Lambing, the End (Almost)

Posted on April 2, 2025 by Robin

I have lamb photos to share but not necessarily in order because I didn’t keep up as lambing progressed.

The last lambs of Lambing Season, Part 1, were born two days ago, March 31. Part 1? That’s another story, but there may be four ewes due to lamb at the end of April. This is Tamara with two ewe lambs, #2553 and 2554.

Bide a wee Trista lambed March 28 with triplets.

This photos was taken three days BEFORE lambing. Trista certainly carried that twenty pounds of lambs low. She is getting grain now to help her put some weight back on and supply enough milk.

This is lamb #2545 born to SilverRain March 21. Lambing had slowed down at that point.

The lambing board shows that there was a lot of action for about a week and then days between the later lambs. My granddaughter made the notes on the board before she left on March 25.

Sweetgrass Tranquility had triplet ewes March 19.

My grandkids were here for a week and shared bottle feeding Sparky. This is 8-year-old Kasen.

I was able to finish skirting and sorting the Jacob wool be the time lambing was over. This wool is now at the mill and hopefully I’ll have some of it back by the fall.

Lambing 2025

Posted on March 14, 2025 by Robin

I’m 9 days into lambing and haven’t had a chance to share any of it. Here is Day 1 on March 6.

There was a field trip from a Waldorf school in the morning. I had told them that I couldn’t promise lambs, but maybe there would be some. There were not. However, they had plenty of time to pet sheep. Notice Jade enjoying the attention.

I had a tax appointment after the kids left and when I got back I found Addy with triplets.

After I brought them into the barn the first order of business was to erase last year’s Lambing Board. This shows 88 lambs from January 25 through March 7 plus other notes squeezed in. So we ended lambing last year at the same time we’re starting this year. That was partly because we wanted to take a trip to Texas to see the grandkids and the eclipse in April. I didn’t want to have lambs coming if we were not here. This year I’m back to a more normal schedule.

Cashew lambed the following day. There were no lambs the day after that. A slow start.

Triple Trouble

Posted on February 27, 2024 by Robin

I wrote last time about Seeing Triple and all the triplets that have been born. Eilwen was the last one in that post, but early the next morning Honey had her lambs–more triplets.

When I went to the barn I saw the moon setting in the west…

…and the sun rising in the east.

Here is what I saw in the barn. I had put Honey in the night before because she was desperately trying to claim the lambs of the ewe that had just lambed when I was at the barn around midnight. Now she had her own brood. This is the sixth set of triplets. That’s too many, especially for this ewe who had mastitis last year. I thought it had been resolved enough for her to have lambs again. I was wrong.

The lambs had figured out that they were getting milk from only one side. A ewe can nurse a single lamb one one side, and maybe twins, but it’s asking way too much to raise triplets that way. Its important for the lambs to get colostrum during the first day, so I made sure that they all took turns nursing through the day, but I started to supplement that night.

Jannie lambed later that day with twins.

This is Coco with 10-day old twins. Yesterday I found Coco less responsive than normal. She is not one of the tame sheep and she wouldn’t get up when I wanted her to move. The lambs were trying to nurse while she was lying down. I discussed symptoms with one of the vets at the VMTH (UCDavis Vet Hospital).

No fever and, in fact, lower than normal body temperature, her behavior, and the yellow cast to the sclera led her to think copper toxicity. I have dealt with copper toxicity in the past but not for several years.

I took Coco to the VMTH as soon as I could. This story does not have a happy ending, but this is real life. Coco was euthanized. I know she looks like a normal sheep in this photo, but believe me, her body was shutting down. There is a lot more I could tell you about this — details about copper toxicity in sheep, decisions one has to make about animals whether they are considered livestock or pets, and more. That is what Farm Club is all about. Farm Club members get the behind-the-scenes stories in much more detail than works (or is appropriate for) a blog post. They have had daily updates from the beginning of lambing and have been invited out here to participate as well.

