Spring always comes in like a lamb at Hampshire farm

Spring is almost here, and this year's crop of baby lambs is arriving daily at Lane and Carol Burnidge's rural Hampshire farm.

March is prime lambing season at Pioneer Farm, the couple's family homestead on Big Timber Road west of Route 47, where new baby lambs are being born several times a week.

"We had a set of twins on Thursday, and another baby the day before," Carol Burnidge said.

"It is really exciting, and it's something most people never get to see."

The farm is open to the public each Saturday in March, so children and their parents can visit the baby lambs and learn about this springtime miracle of life.

If they're lucky, they may even get to see a birth in progress.

Both Lane and Carol are "dyed-in-the-wool" farmers, who enjoy sharing their farm life with others.

Lane's family has raised crops and livestock in Plato Township since the 1830s, and Carol's family farmed for generations near Broadview and Lisle.

A visit to their farm is fun and educational for children -- and their parents, too, Carol says.

"There are a lot of things that people don't know about sheep: they are good lawn mowers, but in the front of their mouths, they only have teeth on the bottom," she explains. "And they each have four stomachs."

No wonder it takes a lot of feed -- or formula -- to raise a baby lamb!

In a small barn behind her farmhouse, Carol patiently showed the right way to hold and bottle-feed a four-day-old newborn.

"This little one here has trouble feeding from mom, so we help him out with a bottle," she said. "Isn't that a sweet little face?"

Lunchtime in the barn means lots of bottle feeding, usually by Lane Burnidge, who will gladly let visitors give it a try.

"You have to use a towel, because they drool," he advises.

Newborn lambs need a half-pint of formula, four times a day. At any given time, there are four to six mother sheep in the barn, each with one or two babies.

When the lambs reach four or five weeks of age, they are moved with their mothers to a sheltered outdoor pen.

Early March is prime "birthing time" for sheep, but Burnidges' Dorsets reproduce all year long.

"They can birth anytime; that's the breed that they are," Carol says.

Dorsets have a thick, dense coat that is good for shearing, which is often done outdoors.

"They're warm-blooded, so they don't get too cold," Lane explains.

As for visitors to the farm, it's always advisable to wear warm clothes and waterproof boots.

Last week, the farm had 13 new lambs, but that census changes daily -- even hourly.

"The first one we had this year, which is almost three months old, was born on Christmas Eve," Carol said. "Isn't that cool?"

Yes, it certainly is, but for practical farmers like the Burnidges, raising lambs is still a business, not a petting zoo; some are sold to be eaten.

To produce more lambs, the Burnidges need at least a few rams on their farm each year.

"We usually keep one or two, or sometimes we'll borrow (the services of) one from another farmer to avoid in-breeding," Carol explained.

"We have to castrate most of the males because they do fight," Lane says.

"They'll back off and smash heads, even through the fence. They run full speed into each other until they bloody their heads. They'll bend a gate, even break your leg if you get in the way."

One recent day, Susan and Clark Bundy of Glenview visited the Pioneer Farm with their three little girls and Susan's mother, Alice Johns of Huntley.

As the children -- Lauren, Anna, and Julia -- posed with a very vocal little lamb, Carol Burnidge snapped their photo.

"Children love to hold and feed the lambs," she said.

"Some even want to take them home."

But not the Bundy girls.

"No, because we have a little dog," Lauren decided, and her sisters agreed.

"It's very big. I wouldn't want it to be that big!" Julia exclaimed.

Eleven-year-old Martin Burnidge helps his parents with the sheep, and likes to show his favorites at the Kane County Fair.

A member of the Hampshire Junior Farmers 4-H club, he usually competes in the "costume class," his mom says.

A photo of Martin and his sheep -- both in pirate attire -- is posted on the barn wall.

In four years, the family has seen a lot of little lambs come and go.

This year's crop are at their cutest right now, Carol says, and visitors may see them from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each Saturday this month.

Private visits are arranged by appointment.

On a recent school day, Carol took a baby lamb to visit preschool classes at South Elgin High School, where her daughter, Jackie Delaney, teaches high school students to care for young children.

Throughout the year, the farm also sells potted wildflowers, produce, and seasonal staples such as pumpkins and pine wreaths.

If you go

What: Lambing Days at Pioneer Farm

When: From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each Saturday in March

Where: 17N400 Big Timber Road (one mile west of Route 47), Hampshire

Cost: $4 per child; adults free

Info: www.enjoypioneerfarm.com or call Lane and Carol Burnidge at (847) 683-2863