Lambing season is upon us. On April 3rd one of our Ewes had our first Southdown Babydoll lamb. He was born a bit prematurely, but his mother, Glenn and I have been slowly nursing him back to health.
He had a real tough first night here on earth. The temperature dropped to 25 degrees F. and the cold wind from the west was persistent. We had to prepare some lambing jugs (small pens where the mother and lamb can get acquainted with each other and stay out of the elements). Fresh straw, a feeding trough, heat lamp and water bucket filled with a mixture of molasses and water were all in place . Glenn and I spent the night in the barn making sure that he was fed on a regular basis.
However, despite our best efforts, we found him hypothermic in the early hours of the morning. With a background of lambing as a child at his family farm, Glenn was quick to take action. Within minutes we had the chilled lamb in a warm water bath. 95 degrees F. for over an hour. Slowly, his tongue and then his lips started to warm up and he gathered some strength to lift his head on his own. All the while, the mother ewe looked on patiently, with a concerned pace back and forth in the lambing Jug. With his lack of strength, we resorted to milking the ewe and bottle feeding for the next few hours. Drip by drip, he slowly started to eat, and before the end of the day he was back to nursing on his mother.
This was my first experience raising any type of animal from the time it was born. It’s not easy work . Long hours, cold nights, and other farm responsibilities wear you out pretty quickly. And we only have one lamb. So I tip my hat to all of the farmers out there raising sheep, goats, cattle, pigs, horses, or any other livestock you can think of. Year after year they are out there doing what needs to be done.
