Colostrum is the superfood of lambs; it is the fuel that jumpstarts life and organisms – and pooping.

Many adorable things happen on farms; there is usually a less endearing backside to every story.

At first, his mother abandoned him, but we got her to nurse him and accept him just in the nick of time. The colostrum is flowing.

Colostrum milk is the first nutrition that comes out of the mother after birth. It is essential. Colostrum Poop, for lack of a more elegant term, is messy, sticky, and sometimes it hardens like a rock.

We scrape, cut or moisten the mess two or three times a week, which is essential, although colostrum only comes for a day or so. Milk gives off yellowish poop as well.

Untended, it will attract hordes of flies and bugs in warm weather, and in cold weather, it can block up the anal passage.

If it’s a solid block, I might cut some of it away with surgical scissors; Maria is good at holding the lame still and out in the sunlight. That is the last resort, though.

We use coconut oil to soften the colostrum poop, and the subsequent poop; some people use baby wipes or vaseline.

We also put vaseline on Robin’s tail and anal area so the gook won’t set rock hard and stick to their tails and legs.

This is another reason for banding his tail to get it to fall off, so the anal area won’t be blocked.

The best sheep mothers will lick the mess off of their lamb’s rear. Laurie is a good mother, she is patient and generous with nursing, but for some reason, she isn’t conscientious about rear-end cleaning, at least not that we see.

Most of the ewes clean the babies and you don’t see it; when the lamb is a mess, you have to do it.

Sometimes, I make a bucket of warm water with a couple of drops of mild dishwashing liquid, then we use a rag and clean it that way.

I didn’t know about lamb butt cleaning when I first lambed 15 years ago.

I am a lot less queasy than I once was.