This year we have had three lambs born this year, our black icelandic "Midnight" had a ewe lamb, "Panda". Midnight usually has twins but this year just one big healthy girl! She was kind enough to wait for me to return from a bried trip to Florida and so I was able to witness my first Rumsey Farm lambing! Spot, our black and white ewe who tends to have just one big lamb, decided to have twins on the windiest night of the spring so far! A ewe lamb, "Juliet" and a ram lamb "Gremlin" were born. Juliet, the smaller of the two, was doing well when I peeked in and first discovered that she had already lambed. Gremlin, however, was pretty cold and not getting up to drink. We could not get him to latch on to his mother and so made the decision to bring him inside to warm up and get some colostrum into him. He got warm over the evening, although we did not get any sleep, and started to show a better sucking action in the morning. We tried to get him back to his mother, and he was very willing, but Spot was not and did not accept him back. Well, things happen for a reason and so Gremlin now has a spot in our kitchen, following us around and being happily bottle fed.
We have had him out with the other sheep, and it is going to take some time to get him socialized and accepted. The adults keep headbutting him, pushing him over as he follows them around. Poor thing, he so wants to be part of the group, but is also very happy being cuddled and hugged by his human family. I think he will be fine!
By the way, we tried diapers for when he is inside, but not worth the hassle in my opinion! Stuck on poop not fun to clean, even in a big sink!
