The speed with which a brand new lamb pulls itself up onto its spindly legs, gets acquainted with its mother and learns to nurse, and begins to hobble – then hop – then frolic – around the barnyard is amazing. Every shepherd loves to stand in the middle of their paddock, surrounded by running, bouncing, playing lambs, and watch them … Read More
Some shepherds lamb in great numbers. And that is amazing. And some shepherds lamb in wee small numbers. And that is amazing also. The commonality among shepherds, regardless of how many sheep they have in their flock, is their love and passion for their flock of sheep. I shared the conversation below with a shepherd I know in Gotland, Sweden. … Read More
As a shepherd, lambing season can be one of the most stressful times of the year, but it doesn’t have to be. Understanding the natural process of labor and delivery, and learning how to recognize the different stages of labor, takes much of the stress out of lambing. Understanding the Natural Processes of Labor & Delivery I taught natural childbirth … Read More
Hypothermia is a condition that shepherds need to watch for in young lambs. It occurs when a lamb’s body temperature drops below a normal temperature. This can be life threatening to a lamb and immediate detection and treatment increase the lamb’s survival rate. Several factors put lambs at a higher risk for getting hypothermia such as: small lambs triplets or … Read More
Hypothermia – having an abnormally low body temperature. Though our lambing season usually falls near the end of March, we can still have bitter cold weather until the second or third week of April. When ewes go into labor, we focus on keeping lambs warm. Hypothermia often causes death in new lambs. It can often go unnoticed and slowly takes … Read More
