb or if we find the lamb(s) already born we put them in a lambing pen.

They stay in these pens for 2-3 days if we have room. Sometimes we get so many lambs at once that that we not only have overflow pens in the alleyway of the barn, but they get moved out more quickly.

Most mature ewes have twins although there are some triplets. The youngest ewes (one year old) usually have singles.

After two or three days in the pens three ewes with their lambs are moved to a stall. This gives me more time to keep an eye on the lambs and gives the lambs the chance to figure out how important it is to stick around mom and not bother other ewes.

We usually put a bale of straw in the stall. That gives the lambs a way to get away from an aggressive ewe and it also provides seating if we have the urge to sit and cuddle lambs.

This is all rather labor-intensive. Thank goodness for Farm Club—several members live close enough that they like to come help out. And with the unprecedented corona-virus shut-downs, we like to provide a FarmFit experience for those whose gyms and exercise programs are inactive.

After a few days in the stalls, the ewes and lambs are put outside.

In a “normal” year (will we ever have another normal year?) the pasture is too wet and soggy in early March to go out. This year the sheep are in the pasture, but because it is cool we are moving them from paddock to paddock fairly quickly so that the clover and grass has time to recover.

This is BFL-X ewe, Ears, with triplets. She has had triplets three times.

The lambing board. Ewe/ram births are color coded. They are numbered and weights are recorded. The board is filled to the bottom of the third column right now but I don’t have another photo.