Well we were wrong about Giovanna. She still hasn't lambed but 51 did. I got very lucky once again yesterday. Maybe St. Germaine really is looking out for me. I was out for the afternoon and when I went out to check the sheep, one was just starting to show a hoof coming out. She was in the barn with the rest of the sheep since the weather was crappy and we'd kept them all in for the day. One of the other sheep was seemingly trying to kick the baby as it emerged so I cleared all the other sheep out of the barn. The baby was born soon after. I had to clear his face of mucous as its mother didn't do so right away but then she started licking him. He was soon up and trying to nurse but she was walking away.
We let them stay in the barn to bond for about an hour before moving them to the lamb jug by the house. 51 is a very skittish sheep and really didn't like us being so close to her. Once she was in the other pen, she continued to shy away from her lamb whenever he got near the teat. Unlike some of the others that did the same thing, she flipped out whenever we got close to her so we couldn't help the lamb latch on like we had.
After a bit of this, we decided to just milk her and give the lamb some milk in a bottle. Jay pinned her against the wall as she ate and I milked as much as I could. It is not easy to milk a sheep that really doesn't want you near her. We did get a good bit of milk though and thankfully, the lamb sucked on the bottle and drank a good bit. At least we didn't have to tube feed him. We fed him a bit more a few hours later using the rest of the milk along with a bit of the powdered colostrum replacer. Then we milked her again.
Today, we tried to get him to latch on himself several more times but he didn't seem interested so again we milked and bottle-fed. He got plenty from the bottle but would only take a few ounces at a time so we had to feed him often. After a longer stretch without eating, he was very hungry this evening. We gave her some grain and he actually latched on with help and suckled from the teat! Hopefully we can get him to do that a few more times and the two of them might actually get the hang of it.
Otherwise, he has to be bottle-fed and she has to be milked to relieve pressure in the udders so she doesn't get mastitis. Without proper equipment, milking is a real PITA so I really hope they get the hang of nursing as Nature intended.
No one else had a baby today so far and I really have no idea who will be next. Giovanna, 77, and 54 all look ready to go and have for days so we'll see. That may be it for spring lambing.
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