Tessa says: "I love sheeps"

Monday for FHE we headed up to Wilmington College to meet our friend Monte Anderson (aka, Tomato Guy, Dean of Agriculture).  It's our second annual Feed the Lambs FHE.  We go to the barn and meet the new lambs and goats and bottle feed those who aren't doing well feeding on their own.  Our children, who run from tiny dogs, carefully hold bottles and even pet the lambs.

This time as we walked in the barn,  Monte looked into the area where expectant mothers are kept and saw two new lambs.  "Hmm, these weren't here when I left work an hour ago!" he said.  The mom had just finished birthing and licking them clean.  Monte carefully picked them up and coaxed the new mother (her first lambs) out of the pen and into their "mother sheep and baby" area.  Sort of like being wheeled from delivery to the maternity ward, I suppose.  They want to be able to keep a close eye on the lambs and monitor their progress - are they standing up, are they feeding, is the mother settling in, etc.  This mom had not quite finished the - how do I put this delicately - events that transpire after the babies come out.  So we got to watch that.  Ellie and I couldn't look away; Rob kept his eyes carefully shielded.  If we'd arrived 30 minutes earlier, we would have seen the birth!

Monte watched carefully as the new mother sheep tried to settle in.  She was agitated and the lambs couldn't quite latch on.  But they were standing up and trying.  Eventually, as we were there, they started to get the hang of things.  We tried to stay away so we wouldn't bother the process.

Monte mixed up bottles of lamb formula and gave them to Ellie and Matt.  They each held one up to the mouth of a little lamb and stood still while the lambs ate.  Monte let one month old lamb - Lambchop - out of the gate.  Ellie shrieked and ran, then gathered her courage and came closer.  Lambchop is sort of aggressive, so I tried to keep the bottle in his mouth as he ran around the barn.  After a bottle and a half, he was finishing up (albeit with squirts of milk on his wool and nose from his squirming).  Ellie came over and took over the last of the bottle feeding and then petted his back.  Tessa wouldn't get down from Rob's arms, but she did declare, "I love sheeps!"

In the meantime, Ellie peppered Monte with questions.  I wish I could remember everything she asked! How do the babies come out? (Uhm..)  How do you know if the sheep is about to get the baby out?  How long does it take for the lamb to grow into a sheep?  What is in the bottle?  Do you help the lambs come out?  What do the lambs look like when they're born?  Are they boys or girls?  What are their names?

Monte said he forgot to check if they were boys or girls, but that he would check the next day and let us know.  He said Ellie could name them.  "If they are both girls, then I want to name them Sadie and Jemima.  If they are boys, then one of them should be James.  If they are one girl and one boy, then I want to name them Sadie and James."

We went back to the Anderson's house, where Diane had ice cream cones ready for us.  She doesn't go to the barn because it stinks.  Which you don't realize until you come out of the barn and sniff yourself. Blech.  Ellie continued her questions, until we finally got everyone in pajamas and started the 45 minute drive home.  Everyone zonked out in about 5 minutes.

The next morning, Ellie said, "Mom, tell me everything you know about lambs."  When I'd exhausted my lamb knowledge, she said, "Can we call Brother Anderson?  I have more questions."  So we did.  "Brother Anderson, do the mom sheep make noise when the lambs are being born?  If you see a lamb about to be born, can you call us so we can drive up and see it?"  And later to me: "Mom, how do sheep get married?"  Well, animals don't get married.  Just people.  "Well that doesn't make sense.  How do they have babies if they don't get married?"  Um...

That night, Ellie said to Rob, "Dad, do you know what my new obsession is?"  Is it sheep?  Grinning: "Yeah, it's sheep."

I have to admit that when I saw the baby lambs and the final stages of the birthing process, I got a little obsessed with sheep, too.  I may have peppered Farmer Monte with questions of my own.  He says they try very hard not to interfere in labor, because otherwise the mom will lose her instincts.  Only if they see an emergency will they (literally) lend a hand.  They also try very hard not to give bottles, but they will if they see the need.  In nature, those lambs who can't feed properly would die, but that obviously doesn't have to happen on a farm.  Monte says they do lose some.  One morning he arrived to find that twin goats were born overnight and hadn't survived.  The barn is quite warm, but the mother goat had settled too close to the cold door.  Twins are very common in sheep, and even more common in goats.  Triplets can also happen, and Monte was watching our new mother sheep to see if there were any more lambs pending.  No such luck.

Per Ellie's request, we're headed back up on Saturday with some friends to do the whole thing over again.  Ellie will get to see "her" lambs and properly name them, and probably show off her bottle-feeding skills.  And we may have ourselves a bummer lamb story to give a talk about someday!