Lambing season is our make-or-break time of year here on the ranch. It’s a season of expectation and exhaustion, of hard work and hope, and of struggles and satisfaction. During lambing we rely on lots of help to get the work done - which includes no small number of four-legged creatures! Our herding dogs help us keep the band together as we move from pasture to pasture; our guard dogs keep the coyotes away from our new lambs at night; and our faithful horses give our legs a break from the never-ending walking across the fields.
Of course, the ewes themselves are perhaps the ones who work the hardest, and they do an amazing job. The vast majority of ewes have easy births and produce plenty of milk for their little ones. Even those who are lambing for the first time have a strong mothering instinct. The lambs themselves always amaze us with their ability to stand and keep up with their mothers within minutes of birth. We’ve seen it happen every spring for decades and yet each time it’s a miracle! But inevitably some lambs and ewes will need help - a difficult labor, not enough milk - and this is where we come in. It’s with these few who need us that the bulk of our work comes. Into the hospital pens they go where they’ll receive around-the-clock care and feeding to give each of them the best opportunity to thrive.
We derive an immense amount of joy and satisfaction from the working with our four-legged team here on the ranch during lambing season - and we wouldn’t have it any other way! There is no better feeling in the world than watching a band of ewes and new lambs moving across the pasture, alternately grazing and nursing under our big New Mexico sky.
