Lambs are HERE! Did I
say that already? Oh well, there were a
handful showing up last week but this week seems to be THE week for dropping
little lambs. We’ve even had a rather
amazing group of them!
Jacobs,
being a smaller, heritage breed of sheep, are not known for having more than
one lamb each season. They can, however
ewes who regularly drop twins are comparatively rare. Larger, more commercialized breeds of sheep,
such as Rambouillet or Suffolks have twins and even triplets as a matter of routine.
One of our
lovely Jacobs, gave birth to not just twins but triplets on Sunday! Two little girls and a little boy, all with
plenty of spots. One of the girls, the
tiniest of the three, we decided to make into a bottle lamb. If we still had our barn or another place
where we can pen them up and keep a much closer eye on mama and babies, I would
have loved to allow her to keep all three for a few days to see if she really
could raise all three. In the interest
of the welfare of the smallest lamb, she is now living in our house and for the
most part, is relatively quiet as long as she has company. Whether it is one of us, the children or the
dogs, she doesn’t much care. So far she
has been eating enthusiastically and growing well for starting out at only
three pounds or so at birth. Her
siblings are outside with their mother and also doing well.
All of the
lambs are growing fast and stretching their springs. One of the older rambouillets has already
made it to 16 pounds! Granted, they usually weigh in at around 8lbs at birth so
far. They are adorable to watch spring
around the pasture playing while their mothers rest or eat. Hopefully, I’ll have a chance to take some
photos before next week’s newsletter!
