Monday, February 12, 2007

Lamb Antics

I get such a kick out of watching the lambs grow. Their behavior totally reminds me of children growing. First they start testing things – straying away from their moms for a few minutes. They’ll cry out with a “baaaaah” and their mom will answer from across the barn or field “baaaaaah” back. It’s amazing how they can find each other again – and quickly. The little lamb will punch at its mom’s udder, take a quick drink of milk. Then a couple minutes later, they will again join their gang of friends and they’ll all hang around together for awhile until they need another snack.

They also become amazingly athletic and acrobatic and are as quick as lightening. They can jump up in the air on all fours - I've heard it called "spronging" and it is the perfect description. Last week, Marcy asked me if the lamb-pedes had begun. Well, Marcy, they have - tonight when I arrived at the field there were about 35 lambs racing in a pack in circles around the field. The Farmer says they do it every evening at around sunset. They must know that their day is over and it will be time for a night's rest - only to begin again in the morning.

I didn't realize they knew how to dance - but this one definitely does.

14 comments:

Marcy said...

Fabulous photos, Kristin! I've never seen stills of lambies spronging before. Bouncy little blurs--perfect!

Anonymous said...

this is a pure joy to look at, and i can tell you were smiling when you took the pictures! these little lambs are so cute, and are lucky to be loved so. thank you for letting me in on this wondrful moment.
emily
emilia_7@excite.com

Susanne said...

I have been sharing your wonderful "lamb stories" with my gd and we are both enthralled! What a lovely documentation for all of us to enjoy and they are very precious little ones!! THANK YOU!

Anonymous said...

I love your blog !!!! and I just love all the pics of the lambs and the dialogue. I first started reading your blog for the knitting content but I just love all the farm "stuff" too

pacalaga said...

"lamb-pede" just became a candidate for my favorite word ever. Love it, and the speedy lamb photos too.

Anonymous said...

wonderful photos - i am not familiar with lambs, but foals do the same thing, very human baby like. Those action pictures are really terrific.

Peg-woolinmysoup said...

Lam Dancing - wonderful! Thanks for the photos. I am glad I did not see these on Friday, as I had a delicious meal of lamb chops (cooked by DH, which made it even better) and I would not want to think of those cute little faces and now I stopped the dance!
Always wanted to be a farmer's wife, and now I can live it through your farm reports. I love it!

Anonymous said...

So adorable!!!! Thanks for posting these cute cute cute pictures!!!!

Mia said...

I am surprised that you were able to get a shot of one of the lambs staying still. I watch them at the sheep festival and they are always in motion. I wonder how a video of them would turn out.

somebunnysloveDOTcom said...

I really love those photos. These are awesome!
=:8

LeeAnn said...

My sister was a big sheep fan and eventually Dad let her get a little ewe to raise for the fair. She grew and had babies and they were always fun to watch. Later a neighbor had some premeies which my sis nursed all winter/spring long in the mud room. Only as they got older they thought they owned the house, which did not make my Mom happy at all. She found them sleeping on the couch one day. Out the door they went!

fibergal said...

You are right - sweet faces on those sheep. I just wish you had video of the lambs leaping. What fun!

Anonymous said...

Dear Kristin,
I just wandered onto your blog and what a great surprise! Thank you for all the sheep info, keep it coming! I am a knitter and a fan of anything British, so when my husband took me to England we went to the Cotswolds during lambing season. We kept hoping to spot new lambs as we drove around and were very much disappointed until we stayed the night at a working farm B&B. We were thrilled to find that they were in the throws of lambing. We helped bottle feed bummer lambs and were surrounded by pens and pens of lambs and ewes. It was quite a hilarious situation to walk by the large pen of a hundred or so soon due ewes, who baa'd at us all at once! What a chorus! We walked on air back to our room, relishing in our find. A memory we will never forget.By the way, I learned that the sheep there are raised for carpet wool! Hard to find a good yarn shop in the Cotswolds! Who would have known? I have had goats for about 6 years, have bred them about 5 times, and have milked them , more for the experience for our family than out of necessity. The kids leaping around the pasture is the best part! We have 13 children and live in a semirural suburb where folks only have animals for fun. I dream of having sheep one day, and doing the fleece to sweater thing. My hubby enjoys watching his wife be a "farm girl", as it isn't what he thought he married. At least now I can visit your "virtual farm", even if I don't get my dream. Thank you! By the way, my ten year old daughter is named Kristin too!
Blessings,
Wendy

Anonymous said...

I've loved reading your blog for a while now, and remembering growing up in MA... and now the lamb photos! They are just wonderful. I hope you're all enjoying this time together.

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