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March 12 -- Sun: We did "tails and tags" today after the usual morning chores. The ear tags we use work sort of like those plastic price-tag loops that are used in clothing stores. We have a plier-like tool in which we load the two halves of an ear tag (front and back). Pam cuddles the lamb while I position the tag on the ear -- a quick squeeze, the male part of the tag pokes a neat 1/8" hole in the ear and locks itself into the tag's female part on the ear's underside. The loud SNAP noise of the tool bothers the lambs more than the piercing itself. Ewe lambs are tagged on the right ear-- rams on the left. This year's tags are green with stamped numbers running from 76 thru 100 on the top -- we have "HTF", our official "farm code" with the Coopworth Society, stamped on the underside.

Docking tails is just about my least favorite aspect of shepherding. Newborn lambs are SO CUTE with their long dangly tails. But we're well aware that such an appendage on an adult sheep out in lush Spring pastures would become a caked, filthy mess == attracting flies and very likely creating some nasty medical problems (can you say "maggots"? = Yech!).

Hatchtown's little shop of horrors -- the maternity shed looks like an O.R. when we do tags and tails

Again, we have a special-purpose plier-like tool, but this thing's working end is set up like a little curved guillotine. Pam again gets to do the cuddling up front while I'm at the back. The lambs do feel this process. Luckily, their discomfort only lasts a few seconds -- Pam lets them suckle on her finger. We squirt some strong iodine on the stump and the lamb is back with its mom. The ewes usually manage to get a swath of iodine painted on their nose as they investigate exactly what it is that we've done to their baby. The lambs usually rush right onto a teat for some real comfort -- Pam's finger no longer being available.

We did the ears and tails of all seven of the "Thursday lambs" in the maternity shed. Moms: Briar Rose, Annie, Blossom and Bluet -- tag Nos. 76 - 82.

-- 2:45 PM: We were just finishing up the "tails and tags", putting things away, etc -- thinking about finally getting up into the warmth of the crowded living room for some lunch. Kasha came in from the paddock, went to back lefthand corner of the big shed and started pawwing around in the straw bedding -- laying down ....rolling onto her side with a contraction ...getting up. Pam stayed down there while I went to house and retrieved the "lambing supplies" tote.

-- 3:05 PM: I returned with a travel-mug of tea for Pam. Kasha had already pushed out a white ram lamb and was working on what turned out to be a black ewe. Everyone who needed it had big slurps of colostrom. Injections were injected, umbilical cords were trimmed and iodined, the ram weighed 10 LBS, the ewe 8.25 LBS. Kasha is a wonderful mother. We discussed having her make a training video that we could show to all first-time moms in the future.

Lambs have requested slurps -- Kasha begins her rise to the occasion.

Huyana's and Kasha's jugs are taking up
valuable space in the main shed

The maternity shed's still full so we set up Kasha and lambs in a jug right next to Huyana's in the big shed. By now, it was almost time for afternoon chores. Not much point in going to the house, getting all warm and comfortable, and having to pretty much turn right around and come back down.  :-(   Lunch and dinner were combined.

Pam and Aaron were off to Brunswick and Portland not too long after lunch. I headed down to the paddock to empty out the maternity shed. That's right! The Head Shepherd had entrusted me with the responsibility of letting Briar Rose, Annie, Blossom and Bluet and their seven lambs out of their jugs. I must be getting good at my job -- I should probably ask for a raise!

De-jugging is always a bunch of fun. The moms recognize the offered freedom and usually make a fast exit as soon as one of their jug panels is pulled aside. But, the babies don't know that there is a whole other world outside of the 4' x 6' jug they've come to know over the 3 or 4 days since their birth.

"Hey Mom! Didn't you forget something?"

Most lambs just stand in the jug and watch their mom take off out of the shed -- some don't even wake up for the event! The moms often get all the way out to the hay feeder in the paddock before they notice that something is missing == "Oh yeah! My babies! Where ARE they!?" They rush back into the maternity shed and gather their family together.

Bluet's baby left alone in the jug-- not minding much for the minute.

Today, with seven lambs all being out for the first time at once, there was ABSOLUTE CHAOS! While lambs and moms do recognize each other's baaas, chortles and all the other various noises that amount to sheep-talk, there was just too much confusion in those first few minutes for any effective communication.

New families work their way into the general population

Lambs ran in all directions baaaing pitifully -- trying to nurse on the wrong moms -- even trying to nurse on ewes that weren't even moms yet! The four moms bellowed, pushing amongst the crowd, nosing lambs trying to locate their own. The five yearling ewes skittered all around sniffing at the lambs and just generally enjoying the excitement of the cacophony.

