Lambing Time Already?

Phil unloaded the cattle panels and the T-posts, after he accidentally backed the trailer into our darned trench. Thankfully, Samson-the-dually pulled the trailer out, so Phil returned it without further mishap. That took all morning.

This afternoon, he drilled holes. On his second hole, the entire auger suddenly fell off the machine. He and Isaiah spent an hour wrestling it into place. Isaiah really helped: he drove the skid steer and lowered the arm and basically aided Phil however he needed it.

I was blissfully unaware of this trauma until the very end. But then I was frantic: we will never get these holes all dug, if we have to deal with leaking hydraulic fluid (Phil returned that first hydraulic unit today for a non-leaking one), and augers suddenly falling off the machine. Good gracious! What a mess!

But Phil remained unconcerned and plugged away, and managed to finish about 25 holes by the time darkness fell. I was proud of him.



My day was spent in terror/elation at what I thought was the imminent birth of our first lamb. As I looked at our full-blooded Dorset, Ashley, this morning, I noticed first that she looked really, really skinny, with protruding hip bones. Actually, my first thought was, “She dropped!” And then I noticed that her udder was swollen to the size of a minibasketball, or maybe a bit bigger. Since her udder used to be virtually invisible, that was an interesting development. AND she’s been standing up more, and been more friendly toward me, the human midwife.

All these signs, apparently, the books say could point to labor. But, like with women, the signs come at different times for different animals, and mean different things. So Ashley could give birth tonight, or she could give birth in a month. Since she was penned with a ram until we bought her, she could give birth at just about any time, and we'll have no way of knowing unless she gives us more definite signs.

I had figured I had a month to prepare, so I frantically read through all the basic info I could find on lambing. I think it comes down to just a lot of prayer. Vet bills will be more than the replacement cost of the animal; it’s distressing to think that a lamb and an ewe could die on my watch. I am praying instead that our flock will be like Jacob’s, where it increased in vigor and number because God blessed it.