Last night, Jay went to check the flock at about 10:30 and found a lamb already up and trying to nurse in the main barn with the flock. It was pouring. All our lambing jugs were full so he just took the ewe and her lamb out into a section of the barn where we store things, next to the main pen and one of the lambing jugs. When I got outside, the ewe was on her side straining. She was obviously still in labor and unable to really care for her firstborn ram lamb at the same time. We watched concerned and checked the clock -11:06. She had been straining for awhile with no progress so Jay put on gloves and lube just in case. Thankfully she stood up and after a few pushes we saw hooves. We decided to give her more time since she was making progress albeit slow. By 11:15 the breech lamb was delivered without intervention but the ewe was exhausted.
She wouldn't stand up to feed her lambs. We toweled off the second lamb a bit since Mama couldn't reach to lick her without moving and then placed the lamb near the ewe's nose. She went to work licking both lambs but wouldn't get up. Soon both lambs were crying. Jay gave her some nurtri-drench and I brought her a bucket of warm water with molasses and put it right next to her head and she drank almost a gallon I'd say. As we were discussing what we should do and whether or not to start bottle feeding the lambs, she finally perked up a bit and we got her on her feet. I checked the teats for milk and then ran in the house to get a container, a funnel, and a bottle. After trying to get the lambs to nurse, I milked a couple of ounces out and put it in the bottle just in case.
The ram lamb was more vigorous - he may have gotten his first feeding before his sister was born and he got the hang of nursing easier. The ewe lamb was much weaker from the long delivery and the lack of immediate mama love. She was interested in nursing but didn't seem to understand about latching onto the teat. It didn't help that the mother has double nipples on each side - only one of which has milk. I didn't want to take any chances so I took her aside and tried to bottle-feed her. I put my finger in her mouth to check her suck reflex and then put the teat in. I tried to be careful not to pour the milk into her mouth too quick but also tilted it enough so she could get some. She drank about an ounce and then she seemed to want to be closer to mom so I brought her back to the teat. Meanwhile, Jay took out the clippers to trim some of the long locks around the ewe's udders so we could see better. Somehow during all this we also managed to put a little fleece jacket on each one to help keep them warm.
By 12:30 both lambs seemed OK and had at least nursed a little plus the little one had some from the bottle. We moved another ewe and her lamb (born Friday evening) into the nursery pen with two other ewes and their lambs and put the newest mama into the lambing jug - gave her some more water and some nice fresh hay and left them alone for an hour or so.
At 1:30 we went to check on them. We weighed them, clipped their umbilical cords, dipped in iodine and helped them both to eat one more time before going to bed. The ram lamb weighed 8.4 lbs and the ewe lamb 7.3 lbs. We hoped that they would gain over the night and thankfully they did.
By noon today they had both gained nearly half a pound. I didn't get a chance to take a picture yet.
I now have no idea which ewe will be next to lamb. There are several that look ready but several have completely surprised us so it could be anyone?
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