Dear Curiosity Journal,
My ewes are due to lamb at the end of May, so I’ve made it my mission to witness a sheep birth before then. Somehow I’ve made it to the age of 38 without ever witnessing a live birth of any animal (including humans), so I feel grossly underprepared to assist my ewes. It seems like my due diligence to have at least a rudimentary understanding of sheep gynecology, beyond watching YouTube videos. Thankfully, I live in an area where I can pull into my neighbors driveway to ask if I can observe their lambing and they are friendly enough to invite me along. When I received the text that the ewes were “getting close”, I flew into a tizzy, stereotypical of every movie scene when a woman goes into labor. However, upon arrival, I realized that it wasn’t that critical. We casually wandered through the pasture, examined one ewe who will likely give birth to twins in the next few days, and then I asked a long string of questions about everything from supplements to tail docking. My brain was buzzing with this new bundle of sheep wisdom and my heart hummed a happy song when I held one of the lively little lambs. I am so grateful for our Driftless neighbors and my new sheep buddy!
~Joy