A Reminder of this January.  I wrote this story during a cold snowy day and thought it might be nice to share.

So this afternoon Emma was out doing chores.  On Sundays, she actually has a bit of extra time and can spend it out in the barn tidying and playing with the horses. At sixteen there are so many other distractions, I am grateful that she still likes the farm and the barn and all of our creatures.  If you are dressed in enough layers, the January air doesn’t seem so bad. There isn’t much wind and that makes a great difference in all of the animals  and humans comfort level. 

 The music is on and the cats hang around waiting for treats.  She cleans waterers and moves lambs around that need it.  The stalls get an extra cleaning and lots of fresh fragrant shavings.  The barn gets a thorough sweep and the blankets get aired and hung neatly ready for their next use. The horses get their feet cleaned and a nice brush.  They contentedly munch on a bit of extra hay.

The sheep have had their grain and all are pretty content for sheep that  always seem to be starving.  It is  cold today around 8 above so I thought  I would join her and help a bit.  All of the animals don’t have electric water heaters yet.  My goal is to add a few each year.  We did get two new heaters this year but another one gave up after many years of service.  I can go out an fill them again and empty ice out of the ones that need it. 

 Anyway, I go out and Emma comes running back to me.  “Mom, there is a surprise in the barn!”  Why do I recognize that tone in her voice?  It is so so early and cold, it just can’t be.  But there she is , a nice Moorit ewe standing in the corner cleaning off a lovely black lamb, oh and another one has appeared since Emma first noticed, a white lamb still struggling in its blanket of placenta.  They are both steaming, the cold air wants to suck the little bit of heat  that these lambs can produce.  They are not preemies, they are full size, but they still don’t have much body fat to produce the heat they need to stay warm while mom tries to dry them off as fast as she knows how. 

Her rough tongue keeps moving over the lamb, cleaning and drying at the same time.  The first one is already standing and looking ok but the second one is questionable.  I climb over the hog panel fence and see him shaking his head.  A good sign, he is breathing.  If it was April or May I might just leave her alone but not today.  They are wet and towels are going to be needed and probably a heat lamp. 

We know what to do now.  Emma automatically hands me two loose hog panels to fit into a jug in the corner of the barn where the ewe dropped her babies.  She has picked a perfect spot so why fight it.

I enclose her in  the square pen and Emma hands me a stack of about five flakes of fresh straw to bed the new family down in.  There is a layer building on the floor of the barn already in preparation for this time of year but they need more insulation from the cold floor that also wants to rob them of their precious heat.   Next some water for the ewe.  It is thirsty business for her to give birth to twins.  I know she is hungry too but I want her instincts to remind her of her job first.  Keep cleaning those babies, get them on their feet and get them to her udder.  I have already interfered by toweling the babies a bit.  Their ears and tails can freeze pretty quick and they are shivering.  She doesn’t seem to mind so I keep working on one and then trading with her.  I want her to take care of both, I know she will take care of the first one but the second is always a challenge when you have to interfere.  The white baby is trying to stand now which is amazing.  Less than 15 minutes after being born he already knows what he needs.  Food.  A full stomach does more to fight off the cold than anything else.  The black one seems  to have it all worked out and is quietly nosing around mom.  I finish toweling her and concentrate on the boy.  Yes, I have taken note of a black ewe lamb and a white ram lamb. 

I know the ewe must have gotten in with Luke early, they have his floppy ears and coloring but when I don’t know. I suppose she could have come into heart immediately and taken the very first day he was turned in with her .  The other ewes are not due for quite a while.    It happens and it is kind of fun but throws off the schedule a bit. Especially the sleep schedule.  Well, farming is all about adjusting to weather and circumstances isn’t it.  It could be another month before anyone else is born.  Nightly barn checks are going to have to start a bit early this season. 

So now that we have their little bedroom arrangement set up we can do the next task.  Clip, dip and strip.  First I set the lamb on its back on my lap.  I clip the umbilical cord with a clean scissor in one quick clip.  Then I pour a tablespoon of Iodine on the cord to dry it up and close it off from any infection and bacteria.  I check the lamb’s eyes and nose to see that they are clear.  Then give the baby back to mom. 

The ewe doesn’t like this next part.  I play dairy farmer for a minute and make sure that her nipples are open and her bag is full but not hard.  I milk her gently on both sides to make sure she has milk and it is nice a solid white and running freely.  There is a bit of a wrestling hold keeping her still with one knee and arm and milking her with the other free hand.  I gather a bit of the milk for it’s precious colostrums in case I need it for other emergencies.  It only lasts a few days and is the life protecting magic formula needed by all baby creatures. 

Michael finds a heat lamp and has the electrical cord already run to the jug.  A bit of baling twine secures it in place.  Not too low so as to make hot spots and not too high. Clean baling twine has a million and one uses in the barn.  Not on the floor mixed with open bales of hay, but for tying jugs, waterers, lamps, etc.  I only like the natural jute, not the synthetic orange stuff used so much now a days.   Normally I never use the lamps but this is a special circumstance.  Now one more step to help fight the ravages of the bitter night ahead.  Little plastic coats.  They are just squares of orange plastic bag material.  They have slits for four legs and a head.  They fit loosely so that a warm inch of air insulates the babies body from the cold outside air.  For such  a simple and inexpensive device to do so much, I am grateful.  The shivers are already disappearing.  As the lambs move around and mom cleans them off, they are starting to dry nicely.  I take my hand out of my mitten and hold their ears and tails so make sure they are thawing.  I felt the black ones ears feel pretty icy for a bit.