‘Ewe’ better believe it…It’s Lambing Season!

Here in the Midwest, Spring is one of the most magical times of the year! Plants, insects (including mosquitoes!), and animals begin to emerge from their winter beds, trees begin to display the starts of their summer foliage, and Mother Nature likes to surprise us with freezing temps and a snowstorm in late April as a ‘third winter’ prank. However, at Family Roots Farm, spring is more than just new growth and mud baths…it’s lambing season! 

Hi! I’m Jen, owner of Family Roots Farm – an 80-acre farm near Christine, ND just outside of the Fargo-Moorhead area. My small, diverse family farm offers many farm-raised items such as produce, fresh herbs, raw honey, eggs, jam, pickles, and various meats including chicken, pork, and lamb. I take great pride in my strong belief that good food starts with how it’s grown…and raising my animals with respect is just one of the many ways I take my job as steward seriously.

Now, back to the overload of cuteness we call LAMBS!

‘Lambing season’, as we call it, refers to the time of year when lambs are born. The gestation period for sheep is approximately 152 days (5 months) – which means ‘lambing planning’ started back in December of last year. Most farmers will breed their sheep in the October-November timeframe. However, due to my farm’s shelter constraints, my breeding schedule starts December 1st with the introduction of my breeding ram, Eddie. This later breeding allows me to begin the lambing season around May 1st when temps start to warm up and threats of hypothermia are greatly diminished. Sheep come into heat every 16 to 17 days, so I typically keep Eddie in with the ewes (female sheep) for a couple months, just in case they don’t ‘catch’ right away. Then – BAM!! – 5 months later, I have very pregnant ewes, eager to deliver the new lambs.

During the 5 month gestation period, ewes are fed a nourishing diet of alfalfa, grains, and a specialized pellet that ensures they receive all the necessary nutrients for proper health and growth. And don’t worry…these North Dakota winters are no match for a pregnant ewe! With a thick wool coat and a nice layer of fat, these girls are kept toasty warm all winter long, even when they choose to sleep outside in a winter storm (true story!).

I promise…we are getting to the adorable lamb part!

No one knows when ewes will lamb, or how many they carry…it’s like a ticking time bomb of cuteness waiting to go off at any time…seriously. Ewes can lamb at any hour of the day…or night. Yes, 3am does exist. Since sheep labor can start quickly, with little to no warning, it is important I perform regular barn checks. Sometimes I can accomplish this using a camera that I have mounted in my small barn. However, as I found out the hard way this year, ewes can choose to lamb outside where the camera can’t see them. And once one decides to do this, the rest follow suit…I now officially have a tree in the paddock nicknamed The Birthing Tree. For multiple weeks, alarms are set throughout the day and night, ensuring that I remember to check for laboring ewes every 2-3 hours. As I make my rounds, I am watching for certain ‘signs’ within my herd to see if an ewe is getting close to birthing. Commonly, they will withdraw from the others in the herd, perhaps even reduce their eating, or decide to lay in one spot. Sometimes they will start pacing the paddock, looking for a preferred place to bring little cuties into the world. And other times they will act perfectly normal, making you think all is well, and then drop babies an hour later in a remote location not easily seen (another true story!).

Generally, farmers will work on selecting their breeding stock for various characteristics, with one being the ability to produce healthy babies with little to no assistance. But even the best and most experienced ewes can experience problems. The reason I check on my herd so frequently is because issues do arise, no matter how careful we are with our livestock. Lamb Watch 2024 was certainly a difficult one. I had so many ‘first’ experiences this year – while these challenges pose as great learning experiences, loss is always the most difficult part of caring for livestock. This is the first year I have ever had to deal with pregnancy toxemia, vaginal prolapse, and incorrect presentation, all of which unfortunately resulted in loss. Although I feel better equipped if it happens again, it is still very difficult to process.

Don’t worry –  most lambing experiences DO end on a positive note! This was my first year ever having triplets! Yes, TRIPLETS…and THREE sets of them!! It is common for sheep to produce twins, and many times a singleton; however, triplets don’t happen as often, but that depends on the breed of sheep. Being a mother to twins myself, I know how difficult it is to care for multiples. Sometimes certain ewes are able to care for all their lambs, as long as they are able to produce enough milk to meet demand, and ensure all babies are nursing regularly. However, it is also common to pull a lamb and feed it by bottle. Typically, I ensure the lamb is able to stay with its mother, and only bottle feed as a supplement. There are times where the situation warrants pulling the lamb completely from the mother, which results in them imprinting on humans as ‘mother’, and then becoming the cutest, and most expensive, bottle babies!

Raising livestock is not for the faint of heart, but seeing those little cuties jumping around, playing with each other…I will happily let them melt my heart any day.