Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail and Peter made an early Easter appearance on the Andrew and Julie Mackenzie farm in rural Meire Grove, about seven miles south of Sauk Centre. Mother Trucker, a Rambouillet ewe, gave birth to quadruplet baby lambs on Friday, March 28. Since then Andrew, his wife, Julie and two of their four children, Curtis and Kelsey, have been busy feeding and caring for the lambs. Two older children, Christopher and Heather, live away from home, but are still interested in the lambing adventure. "There's nothing Curtis and Kelsey love more than bottle feeding the quads," said Julie. Low-down on the lambs Lambing had pretty much come to a close for the season for the Mackenzies. "We had one ewe left, and wow was she a big one," said Andrew. Because of her size, they nicknamed her Mother Trucker. They also figured she would give birth to more than one lamb--just how many they weren't sure. "We knew that Rambouillets lamb at a rate of about 185 percent. Most of the time they have twins, but there are still lots of singles. Rarely are there triplets," said Julie. Every day family members would go out for chores and expect to see signs of her going into labor. "And every day, she'd just stare back at us and keep eating," said Andrew. On Tuesday, March 25, Mother Trucker had enough. She just laid down. Still worried, Andrew consulted their local veterinarian, Dr. Matt Rock, who suggested they give the ewe 24 hours to start labor, and if she didn't she would need to be induced. They waited, and Mother Trucker continued to stare back and eat. That Wednesday she was given a shot to induce labor and the waiting continued. So did the worrying. "Feeling that we didn't know enough we began consulting the multiple sheep raising and vet books we read whenever we face a new challenge. We surmised that she might be suffering from a drop in calcium which would make it difficult for her uterus to contract," said Julie. Nevertheless, they held out hope and kept waiting--until day three when they called their good friend and mentor shepherd, Scott Crawford, from Pipestone. "He suggested that it was time to manually dilate her and get those lambs out," said Andrew. At 9:30 p.m., that Friday Andrew put on his gloves, rolled up his sleeves and "hoped that, in the end, this was going to be the right thing for both our ewe and her lambs." He soon realized the ewe wasn't dilated at all. "Even with manual manipulation she was barely contracting," said Andrew. Growing these lambs had taken everything out of her. After 15 minutes of trying to open her up he became frustrated, and his choice words turned to prayer. Mother Trucker slowly began to dilate. "Whether one believes or not, the aura was good and she was responding," he said. Andrew gently got his hand past her cervix and felt for a lamb. "I found a leg. But, as she hadn't really gone into labor, the sacks hadn't broken and the lambs weren't even close to being in the birth canal. I tried to figure out how to pop the sack and not get the umbilical cord," said Andrew. "By getting the two legs together, I surmised that chances were good that if I broke the sack in-between the legs, the cord would probably be protected." Once the sack was broken, the lamb moved better. He got the two legs into the canal but couldn't get the head. "After much manipulation I got the head around and in between the legs and tried to get this one out. Finally, I got the hoofs out," said Andrew. Before long he realized the head had slipped back along the lamb's body. "There wasn't enough room to have my hand and the legs in the canal, so I had to push the legs back in. This time the head stayed in position," said Andrew. "Success! Lamb one, a little female." Ten minutes later lamb number two, another little female, was born. After cleaning her face, Andrew discovered she wasn't breathing. "I cleaned out her mouth with suction and still nothing. I hung her upside down and shook to help any fluid out. Finally, using a piece of straw up her nose, she gasped and started to breath," he said, with a sigh of relief. He placed the first two lambs up by Mother Trucker's head. "She was a great mom. She immediately started cleaning them," said Julie. Then it was back to work. Andrew figured with the ewe's size there had to be a third lamb. "And there it was, but it was on its back. In order to get it out I needed to flip it over inside of her, pop the sack and get it out," said Andrew. It took another 10 minutes of manipulation and finally, the third lamb, a little male, was born. "Triplets, wow," said Andrew. Checking to make sure his job was done, Andrew was surprised to find a fourth little lamb was still waiting to be born. After some moving and manipulating he delivered the little female lamb. Much like when they named their other lambs born this year, names for these newborns "followed the heat of the moment." "The quad lambs' names come from the Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit books," said Andrew. "In those stories there are three sisters and a brother named Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail and Peter." A few days after the births, Mother Trucker still had not gotten up, but she is eating. "And we are hopeful she will recover," said Julie. Meanwhile, the Mackenzies have been busy bottle feeding their new quadruplets--round-the-clock. "It's back to feeling like we did when each one of our four children were born," said Julie. "But these four lambs-- Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail and Peter--remind us that at a time of so much tension and death, it's nice to be bringing little lives into the world," he concluded.
