avril 6-7: Sheep!

Yesterday we had the first lamb of the season! He was born in the early evening out in the field since David hadn’t taken the sheep in for the night yet. It was incredibly cold here yesterday, or at least incredibly cold for April in Normandy. We had a bit of snow and hail and sleet, so the little lambie was given a heat lamp indoors to warm up. It’s kind of strange to be all excited about this new birth and have David say (since it was a boy), “Oh, well there’s a nice lunch at Chez Roger.” They are being raised for meat, but the immediate connection from birth to death is a bit unsettling. That’s the difference between farm animals and others, I suppose.

That said, he is a cute little thing. He was very wrinkly, I guess not unlike us when we’re babies. But unlike us, they can stand up within minutes of being born which is a good thing since that’s the only way they’re going to get anything to eat.

This morning I helped out David and next-door neighbor farmer Jean giving a few sheep what was essentially a very crude bikini wax. The youngest mommy sheep who’ve never been shorn are a big long in wool, and the crusty, matted (with poo) wool could make delivery difficult. So Jean caught the sheep by the ankle with a crook and flipped then flipped her on her back. While David held her two front feet, me one back, and Jean the other, he proceeded to give them a nice short clipping with scissors around their bums. It was quite a feat to hold them still sometimes, but who would really want to be flipped upside down and subjected to such an indignity? All for the best during their deliveries, though.

Baby number two came midday today, another boy, and he’s got black wool.

It’s especially nice to see the babies now because we had one sheep die since I’ve been here. She had had bronchitis for a month and was pregnant. Even with antibiotics – not normally given during a pregnancy, but necessary here – she didn’t get any better. A few days ago, she started giving birth, but really aborting. The baby was stillborn, and the mother was very sick, so they vet came out and put her down. She’s now waiting to be picked up by the service that all farmers pay in to together.

I’m hoping for even more babies before I leave.