This is about the time I start noticing a few extra pounds right around the hips. I start aching for the snow to melt on my arena, and for the ground to be soft enough to plant. Unfortunately, I’ll have to wait a little longer, but there is one bright spot in full swing right now - lambing. Lambs are the best way to beat the winter doldrums. There will be no lambs for us this year, so I have to be content listening to my friends tell me about their new lambs. I'll will go visit, but it’s not the same as having lambs in your own backyard.
The anticipation starts growing in February. I would watch the moms every day waiting to
see if their milk was coming in. By
March I’m running out every morning hoping to find baby lambs waiting for me. I try putting pregnant ewe's in lambing jugs
when they start to showing signs of labor, but that always doesn’t happen. One cold,
rainy morning, while looking out the window, I saw a mom standing
next to her new lamb. She delivered
outside in the early morning. I quickly
ran out and grabbed the shivering lamb, and slowly coached Mom into a stall, where
I then tried to warm baby up.
Once the lambs are delivered and all are healthy, the fun begins. Lambs running, jumping,
skipping, and hopping, then nurse and fall asleep next to mom. This cycle
keeps going for weeks as we watch them grow. Lambs are the best wayto beat the winter blues.
- Trisha
