Flock Mates: Lollipop
Sometimes we have life experiences we wish with all of our being we could have just……One. More. Time. But life is what it is and due to accumulated years or circumstances, the opportunity is gone. Or is it?
Lollipop was born 12 years ago along with her twin sister, Lily. Over the years, Lollipop gave birth to lambs of her own. In April of 2019 at the age of 5, she had her last lambing. A set of triplets she raised all on her own. The two ewes in the picture are Betty (white) and Mabel (moorit). To say she loved her lambs doesn’t accurately describe the measure of joy we saw in her experience.
Being a mom was all she really wanted. Throughout the years when she wasn’t tending to her own lambs, Lollipop would always show up to “help” others with their newly born lambs. Tending to the new lambs by licking them dry, nudging them to stand, and then to our shock directing the lambs to nurse on her.
Poor unsuspecting mothers giving birth to the next lamb would have Lollipop attempting to take their lambs! And these little lambs went along with her rouse bopping their noses on her nonexistent udder and thinking their first meal was on its way.
This endearing and also bothersome behavior saved a lamb one year when the first time mom ran off after giving birth. I found Lollipop right there tearing open the birth sack and helping the lamb take their first breath by clearing its nose.
Lollipop has brought life into the flock, raised it, and even saved it!
When her daughter Betty was ready to give birth a few years ago, Lollipop insisted on being allowed into the barn to be with her. We let her in and gushed over how she followed Betty around almost like she was encouraging and coaching. We then had to kick her out when she continually attempted to steal her little “grandlamb” and wouldn’t let Betty near it.
Fast forward to this past April. Lollipop was in our group with moms and lambs. We often include flock elders as it seems to calm and balance the moms. Lollipop’s daughter Mabel was one of our expectant moms. They were two peas in a pod while Mabel waited to give birth.
On a gorgeous sunny day, I came out to the pasture to find Mabel giving birth to twins! A patterned ewe lamb was just born and was being tended to by Mabel. A black ram lamb had been born first and was wandering around being tended to by his Grandma Lollipop.
As both lambs were working on getting their first drink of milk from their mother, Lollipop continued to “help” Mabel. Then as time went on, Lollipop managed a switcheroo! She convinced the ewe lamb to get under her instead of her mother! Lollipop was at it again! When they came back to the barn for the evening, we penned Mabel with her lambs for a few days so they could learn who was mom and their milk supply. Problem solved.
The next few weeks were chaotic with an emergency c-section and another birth that resulted in me having 5 lambs on bottle feedings. I was running on only a few hours of sleep per day. I was keeping everyone alive, so I considered it all a win. Little did we know, there was a miracle taking place amongst the chaos.
A few weeks after all of the lambs were born, we moved them out onto a pasture. Everyone was growing and doing well. One evening while filling their water I finally felt like I could just sit and enjoy the view. As I did, I thought I saw Lollipop nursing Mabel’s black ram lamb, Charleston. All I could think was exhaustion must be taking me over because there’s no way I’m watching that ewe nurse that lamb!
The next morning, David and I headed out to morning chores to see if this happened again. I went into the pen to see if Lollipop even had an udder on her 12-year-old self. She did. Moments later, we watched in disbelief as she called and Charleston the ram lamb ran over and began nursing on her while his own mother Mabel stood next to them. Was there actually milk in her udder??? We couldn’t believe there was, but why would he keep coming back if there wasn’t?
The next morning, we brought everyone to the barn for a quick check. And of course that meant a quick check of Lollipop and her udder. We were in complete shock when, with very little effort, milk came out of her udder!!!
It turns out, while we were distracted, Mabel saw the dreams of her mother and allowed Lollipop to adopt Charleston.
I’ll be honest with you. This whole experience has given Lollipop new life. She hasn’t looked this good in years. And yes, she is still nursing and tending to Charleston even now in September. I don’t have it in me to take away this miracle she made happen for herself. Besides, who could knowingly deny Charleston of the love Grandma Lollipop gives so freely throughout her lambs’ lives. We've had Charleston wethered (neutered) so he can stay in the ewe flock and with Lollipop.
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