This was the bucket I took to the barn this morning. Two bottles for Coco’s lambs and two bottles for Honey’s lambs. As of the noon feeding I added a fifth bottle. I’ll be feeding four times/day for a couple of weeks I think.

Those are Coco’s lambs on the right. I took two of Honey’s lambs out of her pen this morning. The fact that she didn’t care means she doesn’t feel well. I left one with her but will supplement him.

On the positive side, Jazzie lambed this morning.

The lambing board so far.

Seeing Triple

Posted on February 25, 2024 by Robin

Janna had the first set of triplets this year. That was February 9.

Next was Sonata on February 17. Unfortunately the third one died after birth. I thought she was finished with lambs after two. When I came back the third was there with membranes on its face. It may have been that Sonata didn’t even know she’d had another lamb while she was dealing with the first two.

Later that same day Juniper had triplets.

The following day, February 18, Jade had triplets. By this point lambing was intense. These pens were “overflow” in the alley of the barn. I think that Jade had been in labor since the morning–or at least the early stages–with no progress. In the meantime Quartz, Jade’s daughter in the pen next to her, lambed with her first. I decided to palpate Jade and find out what as going on. I found back legs with one bent at the hock. That lamb was blocking the progress of the others. I pulled that lamb and then a second. I found a third, but couldn’t quite figure out the right orientation and it was in pretty far. I left her alone to see if she would deliver that lamb on her own. Eventually I reached back in and pulled it. That was a difficult pull and I wasn’t sure if I had injured the lamb. It sure took a long time to get going. It eventually came around and now you can tell any difference in it although that night I wasn’t very hopeful. I milked colostrum from the three recent ewes and tube fed the lamb, feeding it three times by the end of the night.

Quartz was having her second lamb, but before she delivered I checked her udder as I always do. One half was hard and I sort of remembered a mastitis issue. There is scar tissue in the udder and the teat is not functional. A ewe could raise two lambs on one side of the udder but it is certainly not ideal. I was also worried about her developing a fresh case of mastitis.

Jasmine was lambing at the same time and the ultrasound had indicated a single lamb.I made the decision to give her one of Quartz’s lambs. The Quartz lamb was already up and had nursed, but was still under an hour old. I made sure that she was “slimed” by the lamb Jasmine had just delivered so that they both smelled the same and needed cleaning. It worked and Jasmine had no problem thinking that both were hers.

Then Jasmine lay down and had a second lamb, or is it a third? In any case, Jasmine is now nursing three lambs.

Jasmine in a stall with her brood a few days later.

Tonight there were more triplets. Eilwen had the first out in the drylot. I had suspected triplets because she was so huge, even though the ultrasound had shown two. This lamb was only 4.6 pounds compared to the average of about 7. That was the first confirmation that I was correct.

Lamb #2.

And a third.

Jade’s lambs look much nicer when all cleaned off.

Today on the Farm – February 21

Posted on February 21, 2024 by Robin

I know it will make me crazy to go back and do other photos out of order, but I’m ready now for today. So I’ll do it this way and include a couple from yesterday as well. Maybe I’ll get to others later because there are stories.

Yesterday Dan decided to take out part of the tree that we think used to stand straight. Ever since that super strong wind last week this tree has looked like it’s tipping more and we’ve known that part of it looks dead. If it went down it could not only take a person with it but it would lift up the corner of the fence. It’s easier to cut down a tree than to replace the fence.

This is one of Trista’s twins born five days ago. The first time he nursed he did it while lying down. Maybe he has decided that is just the way you do things. It works when the sheep has a low hanging udder.

I was in the barn a good part of the day yesterday. I skirted fleeces in between watching ewes lamb. I’ll try to get time to post these.

This morning I knew it was time to rearrange the furniture. As the ewes lamb and I move more ewe/lamb groups out of pens they go on one side. The pregnant ewes stay on the other. It’s the only way I can keep track of who’s next and who may be in labor. There were way too many sheep on one side. It’s mud on the outside of the barn and the pasture has standing water. Until we get some dry days and some more growth they won’t go out there.

Now the ewes and lambs have a much larger space in the barn and outside to the west.

