As The Farm Turns

We ebb. We flow. The farm has seen many changes over the last couple of years. We've loved many and we've lost some. It took me a long time to understand and truly accept the losses, and that it would continue to happen, as it is the nature of having farm animals. Along with heartache, there is light. And the light is shining brightly at our little farm.
We received a gift of two lambs from Eve, one of our ewes, last Thursday evening. This extra special event represents our first birthing on the farm. We did receive Belle when she was a 1 day old lamb, and we bottle fed her around the clock. But this is the first time we have bred and birthed onsite. Sam The Ram is the lamb(s) daddy, and Eve is an amazing lamb mama. This is all despite the fact I have no idea what I'm doing. It happened, and everyone seems to be okay. Actually, more than okay. Eve and her new twins, Grace and Clara are bonding, thriving and blending in with all that is around them.
It all started well over a week ago now. Eve's udders were noticeably filling, and she was moving about less and less. She was getting bigger and bigger as the days passed. Dr Shelton made a farm visit to see how she was doing, and said, "She will be lambing soon." Soon. When is soon? No one knew. Just soon. Soon became Thursday. It was a regular Thursday at first. I came home from work, made my way from the garage carrying my usual purse, lunch box, cups, bags and all the things I feel the necessity to carry around with me. Into the house I go, not even noticing. I piddle around in the house a short while, and head out the door to go check on everyone - it's what I do every day. It's my favorite thing to do every day. As I walk out the door and glance into the front pasture, I see it. Eve with a baby lamb whose just beginning to stand. She's trying to stand up and nurse. OMGoodness! Where's my phone?! What's happening? I walk frantically to the fence, and Eve seems like she's not sure what's happening either. There's her new lamb, who I immediately name Grace, and she's trying to stand and nurse. I look around thinking 'where did she have this baby?' But I don't see anywhere that looks like it's the spot. So I move forward in my thinking, and wonder what to do next. Oh yes, take a picture and send it to David and Lauren. Soon is here. It's now.
Now, back to where did she have the baby lamb? She didn't have her in the barn. Why not? There is no why. There she is, right out in the pasture, a baby lamb less than 1 hour old. She was still wet with the sac, and still being licked by Eve to uncover her, dry her and stimulate her. Lucky for me, Eve had not needed assistance lambing, and had done a wonderful job of birthing her. Now, what to do next. Take another picture. It also seemed everyone else in the pasture was unsure what to do. They were standing around watching. Not moving. Then, I realized the need to get Eve in the barn, like a lightening bolt had hit me. My once paralyzed self leapt into action. I go into the pasture, and pick up the baby lamb and walk slowly towards the barn. The lamb is wet, but doing well. She's alert, hungry and from my inexperienced eyes, okay. A short jaunt to the barn, and I finagle Eve and Grace into their allotted place in a pen. For now. I will need to tweet this a little more after David gets home, and we can move a piece of fencing around. No biggie there. We happen to be the experts at temporary fencing. That's going to be my next profession: Fence Mover who specializes in Movement of Temporary Fencing. Every piece of my temporary fencing has been all over this acreage.
So, I now have Eve and Baby Grace in the barn, isolated from the elements - and other animals. Eve is as unsure of what to do - as I am. What I don't notice at the time, is she's having contractions. When I look back on the video I took that evening, I can see it. But at the time, I was clueless. I'll call myself Clueless #1. Luckily Clueless #2 (that's David) came home from work, and the two of us tried to figure out what to do next. Good thing we did not have a Lambing Emergency. And just 10 minutes after I mentioned that I think Eve might have another lamb, of which David said there's no way another one could be fitting inside her, Eve popped out another lamb. Lamb #2 glided out like she was on a Slip N' Slide. Remember those? There we are, knocked in the face with a frying pan.....again. What the heck. This time, Eve is tired. Get a towel! David grabs a towel, and runs over to wipe lamb #2's sac off her nose and mouth. Lamb #2 cries. She's alive! I'm so surprised. Too many YouTube videos. But this time, David wipes her wet sac from her little body to help dry her and warm her up. Eve is still standing there, and lamb #1, Grace, is trying to nurse. It's not going exactly as planned. Oh wait, we didn't have a plan because we didn't know what we're doing. And now somehow, everyone is alive and well. Literally, within 20-30 minutes of Lamb #2's life, she's trying to stand and nurse, too. What a miracle. I do the next thing I know to do. I name her. Lamb #2 will be Clara. Grace and Clara are healthy lambs who want milk. Eve is trying her best, but she's tired. The lamb's must get the mama's milk within 24 hours, the colostrum, that contains the antibodies that will be important for their existence, and provide them the energy they need to protect them from the cold. I then wonder if I need to stay out in the barn all night to make sure the lambs nurse and get what they need. If not, we will need to supplement it from a bottle. As we watch Eve and the lambs, we quickly realize that Eve's natural motherly instance kicks in. She's nursing them, and calling to them with noises I have never heard her make before. Grace and Clara answer back with their sweet, soft baa's. They are communicating in their Sheep language. I can hear her say, I love you to them. Stay near, she says. And that it will be okay. That's me saying that last part.
David and I are almost exhausted, too. That was a emotional experience. We stand and watch Eve, and realize that she's going to be a great mama. She took over, and we stepped away. It was then that David and I finalized their pen with the temporary fencing, where they would stay for 3-4 days to bond and be safe. We set up a warming lamp, made sure there was plenty of water and food for Eve in their pen, and knew we needed to give her some time with her lambs. Things were going very well.
We did some final cleanup of things, and allowed the rest of the animals in the barn since we had their pen set up now. It would now be time to rest. We did stay and watch her for a short while. We may or may not have checked on Eve, Grace and Clara a couple more times late into the night. But all was well. We knew with multiple births, that we had to watch for rejection of one of the lambs by Eve. It happens a lot with sheep. Eve was nurturing them both so well from the beginning, that the worry faded away, and would continue to as the next days were to come.
As I lay in bed that night, I was so excited about the thought of awakening in the morning to run out to the barn and see how everybody was! Like Christmas morning when you are 6 years old. But better. I was giddy, ecstatic and full of love for the gift of two lambs. If Sam only knew.

Farm Animal Population: 35. Not anymore though, it's been skyrocketing lately, and now we are sitting at 37. Sheep: Eve, Clara, Grace, Belle; Chickens: Whitie, Blackie, Coco, Frizzle (new silkies), Ginger (1st chicken we ever had!), Butter, Sunshine, Pebbles, Pepper, Peaches, Veronica, the Twins, Callie, Storm, Goldie; Barn CatLand: Kitty, Fi (i.e. May), June, July, Sweet Pea, Preston, Finn, Blackie (stray who has taken up residence), Smoky; Dogs: Levi, Whisper, Dixie, Davis, Duke, Maybe and visiting resident, Tula (technically not counted in the population); Donkeys: Mama and Papa.

While the population does ebb and flow, it's a very fluid and ever changing environment when living on a farm. It is my wildest dream. All these gifts are granted, and I am most grateful for them all. Our new additions of Grace and Clara will bring new experiences to share. We never stop learning. We are thankful for the safety of Eve and her new twin lambs. They all made it though just fine, despite the fact Clueless #1 and #2 were their cheerleaders for the lambing event. Nature pulled through for us all.

We've had a few bumps in the road the last few days with Eve nursing and providing milk. The lambs are doing well though.......that's for next time.

Cyndi