A New Adventure in Raising Lambs

 From Goat Milk to Sheep Milk: A New Adventure in Raising Lambs

    Hey there, fellow farm enthusiasts! Today, I want to share a story that took us by surprise and led us down a path we hadn’t expected. It all started when Muffin, one of our beloved sheep, rejected her twin lambs, Almond and Joy. Now, rejecting offspring isn’t entirely uncommon in the animal kingdom, but it always tugs at our heartstrings when it happens on our farm. When Muffin turned her back on her babies, we did what comes natural to us—we brought them inside to raise them as bottle babies. But this time, we took a detour from our usual routine, sparking a whole new adventure.

The Usual Plan: Goat Milk to the Rescue

    On our small, family-run farm, we’ve bottle raised all sorts of critters—cows, goats, sheep, piglets and even a deer. When it comes to bottle-feeding orphaned or rejected small livestock, goat milk has always been our go-to. It’s reliable, nutrient-packed, and easy to come by. So, when Almond and Joy needed feeding, my first instinct was to grab the goat milk and get to work. But as I stood there, holding those tiny lambs, a thought popped into my head: If you can milk a goat, why not a sheep?

    Muffin was right there, after all. It seemed almost poetic to use her milk to nourish her own lambs. Sure, we’d never milked a sheep before, but how hard could it be? With a mix of curiosity and a little bit of “let’s see what happens,” we decided to give it a shot. And just like that, Almond and Joy became the start of our sheep-milking journey.

Milking a Sheep: A Crash Course

    Let me tell you, milking a sheep isn’t quite the same as milking a cow. We’ve got the cow-milking routine down pat—our cow knows the drill. But Muffin? She’d never been milked before, and I wasn’t sure she’d take kindly to it. Plus, sheep have smaller teats than cows, and our milking bucket was way to big for a sheep. I decided to go with a one gallon ice cream bucket and give hand-milking a try.

    I set up a quiet corner in the barn, brought Muffin in, and bribed her with some of her favorite treats to keep her calm. To my relief, she didn’t put up much of a fight. She stood there, munching away, while I fumbled my way through my first attempt. It wasn’t as easy as milking a cow, and I had to tweak my technique a bit, but after a few tries, I had a small bucket of sheep milk. Success!

Bottle Babies and Sheep Milk

    With the milk secured, it was time to feed Almond and Joy. We’d brought them into the house and set them up in the bathroom with a heater . They were only a few hours old, so they were still figuring things out. I warmed up the sheep milk, filled a bottle, and offered it to them. At first, they weren’t too sure about it—bottle-feeding was new to them, after all—but with a little patience, they latched on and started guzzling it down.

    From there, we fell into a rhythm. Every few hours, I’d warm the milk, prep the bottles, and feed the lambs. It was a lot of work, but seeing those two little fluff balls perk up and grow stronger made it all worthwhile. Almond and Joy quickly stole our hearts with their big eyes and playful antics.

A New Adventure Unfolds

    As the days turned into weeks, I couldn’t help but notice how well Almond and Joy were doing on sheep milk. Their coats were soft and glossy, and they seemed to thrive in a way that felt special. Maybe it was the higher fat content in the sheep milk, or maybe it was just the natural connection to their mom’s supply, but either way, it worked.

    This whole experience opened my eyes to something new. Milking a sheep wasn’t even on my radar before, but now I’m hooked. It’s not just about the practicality—it’s about the unexpected joy of trying something different and watching it pay off. Almond and Joy turned a tough situation into an adventure we’ll never forget, and I’m already wondering what else we can do with sheep milk around here.

    So, that’s the tale of how two little lambs and a stubborn ewe led us to rethink our ways. If you’re ever faced with a curve ball on your farm, don’t be afraid to mix things up—you might just stumble into a whole new adventure of your own!

    Follow us and meet Almond and Joy next week.