Here at Ashburn Hill Farm, we just finished our winter 2023-2024 lambing season. It was a successful season with multiple sets of twins and even one set of triplets born. Our herd currently consists of 29 ewes and 29 lambs. The herd has grown quite a bit since we “inherited” 21 ewes, four rams, and one Nubian goat when we bought our farm in the fall of 2022. We experienced a crash course in shepherding when our first lamb was born one month after the purchase of the farm. We named the lamb Holly, since she was born in December. After a few days, when we noticed Holly was becoming more and more lethargic, it became apparent that mama had little to no milk. (Later, after consulting with our vet, we came to the conclusion that the ewe was unable to successfully nurse her baby due to scar tissue from previous mastitis.) We began feeding Holly replacement formula and thought we were out of the woods. However, it wasn’t long before it became apparent that Holly had something else going on. After intense research, we were pretty confident that her symptoms pointed to joint ill. So, we started her on a round of antibiotics. There were days this little lamb could not even stand to drink her bottle, and we would hold her up between our knees as we squatted to feed her. We did everything we could to help Holly, and, by and by, she began to improve. All our time spent researching and feeding bottles and administering medications paid off. Things came full circle in January 2024 when she delivered a healthy lamb of her own. Holly, her little ram-lamb, and our whole herd is thriving, and, while we never intended to become or even imagined ourselves as sheep farmers, we now can’t imagine life any different.
