As of yesterday morning, just a little over one week into our lambing time, our humble flock at Morning Star Meadows officially doubled its number! Lambs number 13 and 14 were born to one of our tan ewes, Faith! We have had our share of ups and downs, learned many new things, and have been rewarded so far by many healthy lambs that, as you can see in the video, are truly enjoying life here!
We can’t say much for full nights of sleep, but the effort has been very worthwhile. The week started off with all of the ewes in a pasture adjacent to the barn and just beside the house so we could easily survey them day and night to watch for signs of ewes nearing labor.
We would get up every 2 hours or so to walk down with a flashlight to see the status of each ewe, hoping not to miss signs of an impending birth.
Our first birth was from Prudence (sire, Cyrano.) She is a big ewe, so we were surprised that she gave birth to a single ram, but not surprised that he was huge at 11 lbs! We all loved his beautiful coloration, and he was very soon christened “Bucky.”
Twins followed later that day from Filia (sire, Romeo) – a white ram and a white ewe lamb.
We got a little breather the following day, but the day after brought another set of twins, this time black, boy and girl, from Hope and Cyrano.
In the very early hours of the next morning, we awoke for our 3am check to a surprise! Sophia was standing in the middle of the pasture with 2 lambs near her. We went to check her to bring her to the barn, carrying the two lambs. One was very small and doing poorly, the other was strong and standing. As we were luring her to the barn with these two ram lambs, she was calling to them and faintly nearby we heard another lamb calling out! We were shocked that a third lamb had wandered away from her – actually ending up outside of the electric wire protection! Somehow this little guy – strong as anything, had made it past top security to explore the nearby strip of woods near our driveway! Sophia had had triplet boys, but sadly the smallest didn’t make it. The other two, one all black and one white with a black cap/cape, are doing great. Crazy enough the one who “escaped” – the white one – was the 7th lamb born at the farm and thereby earned the number “007.” The kids have named him “Bond” for his amazing pursuits! Cyrano is the proud father.
The following day brought another set of twins – this time both ewe lambs! Nina did a tremendous job bring them into the world, and Cyrano is their father. The smaller brown ewe lamb is a gorgeous and somewhat unusual color, and she has been named Mocha.
Another day off before a double hitter. That day we again had two sets of twins. Fay (sire, Cyrano) gave birth to a large ram lamb – a very beautiful burnt orange color, followed by a white ewe lamb. Sadly, despite all we could do, including mouth to snout respiration, we could not revive her. She never took her first breath. The ram is thriving, though!
Later, Bessie (sire, Romeo) birthed ram/ewe twins. Her ram lamb is black, and the ewe, white. All went well!
And yesterday, just a little over a week before this all began, Faith (sire, Romeo) gave birth to boy/girl twins. The ewe lamb is white, and the ram lamb has gorgeous markings, including brown ears like a bunny, and what looks almost like eyeliner!
And today we await the last of the ewes (Joy, Felicity, Charity and Grace) to reach their hour! Things have gotten a little easier for us shepherds. When we began this process, our barn camera was directed at the lambing jugs so we could watch the new moms and lambs. About midway through we had some nasty cold, wet weather and decided to bring the remaining moms-to-be into the barn. We didn’t want new babies born on the pasture, exposed to harsh weather. We turned the camera around so that we could now watch the ewes 24/7 from the house. Last night was the first night we actually stayed in bed the whole night!
I guess you could ALMOST say we go to sleep counting sheep, as this is commonly the view on our phone or Ipads (below is actually a current screen shot of the camera view of the ewes who are still expectant.) We promise to update you as soon as all the ewes are delivered, and as soon as we are back in a higher state of conciousness after a few full nights of sleep!
Morning Star Meadows Farm 