You are going to love this. 
The photos are terrible. 
They were taken last night and Mama will not tolerate the flash.
These snapshots, taken within the hour of their birth, under the barn light, show you really little. 
Except that there are four little lambs in fleecy coats milling about. That they had all had a drink from Mum.
But best of all it shows you that they are all alive and active.
The first lamb was born bottom first and was stuck, so he needed some help but after that they all came out smoothly and the right way around. I had been with Mama almost all yesterday working in and around the barn and waiting – every time I was out of her sight she would cry, she is a funny old thing.
Good morning. I shall take the cute lamb shots today. You would not believe the weather. It plummeted in the night. We have had a mixture of icy rain (that is freezing all the doors shut again as we speak) , blowing snow (that blew right past) and gale force arctic winds. Really awful winds. The barn is noisy with banging doors and rattling panes.
Four times in the night I fought my way out to the barn to get the lambs up for a drink from their Mum. I was afraid of them just going to sleep forever in this cold. The ice would blow in my face and the wind would whip into my eyes but right in the center of the barn was this little oasis of mother and crying babies. A pool of warm light in a pen totally blocked all the way around to prevent drafts. As I approached I could see Mama moving about her charges like an old experienced well rounded night nurse. It is 16F (-8C) now and still going down.
I hung a heatlamp, which makes me very nervous, but if these wee fellas (they are all male) get cold I will never get them warm again in these temperatures. You will remember that Mama has a wonky udder with a teat that has never been good, she does not have enough milk for four, so I know I will have to take over the feeding of two lambs. These two will gradually be fully adopted and swap over to Daisy milk while remaining with their little family – Mama and I will share their feeding as long as we can. This is how we always do it.
This is the third time Mama has given birth to quads, but previously one has always died at birth, so getting all four through is very satisfying.
It is 5.30am, time to feed out and milk Daisy. I am tired. My hands are aching with tiredness. But isn’t this good news. All four are on their way.
Have a lovely day.
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
95 responses to “Mama has a surprise for you: FOUR LIVE LAMBS!”
I’m sure that you & Mama Sheep heard my “ahhh” as I looked at the photos for the first time. Such sweetness. How exciting.
Oh, well done Mama – what a special and clever lass!
Christine
Oh, well done Mama – what a clever, special lass!
Christine
Marvelous news… and great for you.. a little more milk duties but I’m sure you will enjoy it.. when we had the farm my wife used to raise the lambs from a sheep farmer that felt he didn’t need certain lambs… she raised them all and in 5 years only lost 1… but she did have fun with them and even had one that thought it was a dog… early morn when I went out to milk it would dash in the house with the dogs and jump on the bed with my wife… the only problem was it thought it had to leave her a plate full of chocolate peanut looking objects on the bed every day…
i ban just see minty jumping on the bed.. c
Yay! I always hate those breach births. Glad to hear that they are all doing well!
The newborn lambs are adorable in their little coats. I look forward to more pictures. We have cold rain here, which would probably feel tropical to you at 46 F (the weather page says “Feels like 41”).
Congratulations! How exciting, four new little lambs. Can’t wait to hear their names…
Great news! The pics of them with Mama, dressed in their new birthday coats, are sure to bring a smile to all who visit you today, Celi. If anyone will keep these guys warm, it will be you.
4 baby lambs. Incredible!
Do try and get some rest when you can. With a new feeding schedule to keep, you’ve a few rough nights ahead.
These are wonderful news, C! Congratulations 🙂 they are adorable, take good care of them
Holy smokes! Great news to wake up to. 🙂 Happy, happy farmy. Those photos are much better than flash photos would have been. There’s light and truth and movement in them. I personally never, ever use flash and I do it for a living. Hope you get some rest Celi and take care of your poor hands.
This is great news. Congratulations. I had forgotten that sheep have long tails. I remember when I bought mine breeding pair (a year and a half ago) when they were only a few months old, the owner told me about trimming the tail. We never see sheep with long tails so it looks weird when I see it.
I tried to see if the mother sheep had her tail docked, but I can’t see in the above pictures. Do you trim the tail to about four inches long? Some trim further, leaving the butt completely exposed; I don’t like that.
I haven’t yet decided what to do. I should research that because I’m only about a month away from our first lamb being born. I prefer to go ‘oh natural’, but if it’s not the healthiest way, I won’t. The previous owner of my sheep told me it had to do with preventing a disease.
Thanks for sharing the news and the pictures.
When I was on the farm we always docked their tails to prevent flystrike —
If i am raising the lambs for the freezer I leave the tail on, but with the ewes i dock it so it covers any areas that can get sunburnt. Otherwise it can get a bit pooey and the flies lay eggs in there and .. well you can imagine the rest.. !! c
Yes, it was the flies I was warned about. Thanks.
what wonderful news. you sure are going to have your hands full!
Congratulations – beautiful lambs, and very fetching sweaters too! Hope you’ve had a chance to get some rest today.
Oh these little tykes are just precious. I’m surprised they have arrived this soon. And the sweaters are so sweet. You are amazing to be so prepared!
How is it that four new strangers in my life have made me tear up, so? Excellent!
Oh, and I thought the pics were of EXCELLENT quality! ;oD