And, a third lamb!

Bear, one of the new Hampshires, was looking rather out of sorts today. The Reluctant Farmer noticed that nothing seemed to make her happy: she pawed at the ground, sat down, and then got up and repeated the procedure a few feet away. She rammed other ewes who got in her way, and kept trying to get comfortable and didn't seem to be succeeding.

The Boy and I were away from the farm at the District Public Speaking competition, so we missed all this entertainment. The Reluctant Farmer was busy installing flooring, so he kept an eye on the happenings outside, figuring a lamb must be on the way (I believe his words were more along the lines of "I know a grumpy pregnant female that's about to have a baby when I see one"). Well, he was right: in the ten minutes between one glance out the window and the next, the lamb arrived! This is a bit of a surprise, as usually the process takes some time and there are clear signs that the whole thing is underway.

Being the good Farmer that he is, the Reluctant Farmer moved the mama sheep and her new lamb into the isolation pen. We were actually on our way home, so we were able to get outside and help The Boy do all those lambing tasks that are so important: making sure the lamb is fully dry, dipping the umbilical cord in iodine to prevent infection, tagging the ear so we know who she is and who she belongs to, and docking the tail so that the grown sheep won't be afflicted with fly strike in the heat of summmer.

So, we now have yet another ewe lamb - or, more precisely, The Boy has a new baby ewe lamb in his flock. The mama sheep, Bear, is officially part of his 4-H flock, and so this lamb will be his prospect ewe for the project year.