Lambing - My Babies

I love taking care of the orphans - watching them head-butt the bottle, wiggle their tails madly as they drink, and letting out a loud chorus of baaing when anyone walks into their barn at feeding time. The ewes only have two teats so they really can't keep up with feeding triplets. One of the lambs in a set of triplets would either be fostered onto another ewe immediately or moved into the orphan pen to be sold or fostered when a ewe was ready to take it on.

Being swarmed by hungry orphans.

There was a steady change-over of the orphans I was caring for, but I still got to know character traits of some of the lambs and came up with names for many of them to keep track of who I'd fed. I eventually found a board to create a dividing wall in the orphan pen because I was having trouble keeping track of who I'd fed when the number went above six or seven lambs. Some of the labels I used to keep track of them were as simple as "The Big One" or "The Little Spotted One" but I also used less flattering names like, "Scuzzy Neck" or "Big Mangy". My favourite was "Black Tip" - the lamb's ears were edged in black and it was the most passionate lamb when it came time for feeding. The bottle was head-butted, jerked around, and the tail wagged madly the whole time.

In the caravan mixing up a batch of formula.

A snuggly pile of six orphans.

When feeding the lambs, I would usually squat with the lamb between my knees because they pull on the bottle and instinctively move sideways or backwards. I could feel the tail wagging madly on the backs of my legs - for some reason it reminded me of the feeling when my cousins used to be really little and I would sit beside them and read them stories and they would rest their hand on my leg. It's one of the slightest touches, but unbelievably adorable.

Video clip of the orphans.

Video clip of an orphan being fed by my friend, Liz.

Ewes know the scent of their lambs immediately and it takes time to get them to accept an orphan as their own. Locking the ewe in a neck clamp for a day or two, allowing the orphaned lamb to feed and adopt the scent of the ewe without her being able to attack the new lamb, is one method. I saw quite a few ewes head-butt another ewe's lamb who got too close to her own or tried to feed off her so the threat is real.

A lamb getting head-butted for getting too close to the wrong mom.

Ewe in a neck clamp.

Another fostering method is to skin a lamb who dies during or shortly after birth, putting the coat of skin on an orphaned lamb, masking its scent until the lamb has a chance to feed and adopt the scent of the fostering ewe. It may sound horrible, but it works, and the orphaned lambs look extra cute in their new little coats!

An orphaned lamb in a new wool coat, about to be fostered onto a ewe.

This fostering method reminds me of when my sister and I were teenagers and we worked with kids in our church through Girls' Club, summer Day Camp, and Kids' Choir. One of the songs we taught had the following lyrics:

I am covered over with a robe of righteousness
that Jesus gives to me (gives to me),
I am covered over with the precious blood of Jesus
and He lives in me (lives in me),
What a joy it is to know my Heavenly Father loves me so
and gives to me, my Jesus,
When He looks at me He sees not what I used to be,
but He sees Jesus.