Halleluia!

Praise Jesus and pass the potatoes. Lambs are here! Spring has officially sprung at the Sheeple Ranch, no matter what that twit of a groundhog back East says.

Tuesday night after work found the youngest brooding ewe, Oreo, staring back at us in utter shock, a little replica of herself at her feet. She was cleaning the little dude (dudette? Haven't gotten close enough yet to this one to be sure), but was being helped out by her fellow mother-to-be, Chocolate Chip. Hrm. That's odd. Usually mama sheep don't like being crowded with their little ones. But I guess it's okay. Um, wait. Chip is nickering at the little one? Who's really the mama here? Okay. Oreo's the one with the messy backside. She's the mama. So what is up with Chip? And now Chip's letting the lamb nurse? Ooooh nelly. This could get interesting.

Chocolate Chip kept trying to herd the little one away from Oreo, even going so far as to try to head-butt Oreo away from her baby. Oreo, who has never been the most passionate of mamas wasn't putting up much of a fight. The lamb was nursing from both of them however. So long as the little one was being fed - by whom, I really don't give a rat's ass - I guess it's all good, right?

Since it was getting very dark, we all headed in for the night, trusting to nature to take care of itself. If the little one was getting the nurturing it needed from somewhere, all would be well. If not, well, that's why I keep a stash of powdered lamb formula and lamb nipples for bottle feeding, and in the morning we would begin the process.

Wednesday morning came, and an inspection of the pen showed the same situation, except for this time, Oreo was beginning to assert herself a bit more as the mothering instict took hold of her. She wasn't letting Chocolate Chip boss her around as much and was beginning to herd the little one with her, instead of letting Chip just take it away. But Chip was still copping the attitude of "it's MY baby, bitch!" Oh boy. Just what I need. A Sheep Opera. Hopefully, we won't have to be like Solomon and split a baby between two mothers.

So off to work I went, hoping against hope that Chip would drop her own baby today, seeing as how she was able to nurse a little one and that MUST mean that she's ready to pop.

Like clockwork, I got a call from The Husband at 4:30 Wednesday afternoon when he arrived home.

"Honey, it's TWINS!"

"Oh, so Clarice finally gave it up? Damn, she was getting fat."

"No, babe. Chocolate Chip!"

"What?!?!? Chip had twins? That's so cool!"

Our staid and stoic producer of singletons produced a perfectly matched pair of pitch black little boys. They're their daddy all over. Awwww.

You would think that with her hands (hooves?) full of two springy little boys, Chip would turn her affections away from Oreo's baby, right? Wrong. She still thinks that she is the mama, but it seems to be lessening the more demanding her two get. The weaker of the two boys keeps crying to get her attention, and she keeps having to reassure him that yes, she's there, and it keeps her mind off Oreo's little one.

Now, it's all up to Clarice. I swear she looks like the Hindenburg, she's so big. Her waddle is painful to watch, and you can see the lambs inside her moving around. Prick her with a pin, and I think she'd just explode everywhere. Maybe there'll be more babies when we come home today. That would make for a spectacular week.

Hooray for lambing season!

(P.S. In the first picture, those two glowing things showing over the back of Oreo aren't orbs or anything like that. They're Rambo's eyes getting caught by the glare of the camera flash. Smile, Daddy!)