Isn't she a great mother!
These triplets were born January 30th, the day before Imbolc which can be celebrated from January 31st to the 2nd of February. It is a pagan holiday halfway between the Solstice and the Equinox and a precursor to the end of winter. Groundhog's day anyone? So typically we carry on the tradition but have lost the deeper spiritual meaning.In the Irish Gaelic, the celebration is called Oimelc which means ewe's milk because the ewes were lambing at that time. This ewe certainly has plenty of that and a good thing. I often don't feel happy to see triplets as there is more chance of one dying from not enough food but taking a look at this ewe's udder and her great mothering and I think these all have a good chance. Through February, we will keep an eye on them and that the ewe does not develop milk fever.
We actually only have had one ewe get milk fever, and it was back when we were starting into sheep and our own children were young. We worked with the veterinarian and got her over the worst of it; but he said the babies couldn't nurse from her or it might start it all over again. Farm Boss rigged up a protective apron over her udder so that they could be with her but not get at the teats. Our kids were bottle feeding the lambs.
Then we noticed they had all out smarted us and the lambs were getting past the protective device and nursing. The ewe did not get sick again and raised her babies. Still I wouldn't like going through that again; so we will watch for warning signs. It is most common in heavy producing ewes with twins or in this case triplets.
In these pictures, they are a few hours old. Amazing how quickly they can run and jump, isn't it? But then they are prey species.
11 comments:
Absolutely adorable and It feels good to see young life this tme of year.
They are so cute. They are the picture of quintessential innocence.
Oh, these have made my day! They are so precious! I'd just like to get down in the grass and hug all three of them! I know that's not practical or helpful in anyway, but who could resist them?
Spring is on the way. Baby lambs are adorable. I hope they all make it and that Mama doesn't develop milk fever. Keep the photos of their progress coming.
They are cute.
Hope they all thrive. When do you dock their tails?
How's your coyote problem? Seems the lambs would be a mighty tempting target. (I bet that rifle is handy!)
We do not dock tails except on the few with long ones. Shetland sheep have shorter tails at birth. We first got some from a family moving and found out the tail didn't make them dirtier. The tendency to short dock tails has led to a lot of problems with the uterus prolapsing especially in show sheep where they leave barely a nubbin. These sheep have their tails and are as clean as any we have had. We also decided if they are going to be eaten at about 9 months, what is the point? There are a few flocks around here like ours but generally it's been heresy. It's funny how in life we can find we follow rules and then realize they made no sense-- it happens with many things.
And yes, the rifle is loaded and ready. It is definitely a vulnerable season when the lambs come and are so young. We keep an alert eye out there for trouble.
Ironically, years back, we began having nighttime losses in the barn of newborns. We brought in a trapper to look at the kills because (tender hearts quit reading here) the skulls were peeled of the skin. Very weird to what we had seen for kills. He had seen that elsewhere and said raccoon. Who would imagine, but later Farm Boss was out there and saw a big boar raccoon up on the rafters. The sheep didn't recognize a danger. He killed that one and another heading for the barn one day. It was the end of the raccoon family who apparently had decided lamb was easier to eat than crawdads. We have never had another one doing it but we do stay alert.
Similar experience with newborn kittens, Rain...
Head eaten, rest of the carcass untouched.
I also heard Opossums here will do the same thing.
They sure are cute but I find that almost all baby animals are cute. It kind of makes it hard to think about eating them.
These sheep are the hardest we have ever had to face the purpose of raising them. They are so intelligent (well given they are sheep) and so cute. It is really tough.
I had forgotten the exact details of the raccoons and asked Farm Boss when he got home. That second one he shot was out in the field but tearing apart a lamb carcass. Definitely caught in the act-- and its last act.
I have always had a real thing for sheep and to see your mom and triplets for real brings me a huge smile! Please keep sending more photos as they grow. Do you name farm animals? If so, what are their names? I keep thinking of Babe and the "code".
I'm finally trying to play catch-up with blogs....hoping by adding my favorites to an RSS feed, it'll help me to stay abreast better.
The photo of the mom and babies is just adorable!
Terri
http://www.islandwriter.net
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