I Want My Maaaammy

Today was working day with the sheep. Some of the lambs needed a vaccine and we dewormed all of the sheep. Most of the moms were overloaded with parasites. I can tell this by looking at the skin inside their eyes. A bright red is good ... pure white is very bad. It means the worms are depleting their iron. Lambing and lactating really takes a toll on the ewes. I have one ewe that can't lamb and she is always the picture of health. The rams also look great.

Half of the lambs were ready to be weaned. But I thought since the moms were struggling, I'd wean just about everyone. So into separate pastures they went. I don't know if I can even begin to put into words what it's like to have 11 crying lambs non-stop for 24 hours. My sheep say "maa" rather than "baa." When they are mad, they say "MAAAAAAAA!" When they are really mad, it becomes multi-syllable, "MAAAHHH-AAAHHH-AAAA" and their voice goes up and down in octaves. Some start to sound like they are losing their voice. Some sound like they are crying. Some sound really mad. "I want my mom and I want her NOW!!!" It's pathetic and funny all at the same time. I was able to capture a short video of one of the lambs last night. Take a look ...



Meanwhile over in the mom's pasture, not a sound. "Ahhh, freedom ... finally. I can eat in peace without two little creatures coming up and attacking my udder until my back feet leave the ground."

We had to sleep with the furnace fan on to drown out the noise. Thankfully, that worked. I'm quite sure no creature on 4 legs got any sleep last night.

This morning, I was concerned a bit for the moms. They were clearly very full of milk. So I let them back to their babies for breakfast and lunch. Then the boys helped me separate them again. And do you know ... shhh...listen ... silence!! They are quiet now. Yippee!