Langreck: Spring brings new beginnings

It’s hard to believe that it’s already March. I feel like I blinked and January and February were already gone. However, I am looking forward to March and the months to come because spring is one of my favorite times of the year.

It’s the time when the days become longer, children enjoy playing outside in the sunshine after school and new life is born on livestock farms.

Growing up, my parents provided me with the opportunity to raise swine, which included raising piglets from the time they were born to the time they were sold at auction.

I can’t tell you how many times I have seen a litter of pigs be born or assist with pulling a baby pig when a distressed gilt was having trouble pushing it out.

However, it wasn’t until I was much older that I realized how unique of an experience this was and that many people haven’t even seen a pig before, let alone see one give birth.

Due to this fact, I knew that one way or another I wanted to give my children an opportunity in agriculture like the one my parents gave me.

Although we no longer raise swine, my parents now raise Southdown sheep, and my son, Graham, helps around the barn.

Last year, he helped bottle-fed a few baby lambs that were too weak to nurse from their mom, but this year I was determined to get him more involved, and he wanted to be more involved, as well.

So far, he has been my dad’s shadow when it comes to helping with birthing and taking care of the lambs after they are born.

Graham was even there to assist and watch the birth of a lamb that needed a little assistance coming out. As soon as it was out, Graham was wiping it down with a towel and making sure it was under the heat lamp.

As much as he loves when the babies are born, I’m convinced the part of lambing he loves the absolute most is picking names of the newborns from characters in his favorite book series — Harry Potter!