Spring Lambing

We’ve spent the past three months carrying water from house to barn for the four sheep we bought from our friend André last December, feeding them hay and grain. Three months of effort that have paid off big – in the guise of the recent arrival of three lambs, with a fourth expected any day. “They’re pregnant,” André had said of the ewes, when he delivered them along with the ram reportedly responsible for their state. We had our doubts: their wool was thick, and their teats well hidden. It happened very quickly: in a matter of days, we sensed a change in the ewes’ disposition and witnessed the telltale “drop” of their udders. They lambed swiftly during the night and in the early morning, we would find the stall in pretty much the same state as we had left it the night before, plus a lamb or two. To ensure they got their fill of colostrum, we had to force them to suckle in the first hours after birth. Their survival depends on it. We’re knocking on wood in the hopes that they’re off to a good start – fortunately, wood is plentiful in the old barn that shelters our growing flock.