Here is a mom with her twins. Most had twins or triplets. A few had singles. Out of 24 ewes ready to lamb, they had them all timed to go within a five day period.
When we arrived today a birth was in progress. Twenty minutes before we got there, this ewe had a lamb . She was still calmly washing it as she started to push the second one out.
She made it look easy. I was hoping Valerie would not get the impression that birth was this easy.
When I came to pick her up three hours later we saw a black ewe with a set of hooves stuck out her backside. I guess she'd been that way for a bit when the decision was made to help her out. This procedure involved long gloves, lubricant, antiseptic, ropes attached to the little legs and lots of pulling and great cries of discomfort. I leaned in to let Valerie know this was a more accurate depiction of birth -- as far as I was concerned.
I didn't take any photos of this one. It was too intense. But she birthed a healthy young boy that seemed big compared to the others. He even had some horns started. Can you imagine?
They let Valerie name this guy. This year the sheep all have names starting with the letter "e". So, Valerie named him Epic.
It was kind of Epic.
This 4-H business has been amazing. It would be cool to have a couple small sheep ...
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