Event #12

Theme: nature: attending a birth
Last night I was invited to attend the birth of lambs. My good friends, Brian and Celeste, own a sheep farm. At this time of year they are a bit sleep deprived as lambing season is in and counting sheep means a totally different thing.

So we, Simon and I, were invited to dinner and a birth. In between bites of dinner we kept a close eye on the ewe in question. She had started to isolate herself from the herd and scratch at the ground. She seemed restless and kept exhibiting labour contractions. We went out when she finally laid down and  had a closer look. Her water had broken and there were signs of the placenta starting to come out. The first lamb out was all black. Her sister came out shortly after and had a black head and white body. Labour took about 2-3 hours. Each lamb had its own afterbirth. This will be eaten by eagles or other predators.
Gestation in the ewe takes about 140-150 days. The ram comes for a "visit" and inseminates the ewes in October/November. He seems happy, but tired after his stay at Collie Acres farm. Lambs are born in March and April. Most ewes will have twins. On a rare occasion, they give birth to triplets.

The lambs usually come out with front feet first, then the head. Once the shoulders have passed the rest of the body quickly follows. Mother licks the lambs clean of the bag and stimulates them by nudging and calling to them. In this way they bond, and the lambs will be able to recognise her call from all other ewes in the herd. Next comes the challenging task of getting the lamb to stand and feed. Once this has occurred we know the lamb can fend for him/herself.
Brian takes the lambs and gets the ewe to follow him into a shelter where mom and babies will stay for a few days. It is out of the wind, and allows the bonding process to go on without interruptions. Mom gets grain and alfalfa and concentrates on her young. The little lambs get to practise standing and walking and finding their way to mom's teats. A happy lamb, wags his/her tail vigorously.
These lambs will have a good year. This farm is a free run organic farm that allows the sheep to roam free and enjoy life. At the end of their first year the lambs will be slaughtered. But for now we can enjoy watching them grow and run with all their new friends.