First Lambs of the Season!

After the flock's big move yesterday, Miranda went to check on the sheep this morning and found two new lambs had been born—the first of 2025!

We went out to the field to meet the new faces and celebrate the start of the season. One of the lambs was born to a veteran mom, who was relaxed and let us get close to her baby. The other was born to a first year mom, who let us know to give her and her lamb some space, which we were happy to do! (Good protective instincts, Mom!)

The vast majority of ewes are able to deliver, clean, dry and feed their lamb(s) on their own, without our intervention. But we are always watching to see if a ewe needs help delivering, bonding, or feeding lambs.

After a lamb is born, we're paying attention to:

• Does the ewe look (relatively) energetic, active and focused on the lamb?

• Did the ewe pass the placenta and stop bleeding?

• Did all lambs get cleaned and dried? (It's imperative that they are dry as soon as possible. Cold is the most significant threat for them at the outset.)

• Do we witness the ewe bonding with and feeding all of her lambs? Or is somebody being left out? A lamb must receive colostrum within the first hour (the sooner the better.)

Happily, our first day of lambing was smooth sailing!