Weaning...Everyone is Crying!!!

So we are coming upon our fourth week of weaning, and I have to say it's been a pretty easy transition. The first week of course was hard for everyone, including myself. EVERYONE was crying. Lambs were crying for their mamas and their 24/7 food supply that also brought comfort. Mamas were crying as they could no longer have access to their babies. I felt horrible because I had just split up a bond. Sigh...but we got through it.

At first we put all the lambs together in a penned area where they would still have access to the barn and could comfort each other as they cried themselves to sleep. Mamas hung around for a couple of days so they could keep an eye on their little ones. After those two or three days of not having lambs attached to them, mamas were skipping through the fields with a renewed sense of freedom. They were literally doing side kicks in the air, giving each other high fives, drinking margaritas under the shade trees, and binge watching Netflix!!! Ok, maybe not really, but it was pretty funny to see them trot off and do their own thing.

However, we did have one sabotager...Felicity. She would constantly hang out by the side of the barn, in the trees, etc. so that she would always be in sight of her lamb, Apple. Then one day I caught her nursing Apple through the pen! Gah!!! That's when we made the decision to move the ram lambs over with the big boys in the other pasture and create a smaller pasture for ewe lambs where Felicity definitely would not be able to continue to nurse Apple. And that's where they've been for the past three weeks - growing, gaining independence, and learning to be a part of the flock, as opposed to being somebody's lamb.

Ram lambs have already established their place amongst the rams. It's wonderful to see them all hang out together. It will be interesting to see the ewe lambs take their place amongst the ewes and to see if they still have that special bond with their moms.

Breeding season is going to be here before we know it! And then the whole process will start over again with a new batch of lambs...I can't wait!!!