Jewel and Jezebel Go to Jail

All of our older lambs have been weaned for nearly a week now; all, that is, except for Jewel and Jezebel. No matter how tightly we build the barriers between them and their mothers, no matter how much distance we put between them, they seem to find a way into the ewe pasture and nurse.

This has been going on for nearly a week now. Every morning, I wake up to a beautiful view of our pastoral ewes grazing, and - WHAT?! - there are two lambs out in the ewe pasture! Once again, after a careful perusal, I realize that it is Jewel and Jezebel. Somehow, they have found a way back to their mothers - again!

So this morning I decided to take matters into my own hands.... Rick has been helping me catch the lambs and take them back every evening. No more nice shepherdess! I am determined for them to wean so that they can go to their new homes and greener pastures! That won't happen unless I can keep them away from their mothers. There is only one thing left to do - jail them!

So, when I saw them out this morning, I got the rest of my chores done and went to work building some kind of a container to house these two escape artists! I know that Jezebel is a jumper at her young age.... Many lambs will jump when this young and then later never leave the ground - Jezebel is likely one of them, since her mother, Gianna, was too. Whatever I built would have to have a top on it to keep Jezebel in.

Jewel's trick is to find any small opening and squeeze her nose into it, letting the wedge-like shape of her face open the space to allow the rest of her to follow. Her structure would have to have openings or spaces with limited ability to expand - otherwise, she would find a way out.

I headed to the barn and got creative. We still have panels left that were used to build lambing jugs. Most of them are currently being used to reinforce the board fences during weaning, but I had five four-foot panels left unused. With a little ingenuity and a lot of carabiners (those colorful little clips you can see in the photo below), I assembled a jail to house the errant lambs.

I am hoping that they won't have to stay in their little jail long.... I hate having them separated from the rest of the lambs, but I could think of no other way to ensure that they would stay out of the ewe pasture. At least the pen is housed in the area where all of the other lambs come to eat. I am hoping that a few days in the pen will convince them that there is no use in trying to make a run for it - and that they will then stay with the rest of the lambs. I guess only time will tell....