Matt went down to the field to do his early morning check while I did my morning chores and got ready for work. When the cell phone rang I knew why...sure enough there were lambs. Lucinda (her story another time) had triplets and they were alive. As I prepared to call in sick to work (and I WAS sick with the same sore throat/cough that has been afflicting the high school - but I was saving my sick days for the lambs)and get my kit together I was thrilled to think of little triplets, a first for me. However, that was not quite the case. After Matt called me he noticed Shavaun, Fiona's baby, standing nearly with an afterbirth coming out of her. He realized that Lucinda had stolen Shavaun's baby - or perhaps in the rush of motherhood had licked all the lambs around her. Once a lamb is licked off, the bonding has begun. There we were, in the middle of the field on a dark misty cold morning, wondering what to do with the situation. We had to do something so Matt could get off to work. He had two carpenters waiting at the job site and time is money! Thank goodness he stayed to help me sort things out.
We guessed which one was Shavaun's lamb due to the spot on the leg, same as Shavaun, and the tiny size of the baby. The other two were more evenly matched. We got all three lambs into the lean-to with ease, as Lucinda followed me with the babies. Then we tried to catch Shavaun, who did not want to be caught and kept wandering around, looking for her baby and bawling loudly. We knew we had to tend to the little ones and I needed help with holding Lucinda while I did my "clip, dip, strip and drip" routine (more on that later, too.) I got the cords clipped,dipped and the plug stripped and milked out enough colostrum for the three. I got their little sweaters on and fed them the colostrum (I had already drenched them with the Nutri-Drench). Now to catch Shavaun and hopefully transfer her lamb to her.
WELL, that proved to be impossible. Grain didn't work, placing the lamb on the spot where she left her afterbirth (and where she kept returning to look) didn't work. Matt gave up and left to join his workers at the job site (where the customer is looking out the window, one eye on the clock). We thought we might get away with leaving Shavaun's baby with Lucinda, a great mother, but when the lambs got over their colostrum and nutridrench "rush" and got up to nurse, Lucinda pushed away Shavauns baby! Some sheep are vicious and throw lambs against the wall. This was not a nasty push, but just enough to say, you are not my baby.
Okay, okay, get a grip. Can you handle a bottle baby? I don't take bottle babying lightly. It is only a last resort! Taking a lamb away from the flock is like taking it's identity away. They dwell in a netherworld, neither human nor sheep. A lamb without a mother is a said thing. No protector, no one to make those wonderful mothering sounds to you.
I have not given up yet...check in later to find out what happens. I have to get back to the field and check on everyone. Kids? Housework? Food? Husband who has a 50th birthday on Sunday? Dogs? Cats? What's that? Everything goes on hold during lambing.
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