Let the [Soay sheep] Games Begin!
Having now dithered for a full two weeks trying to figure out a way to introduce our lambs, I have given up on the notion of an orderly, grown-up recitation of the lambs as they arrive, complete with mini-pedigree and a clever phrase about each one. My downfall was watching the little woolies cavorting about in the Maternity Ward.
Duh — how about sharing some of that fun instead of yammering about lineage? You would prefer that? So would I, at least until Steve finds out and makes me go back to serious heritage questions.
For three years straight the lambs have shown us by example precisely when they are ready for their first taste of freedom from tagging along after mama every waking moment. Imitating the big girls, they jump into the portable hay wagon (a.k.a. garden cart) and play with the hay, pretending to eat with all the earnestness they can muster. Sometimes the game ends when too many of them move to one end of the cart, upending it with a great flurry of mock-horrified lambs. Here’s the squad crowding in, all of them only 3 or 4 days old. Meanwhile, one would think that a day-old lamb would be content with her mother’s milk, but not our Borrowby. Does she call to mind the old adage, “the grass is always greener”? I shudder to think what she’ll do when she gets old enough to go after real grass.I sense a theme developing. Here is Bowie checking out the buffet line in our Shaul feeders.
Mind you, the lambs do not really eat solid food for some days yet, but by golly they are going to have their chewing and sniffing skills honed when the time comes.
Our first lambing year with Soay sheep I was surprised to see the lambs engaging in what looked for all the world to be teething. Hadn’t even thought about it, but no harm done. Even if I had stocked up on those hard rubber gadgets human babies use when the Ryecrisp runs out, they would have gone to waste. As Catalina demonstrates, the lambs much prefer the edges of the portable hay wagon. Not all the lamb activities are food-oriented, although it seems that way most of the time. Here is little Bisbee looking up at Llucy, pretty clearly thinking to herself, “you are an awfully big sheep. Will I be that tall when I grow up?” Someone asked us the other day if there is a measurable difference in the sizes of Soay sheep. Catalina again assists with a demonstration. She is the biggest lamb we have ever had, weighing in at a hefty seven and a half pounds right after birth. Contrast that with Arivaca, the smaller lamb in this picture, who weighed only five and a half pounds after his first feeding. Even Arivaca is large compared to our average lamb weight, which is comfortably under five pounds. And besides that, Arivaca is four days older than Catalina. With the steep growth curve these lambs experience in their first three or four weeks, the difference in size is even more pronounced.There is always a game of King-of-the-Mountain going on in the Maternity Ward. Who knows which of the little ruffians are in this picture, but they are mighty grateful to Steve for arranging a “safe” place for them to test their climbing skills. Of course, part of the game is to fall off and scramble back up for more. In the midst of all this folderol, long-suffering Llucy was trying her darnedest to help get Sandpiper’s second twin, Cascabel, back to his mama. Sandpiper did a spectacular job of getting the two lambs out and cleaned off, but then Cascabel simply wandered away. In this picture, Sandpiper is quite a ways off to the right with her first lamb, Calabasas. Appearances to the contrary, we do try for a modicum of scruffy gentility here at Saltmarsh Ranch, including in the Maternity Ward. Nothing captures this goal better than watching Amado and Arivaca out for an afternoon promenade with their mom, Willow.
Are you persuaded that decorum reigns on a Soay sheep farm? Don’t be. Tranquility, like fame, is fleeting. Within minutes of a peaceful walk, all of the lambs are likely to congregate and take off like Kentucky Derby contestants. As Steve put it when he saw the next picture, you cannot remain grouchy in a lamb pen. Involuntary belly laughs are the order of the day. Here is the first lap at Saltmarsh Downs. Not surprisingly, as fast as the little juvenile delinquents organize a game, they collapse for brief naps. I’ll close this post with an endearing little lamb asleep under the hay feeder.
May your lambs — and you — have this much fun and then some.
For now …
These pictures and this account are great! What fun…I’m so glad you put the progression of pictures here with the details of the new lambs.
I’m SO enjoying your blog! Thanks for sharing these 🙂
Hi Robbyn,
Thanks for commenting. When I know people are actually reading these posts it encourages me to keep going! You’ll enjoy the sequence showing Steve jugging that I just posted. Now I have to take a deep breath and figure out what other husbandry and pasturing practices we use that might be informative to other breeders. All suggestions welcome! Meanwhile, the sun finally has come out, the Maternity Ward is drying out, and we are eagerly awaiting the birth of our first llama baby. Never a dull moment! Priscilla