We have been waiting on lambs for what seems like forever.  The calculated due date approached…and then, passed.  By a few weeks.  Just as I was feeling the let-down that comes from unrewarded anticipation, my husband woke me Thursday night and gently told me to go down to the barn.  I dressed hastily and easily overcame my fear of being outside in the middle of the night on my own…ever since coming across a cougar in our compost pile several years ago.  The lure of a newborn lamb squelched any such lingering worries.

In the barn, I sat in the lambing jug (a small quiet space made for new mamas and babies) watching my favourite sheep, Posey, with her big, beautiful ram lamb…Yarrow.  (All Posey’s offspring will be named for flowers).  He is so adorable and I’m hoping for a gorgeous fleece as he is a cross between a merino mama and a romney papa.

For our first lamb born on the farm, this was as easy a birth as could be hoped.  Posey is a natural mama and her instincts were strong and self-assured.  She gently cooed to her newborn son as sheep do…sort of like a human repeating “Aaaaaawwwww” but in a bleating sort of way.

After a few hours, I returned to my own bed, knowing that Posey and Yarrow were cuddling together in their lambing jug.  They stayed in there for 2 days to ensure nursing and bonding…and on day 3, Yarrow stepped out of the barn into the big, wide pasture to meet the rest of the flock, and Clover the guardian dog…who assumes her only role in life now is to fuss over and protect Yarrow.

With the first five days of his life going so beautifully, Yarrow is thriving and growing beyond all expectations.  A sheep friend thinks he will make a fine breeding ram as he is so big and healthy.

I’m so grateful for this smooth and easy introduction to lambing…since Yarrow arrived, there have been two more additions to the flock and another on the way right now.  Yarrow will be a good big brother to all his flockmates…I look so forward to all the leaping and bouncing lambies filling up our pasture.  In the meantime, it looks like this little guy needs a little rest before it gets really exciting around here!