March Lamb Update

We’re making progress now, but the lambs weren’t fans of the halter originally.

Violet and Ice are now a month old, and they’ve grown a lot. They’ve started to eat solid food and have lost their tails. They’re getting more playful, and I’ve started halter breaking them.

The only negative thing that’s happened so far was Violet’s eye infection. I think Rosie must’ve gotten a piece of straw or a wood chip stick on her wool, and Violet must’ve hit her eye on it when she was nursing. This caused her to get a small eye infection. Fortunately, a little saline and time cleared it up. Now, it’s completely healed.

Although the lambs are still nursing, they’ve started to eat solid food more. I’ve seen them chewing on hay, and they always rush to get some of Rosie’s feed whenever I feed her. I’ve been letting them out of the stall daily to play with Rosie, Posie, and their goat kid friend, Goatee. They’re getting more curious about things, and they’ve been climbing all over the hay bales outside their stall.

Now, I’m working on halter breaking. The term sounds harsh, but it’s a simple process. I’m getting them used to being caught, haltered, and released. I’m also starting to walk them. Right now, they don’t have too much of an incentive, but once it gets a little nicer out and they’re a little older I’ll start taking them for walks and tying them outside. This will help them learn that work is a positive thing.

As I explained in some of my earlier articles, when you show a sheep, you do it without a halter. This means you have to hold your hand under their chin and walk them like that. You also need to brace them by stretching out their hind legs and making them lean against you. I’m slowly introducing this into my daily routine too. This way, the lambs are used to it and it’ll be much easier later on. Smoky was not used to being touched, and that’s why he was so much harder to train. These lambs will both be easier. Although I’m off to a slow start so far, I’m making it a lot easier for later on.