Nala's Lamb

Yesterday I felt pretty certain Nala was going to lamb overnight.  She was restless and didn't want anything to do with me or any other sheep which is unusual for her!  She also wasn't interested in treats...definitely not normal.  I checked on her at 11:00pm-ish and she wasn't in labor.  I checked at 2:30 am; still not in labor.  Then I fell asleep....and didn't wake up until 6:30am.  I went into the kitchen and looked out the window that overlooks the sheep pasture and saw Nala in one of the birthing sheds....

with a big bag of water hanging out of her bum!

I thought I had finally caught someone giving birth....but when I got out there, this is what I saw:

 A sweet wee black lamb peeking around Miss Nala!

(I was hopeful that water bag indicated there was another lamb on the way,

but no...it was just prior to the placenta coming out).

  It is a little ram lamb and Nala is very attentive to him.

He was still wet and Nala was very attentive about licking him clean, if not dry.

He is still covered in wet slimey sheepness in this photo.

I cut and dipped his umbilical cord and hung around a bit to see if he would nurse...he didn't seem to know what he was doing but had the general idea.  I made sure Nala was giving milk, and stripped a bit out...YES!

She has a nice big udder and plenty of milk.  I tried to show him where the teat was but he resisted.

I checked back a few times to see if he was having any luck but he was ready to sleep, and his mouth was warm and he seemed fine so I left them alone for awhile.

Meanwhile, the Vanimans showed up to gather some Bunny Poo for the school garden and they had their roto-tiller with them to use at the school.  They very generously offered its use to us so Will spent an hour tilling all our gardens while I chatted with Sue and Mark.

This is his-self at six hours old.  

I finally did see him nursing...slurping and guzzling and wagging that cute hairy tail of his.

His fleece is very consistent from shoulder to britch.  He looks a lot like his dad!

I can feel some horn nubbins on his head.

He is solid black except for about 30 white hairs on the top of his head.

I was surprised to get a solid lamb because evidently B.o.B carries spots and so does Nala  

He is very sweet.

I think Nala is quite smitten too.

Four more ewes to go....and I can't really tell who might be next at this point!