The dogs and I took a run to the Transfer Station (that's what "the dump" is called in Maine -- reason: nothing actually is dumped there for long. Everything gets sorted and trucked away -- some even being sold for commercial recycling). Skye and Sadie LOVE going -- the dog biscuits they get there are even better than at the bank's drive-thru!

Anyway, I received some bad news at the Transfer Station. One of the guys noticed that the pickup's registration had expired in December -- a MILLENNIUM ago!! I have been driving around for two and half months illegally. We bought the truck last April. I had not noticed that transferring the registration from the "traded-in" mini van meant that we retained its December expiration. I snuck home carefully staying well under the speed limit == The Bristol Town Hall is closed on Mondays so I was going to be illegal a bit longer.

By the time I went back down to do chores, all the craziness had subsided. It takes a few days for lambs to catch on to the concept of staying out of the way. I tried to time putting out the hay so that no lambs were standing between the ewes and the feeders -- wouldn't do to have any lambs trampled while the Head Shepherd was away!

-- 7:15 PM: Pam and Aaron returned with shelves for his new closet and shock absorbers for his pickup (she must have been real thrilled to learn that they were on 'the list'!). They had also picked up a bag o'dinner from the KFC in Brunswick. Pam took Sadie for a pre-dinner walk down to the sheep shed and almost immediately called me on the portable phone == Baby Bear was "pushing" and I should bring the "lambing supplies" down right away!!

By the time Skye and I arrived at the shed, Baby Bear was back to quietly cudding -- very obviously uncomfortable with all the attention she was receiving. We stood around and watched closely for any sign that birth(s) was/were imminent == nothing! Pam insisted that Baby Bear had been doing the pawwing around, lying down, stretching and pushing "thing". The smell of that bag of fried chicken lingered in my nostrils.

This is the first year Baby Bear has been bred. We really wanted to be there for her. It's a good idea to take extra care with first-time lambers. You can't be sure that their instincts will kick in -- their "plumbing" might be mixed up. But Baby Bear was obviously not in much of a hurry right then. We decided we'd better head up to the house and grab some chicken and mashed potatoes while the grabbing was good.

-- 8:00 PM: Boy! That chicken was GOOD! Preparing meals in the living room for WEEKS has re-adjusted our thinking about food quality. First and foremost == ANY food that comes in from "the outside" ready to eat WITH GRAVY AND BISCUITS is WONDERFUL! <G>

-- 8:30 PM: Pam had made short work of her dinner and went back down to check on Baby Bear. She was FINE! When Pam arrived, Baby Bear was nursing a black (with maybe some gray?) ewe lamb, and a JUST-arrived black ram lamb was laying in a steaming puddle behind her!! It must be a millennial thing -- the girls this year seem bound and determined to drop their lambs without us shepherds being there.

Baby Bear's instincts "arrived" right on schedule. She knew just what to do and was VERY attentively cleaning and drying both her lambs in turn. Her milk had come in and both lambs had their fill.

Baby Bear licks down her ewe lamb while the ram fills up on colostrom

We processed the new lambs per the S.O.P. -- the maybe-grayish ewe lamb weighed an even 8 LBS., the ram lamb was 6.75 LBS. Baby Bear is not a big ewe, and being just barely two years old and a first-time mom, we were very happy that her lambs were a bit below our average weight-wise.

Baby Bear and lambs moved into the maternity shed -- occupying the jug just vacated by Briar Rose's family earlier in the day. We were back up at the house by about 10:15. I microwaved another piece of that chicken AND a biscuit!

-- 12:00 PM - Midnight: Pam and I went out to check the sheep -- Skye and Sadie came along for a final, before-bed walk. All was quiet in the maternity shed. Honey Bear was doing fine -- VERY attentive to her babies. She's been a real scamp since she was a lamb herself -- she's turning out to be a much better mother than we would have ever expected.

Inside the big shed it looked like a little like the waiting room at a bus terminal. Huyana's and Kasha's jugs were taking up valuable square footage. And now, of course, the four families de-jugged earlier in the day had moved in.

Late night in the shed. Have you ever been NYC's Port Authority Bus Terminal late at night?

Bluet beds herself down right in front of the gate that leads to the grain and hay supply.
If we go in there, she wants to know about it!

