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Kline Creek ready to welcome baby lambs

A month-old lamb soon won't be the only young one at Kline Creek Farm.

Lambing season has begun at the 1890s living-history farm in West Chicago, and ewes are expected to give birth to 15 to 25 lambs between now and the second week of March.

“Sheep are seasonal breeders, so it's typical for them to be born around this time,” said Keith McClow, the education site manager for the farm.

Lambs born in the coming weeks will survive on their mothers' milk until they are old enough to eat grass, which should be plentiful when the lambs need it.

In the meantime, residents can visit the lambs during normal hours from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursdays through Mondays at the farm, 1N600 County Farm Road, West Chicago. Admission is free.

McClow said the farm already is getting calls from residents interested in seeing the season's new lambs.

“Lots of people come out for it,” he said.

While there's no guarantee it will happen during someone's visit, McClow said witnessing the birth of a lamb is “an experience they (residents) don't get at many other places.”

Anyone visiting between the hours of 1 and 5 p.m. will have the opportunity to chat with farm staff and volunteers about the lambs.

“If you want to talk to knowledgeable people about what's going on,” McClow said, “those are the best times to come.”

  A baby lamb peers over the stall at expectant sheep at Kline Creek Farm in West Chicago. Mark Black/mblack@dailyherald.com
Mark Black/mblack@dailyherald.comMatt Dehnart, agricultural assistant at Kline Creek Farm, gives the mother and new baby lamb some hay.
  A mother and her baby lamb at Kline Creek Farm in West Chicago. Mark Black/mblack@dailyherald.com
  The sheep barn is full of expectant mother sheep at Kline Creek Farm in West Chicago. The farm expects to have around 20 new lambs in the next few weeks. The first lamb was born on Jan. 21. Mark Black/mblack@dailyherald.com
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