We’re in full flood with feeding baby lambs - and it’s keeping us pretty busy!

Sadly, Rich’s pet sheep Pet died. She was very old, and he was worried about her this time around. She gave birth to a scrawny little lamb, and just didn’t have the strength to go on. It’s not the same, going down to the sheep shed, without Pet poking her head through the bars and demanding her special treat. Rich was very quiet for a few days…

But life on the farm goes on. Pet left a lamb we’ve named Rosie, who seems to be a fighter, so we’re feeding Rosie along with another lamb named Pickles, and of course there’s Joli’s special lamb, Mansel…Mansel is feisty and full of beans, gaining weight well. Joli is monitoring her milk amounts carefully, and had a nightmare the other night that Mansel got a pot belly! Welcome to the world of motherhood, I told her…

Mansel gets turned out now into the sheep field with the other sheep during the day, although she still sleeps inside under the heat light at night. Joli watches her anxiously, and reports that after a few days of bleating and hanging around by the gate, Mansel has made a lamb friend and seems to be fitting in nicely. 

Joli feeding Mansel

I’ve been bottle feeding the little kid goat, Lola, to get her calmed down and ready for milking when it’s her turn. So four times a day, Joli and I mix up milk, put measured amounts into four disinfected bottles, and troop out to the goat shed to feed lambs and goats.

Just when I thought I was finished feeding babies...

But Joli’s gone to spend the night with a friend, so I’ve been doing the feeding all alone! 

Last night Rich came out and split the feedings with me, but this morning I was completely on my own. I fed the three lambs, came back in, got a fresh bottle for Lola, plus the disinfected bowl that we milk into. Fed Lola, gave all the goats fresh feed, hay, straw and water. Then it was time to milk Buddug…

My latest challenge - goat milking!

Buddug has a lovely temperament, patient and gentle, but goat milking is an art that I haven’t quite mastered yet. Rich (who does the night milking) can do it in about ten minutes. But it takes me ages - you can’t pull on the teat, as you do with a cow. (Not, of course, that I know how to milk a cow!) But you have to pinch the teat between your thumb and forefinger, and then gently press the milk out with a flute-fingering motion - very tricky. 

The other day I had managed to wrestle a pint out of Buddug, after much foot stomping (hers and mine…) and set the milk down to put Buddug back in her stall. When I turned around, the $%^$$& cat was happily settled down, drinking my lovely fresh milk! 

“Mummy, you’re saying bad words again,” Benjamin told me solemnly. He was right…

So the cats got the milk that day, and I’ve developed a new system - the milk goes under a clean bucket while I finish the chores!

The milk is lovely - rich and sweet and not at all goat-ey. Benjamin loves it and asks for it, even over the dreaded juice that he adores. His eczema is clearing up, and his tummy seems to be in brilliant working order - so the milk is doing its job. 

There’s something wonderful about having our own farm milk…even if it’s a little hard to come by!

Our first pint of farm milk!