Day 5

Hello everyone! We had a busy day today! There were quite a few ewes that had lambs today, one weighing in at 5.4 kilos, which is equivalent to 11.9 pounds!!!!! SHE IS HUGE! We had to assist the ewe during the birth just because the lamb was so big! The ewe seemed to appreciate the help though.

An interesting thing happened as well. There was one lamb that was part of a set of triplets that was missing a large chunk of fur on its face! Not really sure what is going one with this little one, but the siblings do not have this. Any ideas??


We had an unfortunate run in with recessive genetics today. A lamb was born with a "Split Spine". At first we couldn't understand why he wasn't standing up. At first Helgi believed it might be White Muscle Disease, or some other form of vitamin/mineral deficiency. Come to find out, there was a space near the hind legs where the spine just stopped forming, and the result rendered the poor lamb paralyzed in his hind legs. One of the farm's employees had seen this before, and said that there was a small bare patch near the hind legs, which was a key indication of the split spine, and that there was simply nothing that could be done to save it. One area of farming that is difficult to come to terms with sometimes is that not all animals can be saved. This little lamb was euthanized today and though it was sad to see, it was necessary. The lamb would have suffered since he couldn't fend for himself, he couldn't stand up to get milk from the ewe, and it would have been to intensive to provide for him, if he was able to survive through the night at all. Needless to say, it was hard to see a cute little lamb pass, but he was very well looked after for his short time on Earth.

OH! When I mentioned the Motherless Lamb project, I misspoke. There will actually be 4 groups, totaling around 40 lambs! Not 4 lambs in 2 groups. OOPS!!!  We began building the pens for them today! I was able to use the electric saw and the screw driver! I LOVE POWER TOOLS!!!!!!!

Scott and I are getting very good at surveillance now. Walking slowly near each pen to check for signs of lambing, especially water sacs or little hooves, or with my luck, small heads sticking out of places when you aren't expecting it!

Scott and I have discussed how absolutely fabulous this experience is lately. The knowledge we have gained would not have been attainable had we not embarked on this journey (maybe somewhere down the road, but not to this magnitude). There are very few farms like this in the United States, and being able to experience a new culture has added on to the adventure for us. We love being here at Hestur Farm, and we love all of the incredible stories that we will carry close to our hearts for a very long time to come.
Thanks again for all the support everyone!

**If there are any questions that our viewers would like to ask, please feel free!!! If I cannot answer something I will ask Snaedis her opinion and report back!!