Heidi's Premie Lamb

Early on the morning of March 19th, Heidi, delivered her twin lambs. She was due on April 1st, so we were somewhat surprised when she delivered 13 days early.  As a result of Heidi's premature delivery, only one of her two lambs survived.  The remaining lamb, Eileen, was weak and slightly under-developed.  In the picture, below, Emily is holding 2-day old Eileen.

For the first few days, we kept baby Eileen in a separate pen right next to Heidi.  Eileen had difficulty standing on her own and Heidi was anxious for her baby to be up.  Heidi would paw at Eileen with her hoof, trying to make Eileen stand up and nurse.  Although Heidi had good intentions, her pawing was hard on her premie lamb.  Several times each day, one of us would hold Heidi so little Eileen could nurse.  The rest of the day they were next door to each other;  we allowed them to smell each other so they wouldn't forget!

Heidi and Eileen (10 days old)

After the first few days, Eileen really took off.  She could stand by herself and nurse on her own.  Mother and daughter were united! 

Now at 2 weeks old, she is doing fantastic!   She runs and jumps around her pen on high speed. Heidi is a strong milk-producer, so Eileen has all she wants. Sometimes it looks like Eileen has swallowed a ball ... her belly is so full!  She and Heidi are both looking forward to joining the rest of the mamas and lambs soon!