After morning feeding, I was back inside contemplating a cup of coffee when I heard baaing that kept going intermittently. This was unusual, so I went out to see what was going on.
Here’s what I thought it was all about:
The cows on the ranch next to us were lined up along the fence, come to visit the animals on the sanctuary. They do this from time to time. The sheep were baaing, either commenting or communicating, I thought, but this too was not their usual way.
Here’s what was really going on:
Fleur-de-Lys and her new babies
Fleur-de-Lys gave birth to twins! I’m sure the animals all knew this was coming, but, as with Ulysses the donkey, it was a surprise to me. We could even say a miracle birth because an ultrasound last fall had come back negative for pregnancy and Fleur had not been with a ram after that. Hmm…
I was there for the birth. Fleur did wonderfully. The little white lamb arrived first and then, about a half hour later, the gray one—both girls. It’s so amazing how quickly hoofed babies get to their feet. The first one was a bit dazed and lay there for some minutes. The second one, probably more than ready to come out, stood up almost immediately after emerging into the world and was soon searching vigorously for her mother’s udder.
2 hours after birth
Welcome to the Animal Messenger Sanctuary, little lambs!
Fleur's first daughter to arrive
Fleur's second daughter
