A Long Day of Lambing

Announcing our first set of twins - meet Godric

and Rowena - born early this morning.

Apparently all went well with the birth and we were not needed. We hope the next one goes as well!

(hubby did NOT win the honor of naming the newborns since all he could come up with was Whitey and Blackie)

But he was the first on the scene and noticed that Godric was a little confused about his parentage.

I think our boys would have adopted him on the spot, if they had the right equipment.

But this turned out to really be a problem as soon as we put him back with mama. She was NOT having it and butted him down in the grass in a crumpled heap. The poor baby. Brenna and I, almost in tears, scooped him up and headed for the barn.

That left hubby with the task of luring mama all the way back across the field, over the bridge and up to the barn. He has her baby in one arm and her food in the other - he definitely understands females.

This was just immediate and complete lamb love right here.

Mama, on the other hand, was not feeling the love. In fact we worked on it for hours, getting much advice from lamb experts far and wide. It's all about the scent. Apparently his little run around with the alpacas tainted his overall appeal. Maybe they even spit on him.

Everyone was very encouraging around the farmyard. Eventually she started licking him at both ends and making very soft mothering sounds. The butting slowly decreased and the licking increased. Apparently she had dreamed of having a one child family and it just took her awhile to get used to the idea of twins. Or maybe once the sun came up she just didn't like the way he looked. Who knows what sheep are thinking.

One thing is certain, Rowena is very pleased to be the favored child. And can I just say there is nothing more spastically happy than a lamb tail when it has successfully located the correct mammary anatomy.