11 lambs born on Sask. farm during blizzard, 11 more born since then
While a blizzard moved through parts of the province last weekend, one Saskatchewan farmer was busy helping his sheep give birth to 11 lambs.
Josef Buttigieg of Fenek Farms said between Friday evening and Saturday, two sets of triplets, two sets of twins, and a solo sheep were all born within hours.
“It was a bit of an error on my side, we were planning that lambing should have started this week at some point, but apparently my calculations didn’t work out so well,” he said.
Buttigieg recalled the night, saying the experience was interesting because of the blizzard.
“Visibility that night was nonexistent, at least where we’re at. The barn’s only about 100 yards, 150 yards from the house, but you can maybe only see maybe 20, so you couldn’t see the barn,” he said.
“So the concern I guess, at the end of the day, becomes if there’s any complications, if I need a vet, how’s the vet going to come to you? So you know that you’re pretty much stuck by yourself that whole time,” he said.
Eleven lambs were born at Fenek Farms during last weekend's blizzard. (Photo submitted by Josef Buttigieg)
He said since visibility was so bad and since he was tired, he found a spot to sleep inside the barn.
“Just set up a nice corner, a nice comfy corner in one of the stalls and just took a quick power nap there. Now, I was rudely interrupted with that power nap in the sense that one of the ewes that was sitting in the pen decided to start licking me, figures because I smell like her baby,” he said.
“Nice good morning wake-up kiss from a sheep apparently.”
Buttigieg said there did end up being one complication that night with one of the sets of triplets.
“We had a set of triplets and one of them was backwards, so it was a matter of trying to reposition them at the same time and then start helping mom to pull it out,” he said. “It becomes that you’re a little bit on the edge so to speak, trying to make sure that mom is happy and the babies are happy at the end.”
Since the 11 lambs were born last weekend, 11 more were born on Wednesday.
Eleven lambs were born at Fenek Farms during last weekend's blizzard. (Photo submitted by Josef Buttigieg)
“Either it happens all at once or you’ll have periods or days where nothing happens and it’ll drop a whole bunch more again,” he said.
Buttigieg said not including the babies, they have a flock of 140 sheep. Of those, there are about 110 that are currently pregnant.
Fenek Farms is located about 10 minutes north of Regina.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
B.C. tenants evicted for landlord's use after refusing large rent increase to take over neighbouring suite
Ashley Dickey and her mother rented part of the same Coquitlam duplex in three different decades under three different landlords.
Mountain guide dies after falling into a crevasse in Banff National Park
A man who fell into a crevasse while leading a backcountry ski group deep in the Canadian Rockies has died.
Expert warns of food consumption habits amid rising prices
A new survey by Dalhousie University's Agri-Food Analytics Lab asked Canadians about their food consumption habits amid rising prices.
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment which has been banned at Queen’s Park.
Charlie Woods, son of Tiger, shoots 81 in U.S. Open qualifier
Charlie Woods failed to advance in a U.S. Open local qualifying event Thursday, shooting a 9-over 81 at Legacy Golf & Tennis Club.
Ex-tabloid publisher testifies he scooped up possibly damaging tales to shield his old friend Trump
As Donald Trump was running for president in 2016, his old friend at the National Enquirer was scooping up potentially damaging stories about the candidate and paying out tens of thousands of dollars to keep them from the public eye.
Here's why provinces aren't following Saskatchewan's lead on the carbon tax home heating fight
After Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the federal government would still send Canada Carbon Rebate cheques to Saskatchewan residents, despite Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe's decision to stop collecting the carbon tax on natural gas or home heating, questions were raised about whether other provinces would follow suit. CTV News reached out across the country and here's what we found out.
Montreal actress calls Weinstein ruling 'discouraging' but not surprising
A Montreal actress, who has previously detailed incidents she had with disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, says a New York Court of Appeals decision overturning his 2020 rape conviction is 'discouraging' but not surprising.
Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye make it four NFL drafts with quarterbacks going 1-3
Caleb Williams is heading to the Windy City, aiming to become the franchise quarterback Chicago has sought for decades.