Kyra was acting very suspiciously -- she seemed very uncomfortable -- laying down, stretching out her neck -- yawning strenuously -- getting back up and milling about. While nothing was happening at her back end, Pam and I discussed the advisability of *someone* making a middle-of-the-night check. I whimpered a bit, tried hard to look pitiful -- Pam volunteered that she'd get up around 2:30 AM and venture out into the darkness. I figured this was fair! After all, who was it who'd been left on their lonesome for most of the day?!

March 14 -- Tue:

--3:10 AM: I was sleeping in my long underwear. Thankfully, I was NOT conscious when Pam had arisen, got dressed and went down to the sheds. She found Kyra with an amniotic bag hanging out the back -- lamb arrival would not be far off! Pam reports that major positional jockeying went on while she watched Kyra. The game was, you see, that Kyra REALLY wanted to conduct her labors in the back, lefthand corner of the shed. Unfortunately, Annie just LOVES that SAME corner -- furthest from the door, she gets her lambs back there and feels safe and sheltered. Well, Kyra would go back into that corner and nudge Annie and her lambs until they moved out. But then, after only a few minutes, Annie would be back to not-so-gently evict the laboring Kyra. The cycle repeated itself viciously several times before Pam managed to set up a couple of panels and convince Kyra that she'd be most comfortable somewhat separated from the rest of the group -- especially the insistent Annie.

More excitement was created when Bluet's big white lamb got up and left the shed -- mom was sleeping VERY soundly and did not notice. The independent lambie made her way out into the paddock -- ALL the way back to the furthest feeder. NOW, Bluet woke up was immediately VERY CONCERNED about being lamb-less! She started calling her baby. Now, "calling her baby" sounds soft and sweet, doesn't it? But remember, this is Bluet we're talking about here == she with the world-class BAAA! Bluet's magna-bellowing had everyone in the shed wide awake! All the moms baaa'ed in sympathy with Bluet -- lambs bleated from all corners. And of course, the yearlings, always ready for anything, jumped right up and began hurrying all whichs and ways. Pam was sure that the ruckus would wake me up in the house. (ABSOLUTELY NO chance of THAT! <G>)

-- 4:00 AM: Kyra delivered a VERY LARGE white ewe lamb. All was well, she'd had twins last year and wasn't having any trouble caring for a single lamb.

Kyra cleans and dries her BIG BABY!

-- 4:30 AM: Confident that Kyra was only having the one lamb, Pam called me to report the EARLY-morning event and to request my presence. I made the mistake of answering the phone -- it was SO nice and warm in bed! <G>  I *did* get up, dressed, took the dogs out for a quick pee, put them in their crates and made my way down to the shed. Kyra took up residence in the jug that had been Annie's less than 24 hours ago. Kyra's big single lamb weighed 13.5 LBS.

We were back up in the house by 5:15 or so -- the rising sun lighting up the eastern sky. I stripped down to my long underwear and got back into the WARM.

-- 7:30 AM ... or maybe it was 8:??: We had a bit of trouble getting out of bed. I had HOPED to be at the Town Hall when it opened at 8:00 so as to be first in line to re-new the pickup's registration, but Kyra had killed my enthusiasm for that. The plan now was to let the "first-thing rush" subside -- with luck, I could walk in around 10:30 and not have to stand in any line at all. Kyra and her lamb were comfortable in their jug. The lamb had obviously been feeding well and Kyra had done a good job of her cleaning her up.

In the big shed, Emma was acting a bit more stand-offish than usual. She's a Cotswold and doesn't really mix in that much with the rest of the flock -- Emma's best buddies seem to be the five yearling ewes. It was a little tough to figure whether her behavior was the usually unusual or otherwise. Anyway, she didn't seem to be able to get comfortable and was doing some stretching that might have been early contractions OR maybe just that she was trying to adjust her big belly.

-- 10:00 AM: Getting ready to head over to the Town Hall, I discovered that the insurance ID card in the pickup's glove box expired back in Oct '99. So, I've been driving around with expired plates AND without proof of insurance. I *knew* that the insurance company had sent us new ID cards when the policy re-newed back in Oct., so I did spend a few minutes digging around on top of the dining room table where all the IMPORTANT papers are stacked. No Luck == No surprise. I could not re-new the registration without having the proof of insurance. :-(

The plan NOW was that I'd go all the way up to town and pick up a new ID card. Come home, do chores, and THEN hit the Town Hall when they re-opened after lunch. I called our insurance agent and told them I'd be RIGHT up to get a duplicate ID card. No problem! They'd print one out and have it at the front desk waiting for me. I FINALLY had created a semblance of a schedule!   :-)

-- 10:30 AM: Before leaving for town, I took a quick swing down to the sheep shed to check on how Emma might be doing. It was quickly obvious that she was now in REAL labor. She was down on her side, legs extended for leverage and pushing quite strenuously every two minutes or so. I put some panels around Emma so she wouldn't be pestered and went up to the house to tell Pam that, as it happens, I was NOT going to town right away.

