of lambs are doing great.
Yesterday and today they enjoyed the sunshine and a bit of pasture time.
They are 5 days old.
A hard birth for Momma Ewe which ended well.
The dark lamb is a ewe and the white a ram.
I had to pull both because they were so large.
The ewe lamb had her head turned sideways and her second leg back.
It took some finagling.
The ewe lamb is marginally smaller and was first thus paving the way for her big brother.
The ram was a struggle for me to get out with his giant head and long limbs.
Both struggled to nurse the first 12-16 hours mostly because mom's teats were swollen and bigger diameter than normal.
With patience (which I am limited on) they/we persisted and succeeded.
Alot of milking out, trying to bottle feed and finally cramming the teat in the little mouths while holding them in the correct position.
The Momma ewe developed a fever within 24 hours and needed to be treated so that was a late night run to get meds from the vet and run back home to poke her with needles.
The fun never stops.
Lucky for LN she was home to experience the trauma drama of it all.
I nicely woke her up to help.
She'll return to college on Sunday so it was a nice break to be able to take care of her sheep.
Now I wait for the last ewe, the above Border to lamb next week.
Then I sleep the sleep of the DEAD.
I don't know about you, but I sure was glad to hear LN was home to lend you support during that lambing! Best of luck with your last one this coming week. May it be easy-peasy on both you and the mama ewe!
ReplyDeleteDont jinx me MamaPea ;] Yes having her home was very nice and helpful also. She may not be home for most of the summer so that will be hard.
DeleteI like the new picture heading! I don't know how you do it!! Did you learn from your Dad about lambing? You must of taking her temp to know she had a fever? It really must be amazing to watch. Gosh, Better than a job well done!! Was good to have your daughter with you.Take super care! xo
ReplyDeleteThanks Lynne I believe LN took that picture and i just edited it a bit. That ewe loves her feed and will bully everyone to get at grain so I knew she didn't feel good when she didn't come to get grain. She also kept dropping her head and laying down without protecting her twins as quickly. Mostly just experience and watching and learning and knowing my sheep. I'll never stop learning, sheep are tough to figure out in time to save most of the time.
DeleteSounds only too familiar ugh. Luckily in 32 years of dairy goats it has gone bad only about 10% of the time . But when it goes south all bets are off.
ReplyDeleteLucky you a lovely family. I am drooling over what the ewe lambs virgin fleece will be like. Amazing colors!
That 10% though Goatldi is the pits. I used to have boer crossbreds and I hated kidding times . So finicky and never easy I didn't think. The heat lamps also drove me crazy. Needed for heat for the tiny ones but a fire hazard. I much prefer my sheep I don't have to guess as often about how to assist and save them. To each their own though.
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