first twins

After a brief respite from winter, the cold has returned.  Thankfully Woolamina and her lamb Una have been doing just fine in the barn by the house.    The last few nights, we've segregated Big Wooly our other heavily pregnant ewe with a friend in another small shed so she'll have more room and is easier to monitor in case she gives birth.  This morning we brought her into the barn with Woolamina and Una.

Lambs are so silly.   With Big Wooly in the barn with her, little Una got confused and tried to suckle the wrong ewe.   Big Wooly didn't seem too keen about that but within an hour was in labor.  I have to wonder if the teat stimulation brought on labor?    Anyway, at about 11 am, my daughter reported that she had a water bag hanging out of her and by the time I got to the barn, a foot had appeared.  I went upstairs to get on different pants and by the time I got back, the lamb was delivered and a second was on the way.  The second was born quickly too and soon we were hard at work trying to warm them up.  Big Wooly paid more attention to the first one but both had to be toweled off and warmed under the heat lamp.  Soon we had the second one on a heating pad on a towel in a laundry basket and a hair dryer going back and forth between the two.   It's hard to dry off a newborn lamb as they are covered in a mucous that is thick and doesn't get absorbed by a towel.  It's so cold, our biggest concern is making sure they don't get hypothermic right off the bat.  Jason gave them each some Nutridrench to give added nutrition and we set up an electric heater outside the pen in the hopes of warming the whole area.    

The second lamb is weaker than the first but both are doing OK.  The weaker one got our only blanket to wear.  Little Una is wearing the other and I hesitate to take it off her since she is out in the cold without any heating lamps and is still vulnerable herself.  

Big Wooly is paying attention to both lambs but not always letting them nurse.  The stronger one is definetely getting some milk but I'm not so sure about the other.  Both seem to have some energy and aren't shivering but we're still keeping a close eye on them.   

And there goes my day!  I had planned to get many other things done but with focusing all my energy on two newborn lambs, I've little else accomplished.  Oh well!