The pregnant ewes (not in this photo) have the space to the left.

In the barn. I ran out of feeders that hang on the panels so Tamara has to share her meal as bedding.

The hens looked like they were dying, but I knew that they were just happy to spread out in the sun.

I moved Amara in last night thinking that she might lamb during the night. Today was the day.

I went to the house for breakfast and to get supplies so that I could work from the barn. I had to prepare for a Zoom meeting for which I didn’t have time last night. This is one of my favorite cups. I bought it at Black Sheep Gathering last year.

My new office set up.

My view from the office.

The result. The second was one of those that may have been just fine if I wasn’t there, but I don’t know. There have been plenty of lambs born with no one around and they are up and nursing when I find them. But so far there have been two that I found dead and had the membranes over the face, one of which was still half in the ewe. This one was born while the ewe was standing and paying attention to the first. It slipped out and landed with the body flopped over the head and fluid all around. I straightened it out and it came to life. I don’t know if it would have before the ewe discovered she had a second.

That’s the day so far. We have 54 lambs and I think I counted 19 ewes to go.

More Watching and Waiting…Who’s Next?

Posted on February 15, 2024 by Robin

I’ll start with pretty lamb pictures and then move on to sheep rears. She last night’s post for an explanation of that.

I just let the ewes and lambs onto green grass.

Janna and triplets born about a week ago.

These are in order of how they exported onto my list. This is Coco, due 2-17. Farm Club members have the list of due dates. These are mostly based on my observations during breeding season and then confirmed (sort of) by ultrasounds in late November.

Oh boy! I just learned how to put two photos side by side here. This is Pecan from front and rear. She is due 2/20.

Sandie doesn’t count for the contest. Notice what’s behind her. But it does show what I mean when I talk about the lambs dropping and leaving a sunken area in front of the hips. Compare her to her sister, Pecan in the photos above. She has lambed between me taking these photos this morning and getting to the house to do this post.

Quartz is due 2/17.

Anise was due 2/14.

Eilwen is due 2/27.

Hallie on the left, due 2/22, and Lavender on the right, due 2/20.

Jade from the side and rear. She is due tomorrow, 2/16.

Trista is due 2/17.

There are plenty of others that I could photograph but these are the sheep that posed properly for photos.

Watching and Waiting

Posted on February 15, 2024 by Robin

This is probably the kind of photo you expect to see when people are sharing pictures of sheep. But it’s the other end that I’m watching to try and figure out who is next to lamb. The ewe facing me is Sandie due 2/15 (tomorrow). I took lots of photos earlier to bring back the Lambing Game for Farm Club. That’s where I share photos of sheep (mostly rear ends) and Farm Club members can choose the next to lamb. There may be a prize or the prize may just be bragging rights. But I kept taking photos and either not being able to positively identify the sheep from the wrong end, or that sheep lambed before I had a chance to post photos.

Tranquility was one of those I was going to post. She lambed the morning after I took this photo.

Addy was also on the list. She lambed late in the afternoon after I took this photo, the same day as Tranquility.

I think this is Eilwen because the spots match the last photo here.

The ewe on the right is Foxy who lambed this morning. The photo was taken three days before.

Jade is in the middle. Everyone who has been here knows Jade. She is due 2/16.

At 12 years, Sonata is the oldest ewe here, due on 2/16.

Trista and Eilwen. Trista is due 2/17. Eilwen is due 2/27.

If I have time I may take a new set of photos tomorrow. They should all be taken at the same time to make this game fair.

Today on the Farm

Posted on February 13, 2024 by Robin

I caught the sunrise this morning.

I put this ewe, Sweetgrass Tranquility, in the lambing area the last two nights thinking that she was ready to lamb. Notice the sunken sides. She looked like that yesterday too. This was her official due date based on breeding date. There was still no action.

