Lambing on Pasture
March 25th, 2016 · No Comments · Posted in farming
One of our best breeding ewes failed to come down the hill from the upper pasture with the rest of the sheep this morning. Knowing how pregnant she was–bursting at the seams–I had a hunch why she’d stayed behind. I pictured her giving birth in the rain.
I grabbed a bucket of grain and with my wife and daughter climbed the hill to begin a search. We didn’t have to look far. Just on the other side of the crest I found her standing with two newborn lambs still getting their legs.
Since last year we’ve given the sheep (and cow and calf) freedom to range about 10 acres of pasture. With little snow on the ground this winter, the animals are usually out and about trying to graze. They typically return to the main paddock to spend the night.
For us humans, the one drawback to all this freedom is precisely what happened this morning: you never know where the pregnant ewes might drop their lambs. In this case, it was about as far from the paddock and our lambing pen–or “jug”–as you can get. And the jug is where this mom and her two lambs belong for now.
Wife and daughter each picked up a lamb and I led the way back towards the paddock with the grain. The mother ewe doesn’t so much follow as circle around and bleat, wondering where her new offspring are. Every few steps we have to stop and show her the lambs. Once in the paddock, we have to give her a push toward the jug and fight off the other sheep who’d love to squeeze inside as well.
Finally, things settle down. We set a bowl of grain for the mother, fetch a bucket of water. We stand outside the jug to catch our breath and watch as the two little lambs–a big, strapping girl and kind of scrawny little boy–start looking for breakfast.
We’ll leave the three of them in the jug a couple of days at least to bond. After that, they fend for themselves.
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