New arrivals at Circle R Ranch
By Joan Janzen
The first day of lambing was busy for Michele and Kevin Rast and their family at Circle R Ranch, with twenty-five lambs being born. Residing between Beadle and Netherhill, the Rast family owns 150 breeding ewes and six rams. Typically, lambing season encompasses a 14-day time span.
Michele was grateful to have the assistance of her daughter, who is taking vet technician training and is doing her practicum. When she was home for the weekend, she was able to assist with a difficult birth.
Michele’s daughter carefully dries off a newborn lamb. The Rast family appreciated having the Vet Technician student home to help out on the weekend. PHOTO BY MICHELE RAST
Every newborn lamb gets a cozy new jacket to wear. Matching jackets for this set of triplets. PHOTO BY MICHELE RAST
Circle R Ranch has a vet come out for an annual visit, when they do ultrasound on the stock to find out which ones are bred. The ones that aren’t bred will be sold. “We found if wait till the ewe is two years old, they can’t kick into mothering,” she explained. “One-year-olds do much better at mothering.”
One of Michele’s daughters took on a night shift, beginning at 10:30 p.m., and by 4:00 in the morning she had helped deliver a set of twins, a single, and a set of triplets. “Usually you get a breach birth in a set of triplets,” she noted.
After the new lamb’s arrival, it is dried off, receives a shot of colostrum and is put in a 4x4 pen. “My sister sews little jackets for the newborn lambs, which they wear as soon as they’re dry and ready to go into the pen. If you get a lamb to stand up and stretch ... that’s a sign of a healthy lamb,” Michele explained.
But even lambs that aren’t viable receive care. “We take care of it no matter what, even if it’s not viable. As long as it has life, we’re taking care of it. The kids are growing up with that mentality and understanding,” Michele explained.
After thirty-six hours, the lamb goes into a mixing pen along with thirty-nine other lambs. She said it’s quite funny to see all the little lambs wearing their jackets and running around. They usually have five or six mixing pens.
Their six guard dogs, along with an electric fence keep the sheep safe from predators. The dogs bark all night long, but Michele can’t remember the last time they lost an animal to a predator. And by carefully observing the sheep, the Rast family can detect any animals that are sick. According to Michele, sheep tend to hide when they’re sick, so they need to keep observing their eating habits.
“We treat them right away. The faster we respond, the more success we have,” she said. And they’re anticipating a successful lambing season in 2024.