The first two lambs are here!

Here are my first 2 lambs of the season!

Both are ram lambs out of my registered black ewe "Brownie". They are currently being raised in the house (which I knew ahead of time they would be) Brownie has a blockage in one of her teats which does not allow the milk to come out. Most shepherds would cull (kill) a ewe like that, but I really like her and she gives me nice lambs. For three years I have been doing it this way with her.




As soon as the lambs are born they are taken from her and brought into the house. The lambs are dried off with towels and started on milk re placer with colostrum. I also tend to the ewe to make sure all is hunky dory with her (and give her snacks for a job well done!). Then starts the process of drying her up and medicating her if need be.


Bottle feeding lambs can be very demanding. During their first few days of life they get a smidgen of formula in a bottle every couple hours. As they get older, the amount increases and the frequency decreases.

After a week they are started on solid food (grass hay) as well as bottles, and when they have that task mastered they get started on a grain concentrate (in addition to formula). These lambs will be on milk re placer for roughly 8wks. In that time they will be castrated, have their tails banded with an elastrator band (rubber band that cuts off the circulation to the tail to remove it), they will have their ears tagged for identification, and have their first round of vaccinations.

(OH BOY! I BET PETA WILL *LOVE* READING THIS!)

Oh well, these animals are food- Not pets!

These pics were taken right after their birth, hence the dangling umbilical cords and misc. straw pieces stuck on them :)