Asha's Lamb-Along Spring 2026

[Asha_Gail]

I've seen so many fun hatch-alongs popping up and I long to participate! But alas, woe is me for I cannot partake in the hatching of the eggs. For I am too busy hatching lambs instead!

Every year I attempt, (key word here is "attempt"), to track the totals of my flock's lambing.

I have done so for about... eh, lets go with five years.

I succeeded once. Miraculously.

So, as always, try try again!

I may not be able to partake in the hatch-along but I can participate in my own little way! So my plan is to update the count daily (I am 100% positive I am being overconfident) and share at least one new picture (I am 100% sure that last part is doable. I take So many pictures!) Feel free to watch as I drown in lambs and go further down the sleep deprivation rabbit hole! Questions, commentary, etc are always welcome!

Without further preamble, starting statistics!

Start Date: Friday, March 13th
# of Ewes: 251
# Left to Lamb: 247
# of Lambs: 0

 

[Asha_Gail]

Pictured: Lily, a bottle baby from last spring. She's a bit of a pet and will be having her first lambs this season

 

[Callender Girl]

Lamb "hatching" takes me back to my childhood and the wonder of seeing those wobbly little critters take their first steps into the world.

I also remember that our ewes (too) often chose the coldest, windiest, snowiest days to drop lambs with no regard for being INSIDE the shed, not out in the drifts.

I was the designated bottle-baby feeder. Dad sold all the lambs EXCEPT one little blind one that he let me keep.

Best wishes with lambing and posting about lambing!!

 

[Skyeknight]

Sounds lovely to hear how the Lambing goes! I also own sheep, although not nearly as many as you do. Almost halfway through the lambing season already. What breed of sheep do you own? How many lambs on average per sheep?

 

[Asha_Gail]

Lamb "hatching" takes me back to my childhood and the wonder of seeing those wobbly little critters take their first steps into the world.

I also remember that our ewes (too) often chose the coldest, windiest, snowiest days to drop lambs with no regard for being INSIDE the shed, not out in the drifts.

I was the designated bottle-baby feeder. Dad sold all the lambs EXCEPT one little blind one that he let me keep.

Best wishes with lambing and posting about lambing!!

Oh yes! Those first little fumbles are rhe best, once they're up you feel so much better about things. Up and nursing? All is right in the world!

Our barn keeps them inside but there's one corner in the back that always gets some of the outside weather, snow and sleet and rain and wind. Where do the girls decide is The Prime Lambing Spot? Right in the giant puddle.

My dad has designated me as the bottle baby feeder lol, but occasionally I can convince him to keep my favorite pets from that year. So now we have a handful of sweet little sheep in the flock that are a little Too friendly and always right in the way! (Still love em)

 

[Asha_Gail]

Sounds lovely to hear how the Lambing goes! I also own sheep, although not nearly as many as you do. Almost halfway through the lambing season already. What breed of sheep do you own? How many lambs on average per sheep?

Most of the fellow sheep producers I know personally are also almost through their lambing, a few years back we chose March for the nicer temperatures so we're often a bit behind XD

We have all Polypay, its of American origin (in the 70's from out west I think?) and quite prolific. "Dual-purpose" but I would describe it more as a high producing sheep with the body to suport itself. Good udder, lots of milk, and lots of lambs to drink the milk. I love them, definitely a commercial breed though. The big thing they're known for is the fact that they can lamb twice a year. (We don't practice that tho)

Twins are what we get in majority. Then depending on the year we can have more triplets than singles, but usually the order goes Twins, Singles, followed closely by Triplets, and Quads. We're at around 200% lambing rate. Some say to automatically pull a triplet lamb so that the ewe has twins to take care of but most of ours handle it just fine. We keep a close eye on them still and pull to bottle if anyone shows weakness. We've had a couple of ewes successfully raise quadruplets too.