What is lambing season?
Most people know the 4 main seasons of the year but when you raise sheep, lambing season is the 5th season!! This year as in previous years the lambs were due to arrive around March 5 & the first ones arrived March 5th, pretty lucky I would say!
The steps to getting things ready are somewhat involved. In my last post, I showed all of you the shearing of the sheep which is done usually a couple of weeks before the lambs start arriving. Once they are sheared and the time gets closer John keeps all the sheep in the barn.
This makes it easier to see what ewe (female sheep) might be getting close to delivering her lambs. In some situations, their feed is increased to help them put on some weight if needed.
According to Sheep 101:
Lambing Season: A Normal Delivery
Most ewes give birth to their lambs without any difficulty or need for assistance from the shepherd or a veterinarian. Normal presentation is the nose and two front legs, one lamb at a time. A backward delivery (hooves pointed down) is also considered normal, though many shepherds will provide assistance if they observe this situation.
John has been fortunate this year that many have been normal delivieries but he has had to help a couple!
How many lambs can a sheep have?
Ewes usually give birth to 1 to 3 lambs each year. Birthing is called lambing. Twin births ( two babies) is most common in well-managed flocks and with many breeds of sheep. First-time moms, especially yearlings, are more likely to have single births, though twins are not uncommon in some breeds. Ewes produce their largest litters of lambs when they are between the ages of 3 and 6.
If you want to learn more info on lambing here
http://www.sheep101.info/lambing.html is a great website to check out!
The more lambs a ewe has the more feed she needs to produce the milk for them. Having a ewe raise twins is ideal however sometimes for some unknown reason a mother will reject one of her lambs. This is when milk replacer is used. Right now John is bottle-feeding one lamb 3 times a day! It has become quite tame which the grandkids are excited about!!

Oh, Rose, Busch Gardens is a wonderful place to enjoy w/ your family! The Grands would love it! But what an honor to have BG approach John about his lambs, gives me smiles b/c Colonial Williamsburg, just beside BG, is my home town. They, also, have lambs there & those lambs have been a big draw over the year. They are quite the subject of many captures taken!
Yes we are excited & hope they decide to buy a few from us!! I think it would be a great place to visit!!