 Tabitha the Tunis First lamb of 2011 The
tunis was not expected to deliver until March, but the morning of Feb 10 after a cold and snowy night I discovered a tiny
newborn ewe lamb in the sheep shed. Since there was a jacob ewe standing near her I was confused as to how I had gotten
a solid colored lamb! Since mom was a first time mom and relatively new to the flock, so still shy, she was standing
at the back of the shed. I moved mom and baby to the warm barn, and made them comfortable. When I checked mom
I found that she did not have a fully developed udder. I took the little lamb into the house, bundled her in a warm
towel and placed her in a market basket to warm her up. Fortunately I could get the little one to drink from a bottle
and once she was warmed up, had a full belly, dressed in a stylish pulover made from the cut off sleeve of an old sweatshirt,
I put her back with mom. She survived the next chilly night and I continued to bottle feed her, while milking what little
milk I could from mom. Then on the fourth day Tabitha began to nurse off her mom. She loves to sleep on her moms
wide and wooly back, nurses from mom and gets a supplemental bottle every evening. When she was ten days old she visited
with a childrens choir at a local church, and handled it like a pro. But then again, don't all lambs ride in Subaru's,
wear sweatshirts and have two mommy's?
|
