Keeping us on our toes

Ewes certainly do like to keep us guessing. Tuesday morning, I went out with the girls to check on all the lambs, get some weights and change some their cute sweaters to a larger size. We have been waiting since last week for 63 to have her lambs and she has been in the lambing jug biding her time. We have since moved Lucille into the lambing jug beside her and Stella in to share the larger jug with her. We figured she must have cycled again before getting pregnant and would have her lamb or lambs next week.


On my way out to the nursery pen, all three expectant ewes were just sitting chewing - looking relaxed. 40 minutes later when I returned to the house, what do you know but 63 had delivered a newborn baby ewe lamb! They sure can labor quickly. I quickly moved Stella out of her pen to give her privacy with her lambs and put her in with Lucille. I watched and confirmed the baby had nursed and then went inside for a bit. About 45 minutes later I returned to find another baby born - a ram lamb.


Both had a rocky start. The boy was very weak and wouldn't get to the teat. The girl started off great but then showed signs of constipation which can be life threatening. Jay gave her an enema which seemed to solve that problem and after hours in the barn, we both had to leave to go to work.


When we returned home just a few hours later, we found a dead lamb in the other jug. It looked as if Lucille had completely ignored it - she didn't even lick off its face so it could breathe! I just wish we had caught it. We could have saved it I'm sure. This ewe is a little special shall we say. She just isn't right. Last year, she abandoned her lamb after delivery as well but then was a fine mother after being reunited. It is possible the lamb was stillborn but it seems more likely that she just ignored it. The poor little thing was still warm when we found it at about 6:30 pm. It was a girl too. Very sad.


The other two babies are doing well though and we have four other ewes due this week. I hope that is the only sad story I have to tell.

63 nursing her lamb just after birth

Tired after a long night

After spending all afternoon moving sheep and taking care of babies, I was ready to relax Sunday night but we decided we would go weigh Lilly and Lion before bed to make sure they were doing well before leaving them for the night.   When we got to the barn, we discovered that 67, who we'd been worried about all day, was definitely in labor.   I ran up to the house to get some towels and such when I discovered that 39 who we'd moved into the barn the day before was also in labor.  

On closer examination, 67 had a baby coming breach - rear first.  Jason pulled the lamb and then she went to work licking it.  This little ewe lamb seemed very weak and exhausted.  I went up to the house again and found that 39 had already delivered twins.  They seemed alright so I went back down to 67 who seemed to need more help.  While I was gone, 67 delivered a second twin breach - another little ewe lamb.  Mama then collapsed and didn't get up.  She must have been in labor all day which left her exhausted.  She still licked her babies but didn't have the energy needed to really care for them.   Jay left me with the lambs while he went to check on the other newborns.  

I didn't know what to do.  Both ewe lambs seemed to by dying - almost lifeless.  I rubbed them with towels and tried to keep them warm.  While I was worrying about this - I heard a noise from the other side of the barn.  54 was also definitely in labor!  It was overwhelming - almost comical.  

After another crazy half hour, we had a total of six new lambs.   I think five of them were born in 15 minutes.   Thankfully 39's babies needed little help and still are doing fine.   54 did well too without any assistance.

67's babies suddenly came to life just as we were thinking of giving them a dextrose injection.  All the time rubbing them with the towels and letting Mama lick as much as she could worked because they suddenly had enough energy to stand.  They wouldn't suck the bottle I had prepped for them but then Mama stood up after another hour or so, they both ate.   They are funny though - they would fall down seeming lifeless only to jump up again and go nurse.    It was crazy.  

Finally after running around in all directions and confirming that all lambs had at least most likely nursed, we weighed them all and went to bed.  We had to just trust that they would do what they needed to do.  

We dropped to bed exhausted at 2 am.  

At 6am, I woke up to check on all our new lambs.  Thankfully, they were all still alive and seemed OK so I went back to sleep.  

Monday morning, we did a more thorough check and weighed them all again.  Some lost weight but all were still alive and seemed OK so left them a few more hours and did another weight check on the ones that hadn't gained.  They all put on weight.

54 with one of her lambs resting

39's newborn lamb

39s newborn lamb

51 and her twins

Lilly and Lion

Thankfully we no more lambs born yesterday or last night.   Poppy and Petunia seem to be doing well.  We moved Giovanna and her two girls out to share a pen with 64 and her twin boys.  They adjusted well.  We moved 39, our next due up to the Giovanna's pen in the barn by the house.  67 has been acting strange all day and while we were worrying about her, 51 started labor right in front of us.

