Oh Baby! Twins!

It’s a GIRL!!

When the first baby lamb was born on the farm, it was like Christmas morning!

Hugs. Smiles. Hustle + Bustle. Pure JOY! Excitement to the MAX!

Cottontail entered the world on a very cold day in January—and right into a whirlwind of confusion.

We had brought two ewes into the barn. One was obviously going to have a baby very soon, and since sheep don’t like to be alone, we brought in another ewe to keep her company while we waited.

We had just come home from grocery shopping when the boys ran into the barn to check on the sheep. Brant was super excited to find that a lamb had been born while we were gone. The lamb was pure white, just like the momma we thought was expecting. But to our surprise, the mostly black ewe—the companion—was the one mothering the little one!

Sure enough… Cottontail belonged to the ewe who was only in the barn for company! (We considered that a God Wink—thankfully, the right sheep was in the barn at the right time!)

A week later, we had all the excitement again—but this time, with TWO babies!!

It’s a GIRL! …and another GIRL!!! (Before all this farm life, I was completely outnumbered by boys, so it’s fun adding more girls around here!)

In the first week of February, the ewe we had been waiting on finally gave birth to a black-and-white spotted baby. It was so cute! It had a perfect black circle around its eye and looked like a tiny dairy calf.

As we all tried to stay calm and ooh and ahh over the baby, our dog Daisy started going crazy! She was barking and pawing at the hay pile behind the new momma’s pen. Assuming she was just chasing a mouse or a toy, we took her out of the barn so she wouldn’t add any stress to the new mom.

But our curious 7-year-old went to check what she had been barking at… and to our surprise, he found another baby lamb!!!

Yes! Our dog could smell the lamb, which had somehow maneuvered its way out of the pen.

Immediately, I yelled to Curtis, “THERE’S ANOTHER BABY OVER HERE!”

He came running, scooped it up, and was so relieved to find it was breathing. He placed it back with its mom, but she kept rejecting her—nudging her out of the way and ignoring her completely.

As we watched, the tiny lamb squirmed through the fence again, right back to the same spot where we had just found her!

The boys put up a board to block the gap, and we placed the baby back in, but unfortunately, the mom continued to reject her. To make sure she was getting colostrum, the boys took turns holding the mom so baby RaeRae could nurse.

For the first 24 hours, we did this every couple of hours. Eventually, we decided that bottle-feeding was the best way to keep her safe and alive.

One lesson I’ve learned quickly in this season of raising animals? Put your pride aside and ask for help!

The livestock community is so generous with advice. After reaching out to friends, we decided to feed RaeRae whole cow milk.

I’m sure the store manager got a kick out of me grabbing everything anyone suggested for the new baby. Looking back… I probably looked like a first-time mom grabbing whatever seemed useful! I even came home with a HUGE bottle—Curtis just shook his head and helped me sort out what we actually needed and what could be returned.

They say the first 48 hours are critical for a lamb—and we made it!

Cottontail, Oreo (aka MooMoo), and RaeRae all survived and are now thriving!!

Living a Life Set Apart,

- Rach

Scripture:

"Always be joyful, never stop praying." — I Thessalonians 5:16-17

Quote:

"Babies are like little suns that, in a magical way, bring warmth, happiness, and light into our lives."