Spring lambing season is almost over and it’s been a good one so far, thanks be to God! I have photos to share today but not much time to write. Enjoy……..
The joys of motherhood. This ewe is a good mother!
Tender loving care helped to keep this tiny triplet lamb alive.
This ewe, having just given birth, must be moved into the barn. It was a lot colder than the photo looks!
Maggie leads the mother into our barn by carrying the babies.
It’s not as easy as it looks, walking backwards into the barn, with heavy lambs, followed by an anxious mother.
This ewe had to be milked until her twin lambs learned how to drink from her udder.
Feeding the triplets of a ewe with poor mothering skills. They now know how to drink on their own and she accidentally laid on one of them, leaving only two lambs.
We’ve had four sets of triplets this year and honestly, they can be more trouble than they’re worth. Cute they are though and we’re glad to take as many lambs as we can get. Most of the time we take one of the triplets and bottle feed her because we have learned that they always do better by doing so. It’s all about keeping as many lambs alive as possible.
So far there are 78 lambs out there and 47 mothers have given birth. With the snow coming I think more will be coming in today through the weekend. Several lambs have died for a variety of reasons which is normal in the scheme of things. Only so much can be done and the best we can do is to do our very best! It would be nice to get a 1.5 ave. lamb crop and if all continues well, we will have that I think.
The worst way, I believe, to lose a lamb is when the mother lies on its baby and kills it accidentally. The second worst way is when a lamb is dead at birth. The third way is when a lamb dies for no apparent reason, somewhat mysteriously. One thing is for sure, both biblically and on the farm, SHEEP NEED A SHEPHERD! Ask anyone who raises them if you don’t believe me:)
Here is an example of shepherds being needed for this ewe who got her head stuck in a feeder. It took two to do because she fought it all the way!
View of the maternity ward in the barn. Dry and draft free, extremely important.
Silvana patiently teaches a lamb how to drink.
Caleb moving one of our oldest bottle lambs.
The ewes are fed top quality and very expensive alfalfa hay.
Bred ewes are fed in the barn sometimes when we want to check them over to see how close they are to birth.
This is the pen that the babies and mother’s move to after they leave the maternity ward. The next step is the feed lot/pasture.
The same pen, before the last two snowfalls.
And then the snows came……..
And more snow came…..more coming tonight and tomorrow. We will gladly take all the moisture we can get in any form but really this winter is going on forever. Soon we will be complaining of the heat, so for now, it’s time to enjoy!!
CALLENS HONEY FARM 
Your pictures are just wonderful! I’ve never been in snow like that. The part of Australia I come from ranges in temperature from around -5 degrees celcius to 45 degrees celcius. Lots of ice and frosts during winter, but no snow. As pretty as it looks, it must be freezing! We’re just coming into our colder weather now, which I much prefer to summer. Although the heat of summer is much better for growing food, so I enjoy the heat for that reason. Thanks again for a wonderful post.