Lambs!!!

The past 24 hours have been a blur, but lambs have arrived at Runamuk! Or─some of them anyway…

With at least 1 ewe in labor and 2 more suspect, I went to bed even earlier than usual Tuesday night. Checking the lamb-cam every 2 hours during the night, I saw nothing at 10 or 12, but in the 2am Cam-Check I finally saw what I’ve been waiting for…lambs!

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First Lamb

Giddy with excitement, I got up, hauled a hoodie and pair of muck boots on over my pajamas and went out to the Nursery to see the first lamb of the 2024 lambing season─and to see how everyone was doing, of course.

To my surprise, there was not 1 new lamb, but 2! Already cleaned off and toddling around.

What a joy to hold a newborn baby lamb─any baby, really, lol. New life is so precious. I cuddled the first one, gently hugging it to me as I thanked the Universe again for the abundance in my life, for this farm, these animals and the opportunity to be a full-time farmer.

I’d brought my lambing bin out with me, and spritzed the umbilical cord of each new lamb with iodine before placing them in one of the lambing pens. Helen, a second-time mom named after my late Aunt, followed them in and I closed the gate to give them some privacy.

First lamb of the 2024 season!

Which Baby?

Turning to inspect the other expectant mothers, I realized SuSu showed signs of having given birth as well. I’d unwittingly given Helen both babies and there was no way to know which baby belonged to which mom. Whoops!

Taking one of the lambs and placing it in the second lambing pen, I ushered SuSu in. Thankfully she accepted my offering without question.

The Nursery is a small shed I built off the back of my garage, something like 8x20 feet in dimension. The walls are made up of half-inch plywood, and the roof sheathed in greenhouse film. It’s a small space, but then I don’t overwinter more than 9 or 10 ewes and not all of them get to be mothers. At the back of the shed are the 2 lambing pens.

The lambing pens at the back to the Nursery.

Generally, it’s advised to have 1 lambing pen for every expectant ewe, but my current accommodations do not allow for it.

I’d thought about putting in a 3rd─removeable pen─but decided against it, thinking it highly unlikely that the 4 pregnant ewes would all give birth at the same time…

Wouldn’t you know it─I had a third ewe in labor that morning. Lol, the irony was not lost on me.

Number Twelve

Honestly, I can’t remember this ewe’s name.

There was a spring 2 years ago, while I was still dating my last boyfriend, when one of his kids wanted to experience lambing-season and I allowed them to pick the names for the lambs that year. SuSu came from that same season, but I was able to look it up in my Sheep Journal to find her name.

I couldn’t tell from my records (written by a 17yo that year) what Number Twelve’s name was supposed to be. So, the only title I can give her is “Number Twelve”, lol, which is the number on her ear tag.

Unfortunately, Number Twelve had a hard labor.

It took a long time and I had to open the gate on the shed to let the other ewes out for the day. I went back in the house to get dressed, fix breakfast for my son and I, and let nature take it’s course. When I went back out 30 minutes later, Number Twelve was prone on her side and couldn’t get up.

She’d laid down to push out her first baby, but had the misfortune of choosing a sloping spot, and was at such an angle that she couldn’t get back up. Her new baby crying beside her on the mucky ground─mud season has come to Maine.

I rolled her and encouraged the ewe to her feet. Bringing the mucky lamb, I closed them in the shed, leaving the rest of the group outside for the day. It was the best I could offer.

Number Twelve seemed to be in a bit of shock from the whole ordeal, with no interest in her crying lamb.

Giving Twelve time to recover, I set about cleaning the newborn. I keep old towels in the lambing bin for this very purpose, along with a bulb syringe to clean fluid out of nostrils and mucus out of the lamb’s mouth. Toweling her dry and rubbing her to get the blood flowing.

I spritzed the umbilical cord and checked the sex of the baby. 3 girls so far.

Number Twelve with her black-and-white lamb.

Not the Mamma

Number Twelve had 2 more lambs, both girls, but showed not the slightest spark of interest in any of her offspring. She neither moved to clean her babies after she’d expelled them, nor did she react when they cried for her. Keen to avoid a house-baby this year, I made a desperate attempt to graft Twelve’s lambs onto Helen, a second-time mom and the daughter of my original flock matriarch.

It was a lot to ask Helen to take on 3 more babies─that’s a lot of energy and milk this ewe will have to produce. What’s more, grafting is rarely successful in these situations. I figured, though, at the very least it would buy me some time to determine my next move.

Helen got right to work licking those new babies clean, making her little grunts and nickers to comfort the newborns. Wonder of wonders, she let those little lambs nurse and accepted them as her own. What an amazing mom!

All except the black-and-white one…once she’d cleaned that one off, she began head-butting it and moving away when she tried to nurse. On a whim, I put the black-and-white lamb in with SuSu.

I really don’t want a house-lamb this year. They become dependent upon people─and me in particular as “mom” and farmer. Those lambs end up becoming a huge problem with the fences later in the season. Bottle-fed house lambs will make a bee-line for a human every time. If they can find a way through the fence to get to you they surely will. Then the whole flock follows and then you’ve got a situation on your hands.

No, if I can keep my babies thriving outside in the shed with the other sheep, it’s best for all of us, regardless of how adorable it is to have a lamb imprint itself upon you, following you wherever you go…

It took about 6 hours of waiting it out, holding SuSu in place while the black-and-white lamb nursed, but she’s come to accept the second lamb as her own.

13 Hours Later…?

I thought it a little odd when Helen initially had just the one baby─she’d been a round globe of pregnant ewe and I’d expected twins or triplets from this second-time mom.

Typically lambs are borns about 30 minutes apart, so when 2am became 4 I figured maybe she was just fat. I’ve been feeding the sheep very well to ensure healthy babies and moms with plenty of milk. Maybe I overdid it?

When I went out to check on everyone at 3 in the afternoon, I was blown away to find Helen in the process of giving birth to a second baby some 13 hours later!

In this clip she’s actually laid down to push and the other 3 babies (2 of whom are not technically hers) swarm all over her. I felt a little guilty then, for giving her additional mouths to feed, and in that moment decided I would supplement with bottle feedings.

It was a big baby too, and finally─a boy! Brown with a badger face, just like his father! Here was the big bruiser of a ram that I’ve been hoping for!

Pippin had been the founding father of my flock, and the sweetest ram a girl could ask for. A big teddy bear, loving and good natured. It was incredibly difficult for me to send him onward last fall.

I cried then, for the friend I’d lost, for the gift of this new one, for the wonder and beauty of this miraculous planet I am fortunate to live upon. I thanked the Universe again and again. Pippin’s legacy lives on and my blessings are abundant here on this little farm in the western mountains of Maine.

We still have 1 more ewe to deliver─so stay tuned, my friends! Much love to you and yours!

Your friendly neighborhood farmer,
Sam

Thank you for following along with the story of this lady-farmer! It is truly a privilege to live this life serving my family and community, and protecting wildlife through agricultural conservation. Check back soon for more updates from the farm, and be sure to follow @RunamukAcres on Instagram or Facebook!