Objective Method to Determine Proper Birthing Practices

In the night last night I had a sudden insight into how I could tell if a first year Babydoll ewe was too small to give birth: I could weigh the little ram lamb and compare newborn sizes with lambs from older ewes.

That was very helpful. Our ram crop last year had Benny, weighing in at a hefty 7lb 13oz (as well as his deceased twin who was over 6lb). From a different ewe, we had Bouncy, a good bit smaller, but weighing 6lb 9oz. The baby yesterday was only 3lb 13oz, and he was a tight squeeze.

That was an objective way to tell that, yes, indeed, the first year ewes shouldn't be giving birth. We'll know better for next time. (I think there are flocks that are run as a mob, keeping all the males and females together, but the Babydolls shouldn't be run like that. Maybe we'll look into other breeds.)

In between errands, Phil hooked up the drip lines to water the first section of the garden. Quite magical, to have all those tomatoes getting drips of water automatically. He also plowed a major portion of the market garden (after first spreading the peat moss), which made the landscape, once again, shift dramatically. Sadly, I was planting sweet potato slips until dark, so I have no photos of the newly progressing landscape.