Now, there are always people that tell us that they'd LOVE to attend the birth of some lambs. Quite honestly, the way lambing events usually happen, calling someone to say "It's time! Come over! NOW!!" hardly ever seems like such a good idea. People would be coming over here and then NOTHING might happen ...for hours ...maybe not all. Or, maybe even more likely, the lambs will have been born before the people could get here. The idea of disappointing people AND then having to "entertain" them while we needed to be busy with other things never seems real attractive.

Well anyway, here it is mid-day and Emma's in very real labor. Greg and Sandy, Emma's biggest fans live only a mile away. They and Emma became acquainted when the ewes were grazing the fields behind their house back in September before breeding. Emma's easy to identify -- stands out in the crowd -- what with her Cotswold bangs hanging down covering her eyes and the fact that she ABSOLUTELY refuses to wear a cover like all the other girls. Greg and Sandy always ask about Emma whenever we run into them at the Post Office or supermarket. Pam phoned and told them that Emma would be lambing shortly. We headed down to the shed to get chores underway and track Emma's progress.

Her back on the shed wall and legs extended
for leverage, Emma P  U S HES.

Greg and Sandy were at the paddock gate within 10 minutes. Emma was concentrating and probably didn't even notice that she now had an official audience. If she did notice, she certainly did not care!

--11:30 AM: Pam was not at all sure how the matter at hand would proceed. Emma had never lambed before and Pam had never previously mid-wifed the birth of Cotswold/Finn-Lincoln lambs. There was a real good chance that Emma might be having triplets ...or even quadruplets!! Emma's belly was not HUGE, but she herself was a triplet and Finns are known for having MULTIPLE births. Turned out there was no cause for worry, Ma Nature and instinct moved events right along on course. Sandy asked lot's of good "sheep questions" while poor Greg looked like he could feel each of Emma's contractions.

A lamb's feet-tips appeared out Emma's back end -- a few more good pushes and its head and front half were out. Pam was right there to break the amniotic sack covering its face and suction out the lamb's mouth and nostril with her trusty and almost-always-on-hand ear syringe.

Emma's lamb pauses half way out.

Another push and the lamb was out! Emma was a bit perplexed for a minute or two, but as soon as she heard her lamb's little baa, she was up and licking away. The lamb also had a good idea of its responsibilities -- it almost immediately began struggling to stand up.

Thankfully, we could now tell that Emma was only having the one lamb. While we do *hope* for twins, it's not a bad thing for a first-time mom to have a single -- gives her the chance to learn the momhood ropes without any additional stress and confusion. Pam checked Emma's plumbing -- her colostrom was rich and thick like Devon clotted cream. The ram lamb, it was a little boy, was up and nursing in just minutes.

Emma's lamb tucked right in for its first meal

Sandy and Greg took their leave. Greg works the afternoon/evening shift at L.L. Bean's warehouse and wanted to get some lunch before taking off for Freeport. Emma had put on the perfect show!  :-)

We processed the little black lamb. Hey! ..not that little, he weighed 10.75 LBS! Emma did not have any trouble following her carried lamb out of the big shed and around into jug.

After some lunch, I DID finally get up to town to retrieve that proof of auto insurance. I stopped at the Town Hall on the way home and received a pair of the new Maine license plates. The State has retired the little red lobster that most people thought looked like a scorpion. Our vehicles now sport a colorful chickadee -- the Maine State Bird.

Evening chores were uneventful. There were still a lot of girls who looked like they could easily be next to go into labor.

As usual, we combined the before-bed puppy-walk with our last check on things down in the sheep shed. Everyone in the maternity shed was doing fine -- Emma was proving to be a very attentive mom. The big shed was a little roomier now that three ewes were over in jugs. Amongst the "still pregnant", Rachel, Floppsy and Kate all seemed the most uncomfortable. Their swollen bellies reducing room for their lungs, all three were breathing heavily. As usual, Kate's breathing could sometimes be heard from out at the gate. The "private parts" of all three were puffy looking. No way to pick who would be next or when!

Does Aaron successfully install that high-tech shelving system in his new closet?

The saga continues on Page 3           Back to Page 1 of the Hatchtown Lambing Journal

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