A few days ago we moved pet lambs Trixie, Alfie and Daisy from the Pet Pen out to the paddock here at Struan Farm. We've put them in a different paddock from the other six pet lambs (Matilda, Clover, Romeo, Scout, Mixie and Dixie) to make our lives simpler with feeding for the time being.
The older lambs have just been cut back to three bottles each day; Trixie, Alfie and Daisy are still on four bottles per day for another week or so. Alfie and Daisy are two weeks younger, and triplet Trixie, although older, has had her wobblies and I figure can use a few more bottles. She seems happier hanging with Alfie and Daisy vs. her two sisters Mixie and Dixie and the older lambs. (As someone who shared a bedroom with a sister for many years, I can relate to that.) John moved the Pet Palace into the paddock so they had a familiar shelter, although there are plenty of trees near the gate as well. They've adjusted well to the new routine.
I'm also sneaking a fourth bottle out to Scout at the back gate, since she's younger than the other big lambs. (You might remember that we put her out with them because she kept hopping out of the Pet Pen.) It's a battle to swat the scrum away so that Scout actually gets that bottle, but I'll do it for another few days.
They all need to start eating grass, but won't be weaned completely until December. I know there's something called "child-led weaning" or "self weaning," a trend du jour. (NZ cookbook author Nadia Lim was recently posting about it.) The idea is that at a certain point children are happy to stop nursing. Let me just say that, based on my experience with our pet lambs, there's no such thing as "lamb-led weaning!"
Comments