On Tuesday, April 30 (which also happens to be the birthday of one of my older brothers), Miss Kirby delivered a beautiful white ewe lamb.
Here's the birth story:
After I did the evening feeding I realized that Kirby was still in the hut - totally uninterested in food (a sure sign that a ewe is in labor), so I hung around and kept an eye on her. At 6:00 p.m. her water broke. I kept my distance for about an hour...until it became apparent that she needed help. At first I was really scared because I was home alone. Also, I felt really crummy from a GI bug and urinary tract infection. Fortunately, though, Kirby is one of my calmer ewes and she let me approach her without freaking out and running away. She wasn't too thrilled with the idea of me messing around with her hind end, but I managed to get her pinned up against the side of the hut. Imagine my relief when I discovered that the lamb was properly aligned! I just needed to pull the hooves out a little and apply steady downward pressure on them as Kirby pushed.
At first the lamb was limp and lifeless. However, after I swept my finger into her mouth and gave her a vigorous rub she snorted and came to life. I promptly laid her in front of Kirby - who proceeded to give her a good cleaning. I left them alone to bond for about 30 minutes, then I scooped the lamb into a carrier and coaxed Kirby to follow us to the jug. She had to pause for a mouthful of grass (hey, can you blame a girl?), but Kirby plodded along behind me in pursuit of her lamb. I could not have asked for it to go any more smoothly!! Thank you, Lord! :)
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| Family Portrait |
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