We were about to head out the door for a graduation party for one of our dearest friends and we were sitting in the car when Jessy says…  I think we should put the baby goats away before we leave.

I thought they would be fine…  we were only going to be gone a few hours and the back pasture has been really good now that we went over it with a fine tooth comb and all.  Still, I think okay, if you want to.  And off she goes. Maggie had forgotten something in the house, anyway, so it was fine.

Next thing I know, Jessy is hollering from the back pasture… Mom!!!   Mommie!!!!    Haha… I know when she calls Mommie, it’s a fun and come here now something neat is happening sort of call, so I get out of the car and halfway back, she’s telling me that Bridget had her baby!!!!

What?  Our last ewe decided to have her baby on the VERY first possible due date!  Unbelievable.  She must has been in heat and ready the very first day that Gideon was introduced to Tom’s flock.  Or perhaps she was a wee bit premature… hard to say for sure, but all I knew now was that we had a baby on the ground, and a grunting ewe in labor, still…

Well, the party had to wait, thank goodness it was an open hour sort of affair and we could still make it if we hurried…  Jessy ran and got Maggie and brought the lamb kit out and a soft fluffy towel.  I walked Bridget and little baby boy ram lamb over to the big barn.  The rest of the flock was crowding around like traffic accident gawkers until Maggie lured them off with some sweet feed.  (our favorite animal crack!)

The other big lambs wanted to play with their little brother!  Ugh!  No thank you, run and play.

I did the ewe-lamb shuffled out of the pasture and to the big barn.  We had to get them into a nice secluded place, because there was a chilly wind and the little babe was all wet and icky.  It was only about 70 degrees and that makes for a shivering little lamb.  Momma was trying to lick him clean, but he needed a little shelter and fast.

It sure seemed like she was in labor still, and hadn’t pass the afterbirth.  But nothing much was happening.  I took a chance and called my wonderful neighbors to see if they would check on her in an hour or so, so we could go to the party, make an appearance and know that she was being watched over.  Shetlands are really pretty good at birthing babies without issues.  We had had eight previous without a single need to intervene.   Yet, still, I worried.  She seemed mostly interested in her lamb, but still looked full in the lower belly.  Of course, Miss Julia was only so happy to!  She missed the other births and was excited to be around a possible second baby!

Well, we had a lovely time at the party, yet we were worried about our little ewe mom…  even though Miss Julia had all in hand and gave us text reports here and there.  Nothing was happening, yet, it seemed that she was still in labor… panting, laying down, getting up, fretting over her baby.

But by the time we got home, she had finally passed the afterbirth and was settled down and fine.  Her tummy had shrunk up considerably, and she was fine, just taking care of her little one.  I guess the hormones and such were just really working overtime with her, being a first lamb for a maiden ewe.  We kept a watch through the night, just to be sure, checking on her several times but no… just a single!  A tiny little single that we named Travis!

Just a little darling!  Another solid brown baby!  But love his head markings… very much like mom but darker.  Love his little white back leg socks!  Bridget is unrelated to our other ewes, so it was going to be interesting to see what her baby looked like!  I was sure hoping for spotted ewe lambs, but hey, we love little Travis anyway!   Next year I am going to hope for ram lambs!  haha….

We bunked mom and son in the alley way of the big barn beside Buttercup and Daisy’s stall and Ebony the pig’s stall. The other goat stall is currently the meat chicken hangout and kind of yucky.  (Meat chickens can be the yuckiest of all chicken coops, let me tell you!!!)  (And like overnight! They are due at freezer camp VERY SOON…. )

We didn’t want to put them with the main flock because sheep moms need a good 24-48 hours of bonding time with their little dumplings. It really is best.  And you can make sure the little fella is doing okay, feeding and getting around okay without having to chase mom all over the pasture.  It’s a good thing.

Still, I can’t help but imagine that Bridget was probably driven near nuts with the constant nickering and baaing of Buttercup and Daisy through the fence.

“So, is that your baby?”   “What’s his name?”  “Are you going to live here now?”  “Will he grow up big?”  “Do you think the pig will eat him?”  “Why is he brown?”  “Where is his dad?”  “Are you going to go back to the sheep flock soon?”  “Is he going to eat again?”  “Can we play with him?”  “Are you going to have another one?”

Ha ha ha….  You know.  A thousand questions from precocious little goat girls.

 

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