We're starting to cut back on the pet lambs' bottles here at Struan Farm. At a certain point the three bottles per day regimen gets hard with busy summer work schedules outside and elsewhere. More importantly, the Class of 2019 is looking pretty happy and fat and eating lots of grass.
This week the "Gang of Five," Chalk and Cheese, Peaches, Fig and Pickle, got cut back to two bottles per day, their bottle at lunchtime has been suspended. And the "Big Three," Buzz, Sugar and Spice, were cut back from two bottles to one per day yesterday. The Big Three especially are big, healthy lambs, John claims they look like hoggets! They are about a month older than the Gang of Five. The lambs' condition drives our decision as to when cutbacks start, at least for me. John always wants to cut the bottles back much sooner than I do. I'm rightly suspicious, since he tends to be motivated by a desire to reduce our expenditure on powdered milk and eliminate his involvement in the morning feed.
The Big Three are getting their one bottle at the end of the day now. And I am getting accusatory looks and baas any time they know I am in the vicinity, especially outside our bedroom window. The Gang of Five is hanging out down behind the Cottage, so if there are any moans from them the Cottage farmstay guests would be treated to those, a true rural experience.
Final cutbacks on bottles will be made after Christmas. I'll start testing apple treats shortly, since when they're moaning for Mum they'll usually give them a try.
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