Speaking of lambs...
I watched two lambs emerging (literally) from their mothers last weekend. Front feet first closely followed by a little nose and face. Apparently, the sheep that haven't lambed before take a while to realise what's happening - they're a bit slow. Imagine, if you had the mental reckoning to be aware of it all - what a shock it would be then! Anyway, it's a very busy time for the shepherds/farmhands. I chatted to one of them on the midnight to 6am shift. He has to watch for cauls and make sure the mother sheep successfully frees the lambs from them to prevent suffocation. If the ewe is struggling he'll intervene. The lamb is up on its feet very quickly - albiet unsteadily with a tendency to fall onto its knees. When all goes well, about half an hour or so after lamb is born - the farmer picks up the lambs by their back legs and carries them away from the stalls. The mother sheep, obviously, is not best pleased by this and will follow instinctively (unless it's her first time when she may need a bit of a shove). Then the lambs are fed a few drops of some kind of medication from a gravity drip feeder and they have their umbilical cords sprayed with iodine to prevent infection, after which time ewe and lamb/s go into their own little private pen. Like a lying in hospital for sheep. A few days later they go off to the fields again to play. I asked the shepherd whether it really is play, or whether it just looks like play. He said that the lambs definitely enjoy themselves racing and chasing each other round. New lambs are the cutest. They are the same shape as tiny donkeys and they have a juvenile 'baaa' that sounds infantile. I held one. I could feel its ribs, and its strong heart was pounding through its warm, woolly little body.
Later the same day - miles away from conurbations/towns/streetlights, with no moon and no cloud cover - the most amazing display I think I've ever seen in this country. The sky was filled with a thousand stars! If there was a deckchair I would've sat and watched them like other people sit and watch tv. But I was being harassed to come inside and it was a freezing night. Anyway. Rural life - magic!
I watched two lambs emerging (literally) from their mothers last weekend. Front feet first closely followed by a little nose and face. Apparently, the sheep that haven't lambed before take a while to realise what's happening - they're a bit slow. Imagine, if you had the mental reckoning to be aware of it all - what a shock it would be then! Anyway, it's a very busy time for the shepherds/farmhands. I chatted to one of them on the midnight to 6am shift. He has to watch for cauls and make sure the mother sheep successfully frees the lambs from them to prevent suffocation. If the ewe is struggling he'll intervene. The lamb is up on its feet very quickly - albiet unsteadily with a tendency to fall onto its knees. When all goes well, about half an hour or so after lamb is born - the farmer picks up the lambs by their back legs and carries them away from the stalls. The mother sheep, obviously, is not best pleased by this and will follow instinctively (unless it's her first time when she may need a bit of a shove). Then the lambs are fed a few drops of some kind of medication from a gravity drip feeder and they have their umbilical cords sprayed with iodine to prevent infection, after which time ewe and lamb/s go into their own little private pen. Like a lying in hospital for sheep. A few days later they go off to the fields again to play. I asked the shepherd whether it really is play, or whether it just looks like play. He said that the lambs definitely enjoy themselves racing and chasing each other round. New lambs are the cutest. They are the same shape as tiny donkeys and they have a juvenile 'baaa' that sounds infantile. I held one. I could feel its ribs, and its strong heart was pounding through its warm, woolly little body.
Later the same day - miles away from conurbations/towns/streetlights, with no moon and no cloud cover - the most amazing display I think I've ever seen in this country. The sky was filled with a thousand stars! If there was a deckchair I would've sat and watched them like other people sit and watch tv. But I was being harassed to come inside and it was a freezing night. Anyway. Rural life - magic!
