Lambing Season

January 6, 2010

It's lambing season again.  Did I mention I have twenty-one sheep?  Well, I do.  And about half of them are ewe's (that's a female sheep for you city folks).

Why lambing season is during the coldest part of the year I'll never understand.  The poor lambs are usually born early in the morning.  They are thrust into the world wet and wool-less onto the cold ground and have to be able to stand up within a few minutes of being born in order to eat.  It just doesn't seem fair.  But that's mother nature for you.

So, anyway, it's lambing season.  And I tried hard this season to keep my ram (that's a male sheep with all parts in tact for you city folks) from getting in with my ewe's. You see, twenty-one sheep is enought for me.  And, yes, I'm a whimp because I haven't been able to slaughter any of my previous lambs for meat, or sell them for meat either.  They're just too cute!  Especially when they come up to me with those big brown eyes and want to be scratched around the ears and face!

My solution?  Don't let any more be conceived!  Or, at least, that was the idea.  My ram had other ideas--again, that whiley mother nature.  He got in with the ewe's at least three times, so I'm expecting, at the very least, three lambs.

Now, checking the ewe's for pregnancy is not all that difficult.  At least the technique that I use.  While the sheep are eating, I simply go down the line, reaching under the ewe's to feel their udders (that's where the milk somes from for you city folks).  If a ewe has an udder that is starting to swell, I know she's pregnant, and I keep an eye on her going forward.

You'd think that after having their udders felt-up a couple of times a week that they wouldn't jump, but they do.  Every time.  I guess it's like having a doctor put her cold hand on you right before a pap-smear. You know it's coming, but you jump anyway.

So far, my luck is holding.  No full udders means no lambs on the way.  Yet!  It may just mean that they'll sneak one in on me when I least expect it.  It wouldn't be the first time.

The lamb watch continues...