Moonlight Delivery

When I did my field check last night I noticed a young purebred ewe making urgent grunting sounds. I knew she was in labor, but was worried about her dropping lambs in the cold, howling wind. Matt and I tried to get her into a lean-to but no deal. She ran at our slightest approach. We decided to leave her alone. Matt slept in the truck while I hid in a lean-to nearby and watched her in the moonlight. What a wondrous night. The ewe worked and worked to get the lamb out. She pushed while lying down, then stood up to push, then back down. Finally little hoofs showed, then more pushing. Then a face, then after a few minutes the shoulders - the hardest part to get through. More pushing and grunting, then a wet lump falls on the hay. Mom immediately starts licking, the bonding process begins. I knew better than to interfere with this crucial part of the delivery. Mom is talking to the baby, who makes little tiny meep-meeps to her. She has been talking to her baby during the whole pregnancy...he will know her voice in the middle of a large flock. When she has licked him off, I slowly move over to the pair and cover the lamb with my clean towel and scoop him up, never letting her lose sight of him. We crawl over to the lean to, out of the wind and I place him down. She will not run from us now. I gently lay the baby down and move away. Mom comes over to her lamb and I sneak away to get the fence panel to close them in. This way the lamb and mom can mother up without any interference with other sheep. I clip the cord and dip it in iodine, the milk out the teat, saving the precious yellow, thick colostrum. I draw up some of it with the barrel of a syringe and squirt it into the back of the lamb's mouth. This ensures the antibodies and energy giving fluid go right to the little receptors lining the lambs stomach and absorbing the liquid with decreasing efficiency over 24 hours. It truly "lights the fire" in the lamb's belly. Mom gets hay, water and a little grain to give her energy after the long night's work.

I gather up my gear and leave the two alone. Mattie is sleeping in the truck. Construction work saps all his energy and he has to be back on the job sight in a few hours. We go home to bed and I dream lamb dreams...

Before he leaves for work and while I am getting ready for my job, Matt goes to the field to check on the newborn. Surprise! There is one more! A cold little ewe lamb is huddling in the corner of the cold lean-to. There is also a pregnant ewe down in the field looking distressed...another challenging day begins for sheep and shepherds on Maggie's Farm...