We had our first purebred Romney lamb born today, a beautiful girl to our 4-year-old ewe, Swiss Miss. Lolo was working with some contractors at our barn and saw Swiss Miss up in the pasture with the pregnant ewes, baaing like crazy and looking like she was searching for a lamb. This is behavior we often see when a ewe is in early labor–she loses a bit of birth fluids and the smell of those fluids makes her believe she has already had a lamb! Lolo brought all the flock down to the barnyard because he would never have gotten Swiss Miss to come down by herself (the Romneys are not as tame as the East Friesians). Linda and I watched her for an hour as she methodically went through labor and delivered a beautiful girl all on her own. Before the lamb was born, when Swiss Miss was in the throes of labor, our very concerned guardian dog, Orbit, got close to make sure she was OK. Swiss Miss was in “fierce mother” mode and CHARGED Orbit and very nearly caught him! Orbit was chastened and took up a position further away to watch the delivery. After the lamb was born, Linda was able to pick up the lamb and softly croon to Swiss Miss to bring her into the barn in pursuit of her new lamb. We got mother and babe into a jug and weighed the lamb and got her nursing. All in all, it was a joy to see how fiercely independent and self-sufficient these Romney ewes are!
