Easter Lambs 2011
We know that Spring has well and truly here once our orphan lambs have arrived, an event which is out of our control as each year we have to wait for the call from one of our neighbouring farmers.
Cameron, Tea and Michelle who were staying with us were looking forward to the new arrivals just as much as us and the day before they left it all happened!
Last Thursday John got in touch to say he had a poorly triplet , an under-sized lamb, one day old, who was not getting enough of his mum's milk. With two livelier and pushy siblings he just wasn't getting a look in so we were considered to be his best chance. With lots of TLC and regular bottle feeding he is putting on a little bit of weight and is beginning to fit into his woolly coat but at this stage it is one day at a time. His flock number was T3 so we've named him Tom.
We hoped that it would not be too long before we had another lamb to keep him company so we were really pleased to get a call on Friday to say another was on its way, and a little ewe lamb arrived by quad bike in John's pocket. Her mum (a first -time mother) was not coping with two offspring so one came to us. She is a day or two older than Tom and a healthy lamb, feeds strongly from the bottle and is settling in well with her new friend. Her name is Tess.
For the first few nights the lambs slept in the kitchen with the dogs for company. This was warmer for them and made bottle feeding easier for us during the wee small hours!
They now sleep in the stable and then are outside in a pen on the lawn in the sunny weather. They are a delight to watch, teetering on their long spindly legs or curled up together asleep on the straw.
We are looking forward to watching them grow stronger but the TLC we can give is still second best to being with mum, however we will do our best for them both.
