Birth Stories

Through the years I have seen countless birth stories played out from both two legged moms and four legged laboring ewes. Each labor has its own unique story, place, and people. Believe it or not, animals have similar labor needs as women, and they seek out ways to have these needs met. Sometimes it is their instincts that take over, and sometimes, I think it must be their personal disposition that plays a role in how they meet their needs.

Support of Flock Mates

This lambing season, I have seen two interesting births. The first, our four year old ewe Emili, spent much of her labor in the darkest corner of the barn. There she worked alone as her cervix dilated. The other sheep seemed to sense her desire to be alone, as they did not venture over into her space. Once she entered into the second stage of her labor and began pushing, she came out of her corner. The rest of the flock was just outside the door eating hay. Emili ended up laying directly in front of the doorway, with her flock mates close by while she pushed her lamb out.

Once the first lamb was born, the other sheep gathered around. The most curious were the yearlings. As soon as the lamb hit the ground they gathered around to welcome the new lamb into the flock. They followed the lamb as it slid across the floor, finding strength to stand.

Lamb Doula

Kayla, a 3 year old ewe, was the second to deliver her lamb this week. When she began labor, she was in an outer shed that we call our “llama shed”. It is behind the barn, out of the bustle of the flock. When I first found Kayla, she and the llama were the only two in the shed. As I watched her, I realized that it was not the shed that seemed to have a role in her labor, but rather the llama. She followed the llama as she moved out into our paddock area. It was feeding time, and so when I placed all of the hay in our run-in, the llama, as well as all our other sheep came to the barn. Kayla followed the llama to the barn. Now she was with all the ewes and the 7 lambs that were already born. There was no dark corner to retreat to within the barn walls. I left Kayla, knowing that she had at least an hour of work to do before her lamb would be born. I fully expected her to find her way back to the llama shed for quiet.

When I came back to the barn an hour later, there was total chaos. Kayla had apparently been in the barn when her bag of water burst and one of the week old lambs so happened to get splashed with the amniotic fluid. Now Kayla was sure that this was her new lamb. She ran frantically from lamb to lamb, sniffing, trying to find her newborn lamb. I could see she was becoming very agitated and disturbed as the more she ran, the more the lambs ran. Mind you, she also had her very own new lamb peering into the world with its front feet and tip of its nose showing. I realized that I had to get all of the sheep out of the barn except for that one lamb before Kayla would calm down.

Doula

Someone who provides guidance and support to a laboring mom.

What we now had was a lamb doula at work, calming the laboring mom and giving her support. I held the lamb, which was over a week old, while Kayla licked it clean, nickering to it. She just knew that this was her lamb. The lamb seemed to understand his role. He sat quietly in my lap, rather enjoying the attention. I wasn’t sure how this would all play out in the end as I sat there, but I knew that this ewe needed calming in order to get on with her labor and this lamb was the only being on the farm that had the ability to do that.

Eventually, we put the lamb aside so that mom could get on with delivering her own lamb. Once her own newborn lamb was on the ground, we swapped out her lamb doula for her newborn lamb.

I left Kayla and her lamb in the lambing pen for about 24 hours. When I turned them out with the rest of the flock, there was about a 30 minute period of sorting out to do. As soon as the lamb doula heard Kayla call to her own lamb, he came running and dove underneath her to nurse. He had not forgotten about his new mum despite the fact that Kayla had obviously forgotten about their relationship. Kayla was not happy with his intrusion and butted him away. He was a persistent little thing and continued following her for about 30 minutes. It all ended with one last huge swoosh of Kayla’s head against his rear end that sent him flying through the doorway. I would have loved to have known the thought processes going through the little doula’s mind, but not to worry, he did have a mum of his own.

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The Secret to Helping a Weak Lamb

A Freebie for Shepherds

As a treat for all you shepherds, I want to give you a recipe to a secret sauce that Theresa at Great Bay Wool Works gave me a couple of years ago when I had a weak lamb. This sauce turned my lamb around and gave it the energy boost it needed. Please note that you should never drench a lamb that can not hold up its own head and always consult your vet when dealing with a sick lamb.