The lambing issues continue on several levels. Ma’s twins are still small and she is still struggling to keep her udder full. We are responding with grain, supplements for her and the lambs.  As wild as the lambing was and is, the odd thing is that it really was quite normal for lambing. We had four lambs, lost one. Staying up night and day and dealing with all sorts of crises is really the norm in the real world of real animals. Two weeks ago, one of the donkeys bit and stomped Liam, who is now the size of a small bear. Since then, we have kept the donkeys quarantined in the side pasture. Today, we began our return to the Peaceable Kingdom, which is the hallmark of Bedlam Farm.

The donkeys didn’t bother much with the lambs, but Simon and Ted have been brawling all afternoon, Ted doesn’t want Simon anywhere near the lambs, and today he rammed Simon right in his private parts and got kicked in the head in return. The two were squaring off all afternoon in a major testosterone showdown. We stayed while things settled down a bit and put the donkeys in the rear pasture, Lulu’s Crossing.

The donkeys and the ewes and lambs are fine. Tomorrow, two of our sheep are departing. Ted the ram is going back to Vermont and he is taking Kim, our small Asian Karakul sheep. We don’t want or need all of this sheep, with these two gone we will have eight. Maria was upset at the idea of any of the sheep leaving, and we talked about it quite a bit. I think we need to carefully manage the number of animals here, we probably will return the two new chicks we have as well.

I knew Maria wouldn’t go for any of the lambs or their mothers leaving, and they are her sheep, so this is a good compromise.

With Ted gone, we will return the donkeys to the pole barn and the main pasture, the Peaceable Kingdom will return.