She delivered twins within 15 minutes - a boy and a girl.  Despite planning not to name boys, this one got the name Lion to go with Lilly his twin sister.  They were born at about 1 pm this afternoon and have had a slightly rocky day.  At first it seemed that neither were nursing but then the boy had a good long suckle while we pinned his mother against the wall.  After that he seemed to nurse on his own several more times.   

Lilly would not nurse so we pinned Mama again so I could pump a little colostrum.  Our handy Udderly EZ milker wasn't so handy so I had to hand express the milk.  Luckily I could aim it right into the bottle.  Lilly was thrilled with the bottle and drank all three ounces that I milked from her mom.  Since then, she got her strength and has been nursing all afternoon.  

Now her brother seems a little weak and won't nurse in front of us.  He also won't take a bottle but he seems warm and OK so we are waiting to see how he is.  

67 has been acting strange all day and shows little interest in food so she may be next.  54 was seen pawing the ground but then seems fine so we shall see who goes next.    It is nearly impossible to guess.

51 looking up at me with Lion and Lilly sleeping on top of each other

Poppy & Petunia

While I was writing my previous post, 45 was delivering her twin girls in the barn.  The kids discovered them.  Obviously the delivery was easy and quick and both lambs seem to be nursing well.  We are watching closely for the first few hours.

Luckily, 45 was the one we guessed would be next and was accordingly moved to a private pen last night.  She is skittish and was a beast to convince to come up to the barn close to the house but with a patient friend's help, we made it up in the dark last night.   I sure am glad we did.  It is much easier to deal with ewes and lambs when they have the right quarters.   We now have 5 more due in the next few days - all but one of which are now housed in a drop pen on one side of the main barn.

Three pregnant ewes in the drop pen (and a chicken too)

Here are the pictures of our newest additions.  Unfortunately, the heat lamp makes for very bad photographs but you get the idea.  The girls have decided on a flower theme for this year's lambs so these were named Poppy and Petunia.   The boys will not be named.

And here are some other pictures of our other lambs.

Rosie in blue, Posie in red

Rosie's star

64's twin boys napping

64 

4 lambs in 12 hours

By the time I had posted my prepping to lamb post, the lambs were here.

Last night, (at least one day earlier than expected) our first due ewe, Giovanna delivered twin girls.  We saw she was in labor and moved her into a private lambing pen.  We thought we'd leave her alone for half an hour and then see how she was progressing but 10 minutes later, we heard the bleating of a lamb.  I went out to check and sure enough there were not one but two tiny lambs.  Rosie is black like her mother with the same little white mark on her forehead and Posie is white.  Rosie is the smallest (and perhaps the cutest) lamb born at Aries Crossing yet.  She was only 6lbs 5 oz at birth!

Friday morning, we went to check on the new lambs and then my daughter went to check on the rest of lambs.  She came running back to tell me that one of the sheep had something handing from its rear end.

Sure enough 64 had delivered one and had another on the way in the main barn.  Thankfully the other sheep had left her alone in the barn while they went outside so we were able to focus on her.   She had two healthy ram lambs weighing in at over 12 lbs each.  They were a little slow to prove they were nursing but all is well.  

Prepare for lambing!

Written March 8, 2015: We are only a week away from our first due date at Aries Crossing.  I am nervous, anxious, and excited.  We have restocked our supplies and need to prep our lambing pens tomorrow.   Thirteen ewes are due in a roughly two-week period starting late next week.  Our first round of deliveries will be our second time mothers.  These will be likely to produce an average of two lambs each so we are going to be very busy.  We only had two sets of twins last year and we lost one baby who was abandoned by mom in the field before we could get there in time.  

Hopefully we have everything we need and all goes well.  We have lube and gloves to assist in delivery if needed though we have no experience with the obstetrical side of lambing.  We have dextrose.  We have our Udderly EZ milker to collect colostrum or milk as needed.  We have formula for a bottle lamb and colostrum replacer which we probably won't use.

Today I bought several yards of fleece to make little wearable lamb blankets.  The weather has been cold.  Last year March was in the single digits many nights.    We had a few lamb blankets but wished we had more.  This year, with perhaps 30 lambs coming during the cold weather, we will be better prepared.  We got more of the pre-made lamb sweaters from premier but I wish we hadn't.  It is a very simple design and i am making 16 for less than a dollar a piece.   I've got prettier colors than the plain red and blue that Premier offers.  I can't wait to see all the little lambs in all these colorful blankets in the field.