Number 48 looked like her udders were about to burst so we put her in the nursery jug with another ewe and her twins. That way, if she delivered, we wouldn't have to deal with a barn full of sheep.
Sure enough, after just a day or so, we found a newborn lamb there in the afternoon on April 18th. Another ram lamb. The other ewe and her lambs were let out so the new mama could have some time with her lamb alone. This was another uneventful lambing as the lamb seemed a bit wobbly but did just fine with little assistance. No interventions were necessary and both have been doing great. They joined the main flock a week later.
Then on Wednesday the 23rd, our small ewe Lucille, who Jay thought was surely not pregnant, delivered in the field sometime in the afternoon. Lucille has always been very small and a bit odd - she has a strange far off look in her eye and often holds her head at a strange angle. I looked out the window in the afternoon to see a very white looking lamb being licked by a ewe and went right outside to check. Sure enough, a new lamb was delivered out in the field with all the other sheep and lambs. As I have with other field deliveries, I threw some hay in the field to distract the flock. Unfortunately, Lucille got distracted too. She had delivered an begun cleaning her baby but the sight of the hay and the other sheep running made her forget her maternal obligation and she ran to get in the mix to get some hay. I don't know if she was particularly hungry or just got distracted but she abandoned her lamb. I went in and tried to get her back with her lamb but that proved impossible. Since it was fairly chilly and windy, I decided to bring the lamb indoors to protect it from the cold and hopefully extract Lucille separately.
I carried the lamb inside the barn by the house to the lambing jug and turned on the heat lamb. Aria, our 8 year old agreed to keep the lamb company while I tried to get the mother. She took the lamb wrapped in a towel onto her lap under the heat lamp. Meanwhile, I asked my neighbor to come assist with getting Lucille out of the field without the rest of the sheep but we had no luck. She ran away from me and I couldn't get a lead on her, never mind pull her all the way up toward the house. Michael Jackson, our punk ram didn't help either as he decided to headbutt me as much as he could. I gave up and decided Jay could deal with getting Lucille out. Hopefully she wouldn't reject her lamb after a long separation.
Back to the barn I went to focus my attention on our newest member of the flock, a little ewe lamb. We got fewer ewe lambs than we had hoped so I really wanted to make sure she made it. We decided to bottle feed her to keep her going until she could be reunited with her Mama. Thankfully, she had warmed up and was willing to take a bit of colostrum replacer from the bottle. She was named Jackie. Aria stayed with her for over an hour while I brought Lilah to girl scouts and Jay finally got Lucille into the barn. Thankfully, she immediately re-accepted her lamb and soon Jackie was nursing like a pro. Another happy ending after a challenging post lambing period.
Finally, our most recent delivery came this past Friday, the 25th. Once again, we put a ready looking ewe (39) in the pen with another ewe and lamb. Sure enough, the next morning another ram lamb arrived. He was discovered shaking and barely able to stand, covered in meconium and amniotic fluids. The mother was caring for him but also seemed to still be in labor. We thought perhaps a twin was on the way. We didn't want to interfere with the two of them but the little lamb didn't look so good and she wasn't letting him nurse. He needed an enema and after a good poop, he regained his suck reflex and we got him latched on. Mama took awhile delivery her placenta but no twin emerged. After she finished laboring, she was attentive and he nursed. He has been gaining well ever since.
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| Jackie Bottlefeeding |
We now have only one more ewe who could deliver. No. 54, who I thought looked pregnant weeks ago, now seems to show no signs. I assume she is pregnant but must just be a few weeks delayed. Hopefully she will lamb in a week or so and we will completely done with 2014 lambing.
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