lambs
I live on a farm at the moment, for a few more days at least. Yesterday at 7:23am we got a call from John, one of the sheep partners. One of the many very pregnant ewes was starting to give birth! We leapt out of bed and ran down to the barn. M
andolin, a ewe who is older than some of the others, had a small foot sticking out of her rear end. I really had never seen anything like that. Three of the girls in the community were down there cheering her on. Mandolin was fenced into a smaller pen separate from the other sheep so she wouldn't have to compete for food and water, and could have her own space while giving birth. We watched Mandolin turn around and around in her pen with a foot and then a foot and a nose sticking out of her. The humans were coaxing her to lie down so that she could continue to give birth, but she was clearly distressed.
After about 15 minutes, John got in the pen with her and tried to help her. Apparently lambs are supposed to be born two feet and a nose first, but this lamb had one foot stuck. Only one foot and a nose were trying to come out. John needed someone to help him hold Mandolin down, so his daughter Marta got in too. But Marta was too small to keep her down, so I got in and basically sat on the sheep while John pulled the lamb out. It worked though, and the little baby was just fine once she got out of there.
The girls named the new lamb Unicorn. I was rooting for Umbrella, personally, but they thought that was a little strange. We watched Mandolin lick her new daughter, and watched the baby learn to stand up (within 20 mins of being born), and eventually learn to nurse (within the hour). While we were watching, suddenly, a very large dark sack popped out of Mandolin REALLY QUICKLY. It was another lamb! A boy was born, also healthy, but smaller. He learned to stand up even faster. They were SO cute! They are Icelandic sheep so they have really long hair. When they're born their hair is all curly and cute. It later grows shaggy and straighter. The end.
andolin, a ewe who is older than some of the others, had a small foot sticking out of her rear end. I really had never seen anything like that. Three of the girls in the community were down there cheering her on. Mandolin was fenced into a smaller pen separate from the other sheep so she wouldn't have to compete for food and water, and could have her own space while giving birth. We watched Mandolin turn around and around in her pen with a foot and then a foot and a nose sticking out of her. The humans were coaxing her to lie down so that she could continue to give birth, but she was clearly distressed.
After about 15 minutes, John got in the pen with her and tried to help her. Apparently lambs are supposed to be born two feet and a nose first, but this lamb had one foot stuck. Only one foot and a nose were trying to come out. John needed someone to help him hold Mandolin down, so his daughter Marta got in too. But Marta was too small to keep her down, so I got in and basically sat on the sheep while John pulled the lamb out. It worked though, and the little baby was just fine once she got out of there.
The girls named the new lamb Unicorn. I was rooting for Umbrella, personally, but they thought that was a little strange. We watched Mandolin lick her new daughter, and watched the baby learn to stand up (within 20 mins of being born), and eventually learn to nurse (within the hour). While we were watching, suddenly, a very large dark sack popped out of Mandolin REALLY QUICKLY. It was another lamb! A boy was born, also healthy, but smaller. He learned to stand up even faster. They were SO cute! They are Icelandic sheep so they have really long hair. When they're born their hair is all curly and cute. It later grows shaggy and straighter. The end.