I did chores and moved ewes and lambs around. This is Meridian Janna with triplets. They moved from the stall where they’d been a few days to the big outdoors. I went to the house to do some computer work. When I came back out Tranquility was straining some, but there was still none of the other obvious signs I expect (mucous, drainage). I gloved up and found a lamb close to being born, but stuck. This could be a long story but I’ll just explain that the lamb was dead and was blocking the exit for the other lambs. When a lamb is dead it is floppy and the legs and head don’t stay in the position necessary for easy lambing.

I pushed that lamb back to where I was able to grab its legs and head and pulled it out. Then I was able to find and pull two live lambs. The meconium staining indicates that the lambs were stressed during the process, but all is well. These lambs were normal size (7+ pounds). I think the first one died at least a few days ago. I have a photo but didn’t think this was the place to share it.

Here are those two lambs up and looking for something to eat.

Lambing isn’t always a pretty sight.

I spent a couple of hours still in the barn working on fleeces. I have a lot of fleeces to skirt and photograph for sale. I will get some on the website tomorrow.

I took this photo earlier in the morning, before Tranquility lambed. This is the BFL X Jacob ewe, Addy. Those BFLs put on much more weight than the Jacobs with the same feeding regimen–she is a tad heavy and has looked round for days. Later in the day I went out and thought that the lamb(s) had dropped. Her sides were more sunken and I figured that I would put her in the lambing area tonight.

When I went back to the barn about 5:00 I found her with a lamb that was 12.4 pounds! Maybe the vet that reviewed the ultrasound and gave a 1+ result was right and there was only one. (1+ means they confirmed one but didn’t rule out a second.)

When I went back to the barn two hours later here is what I found. This is a 9.6 pound lamb and had already nursed. I wonder if I’ll be surprised when I go back out as soon as I finish this post.

Here is the lambing list so far. We’re off to a much slower start than previous years, but it’s been easier that way. There are a lot more due before the end of the month.

I don’t think it’s spring yet, but it felt like it today when the sun was out!

If you want to see lambing videos check out my YouTube channel. This is Bessie lambing with twins and here is Cashew with twins. These are about 6 minute videos.

Bright Colors and Lambs

Posted on February 7, 2024 by Robin

I taught a rigid heddle weaving class this morning and the one participant chose these brilliant colors for her scarf. I think it turned out great!

Dan and I went to the barn to put up a new barn camera and saw this out back. I had put these ewe in last night because she didn’t follow the others in to eat. But I put her back out this morning because nothing had happened and she wasn’t due for another five days. This is Rose, Kirby’s ewe. She is in the photo below just before shearing.

When they are in full fleece, looks are deceiving.

The ultrasound results showed triplets, but there are only twins here. These are dark lilac lambs. Horatio is the sire.

This is Bessie, the ewe that lambed January 29, too early for the “real” breeding season. These lambs are sired by a random ram lamb. They are sure nice looking ewes. One is black and white and one is lilac.

People at the Farm and Tiny Lambs

Posted on March 30, 2018 by Robin

Every year I offer a Sheep Handling and Management class that occurs sometime during lambing season. This year the timing was lucky! We had twins born in the morning before the class started and a ewe started lambing during class. During the discussion about other aspects of raising sheep we kept an eye on Zinnia, the ewe who was lambing. When she got more serious we watched. Zinnia lambing-14 One thing of note was the presence of two bags, each a different color. A lot of time I just see membranes that have broken so I wouldn’t know if it were one or two, but it seemed unusual to see two distinct bags. I saw a bit of a small foot emerging but the whole thing seemed to be taking awhile so I thought I’d check. There was one foot and a head. Not very far back was another head. Both lambs were coming at the same time, and it was obvious from the two sacs that one had meconium staining, a sign of fetal distress. I pushed the second lamb back and was able to pull the first lamb with just the head and one foot. I could tell that it was very small. Usually it takes a little while for the second to come, but it was right there too. Weighing these later, they were 4.8 and 4.2 pounds.

Zinnia lambing-16

Both lambs were alive. The second lamb acted unusual. Most lambs start trying to get up within minutes of birth but there is a normal sequence that I have a hard time describing. It’s just something that I’ve seen many times. (If you go to my YouTube channel and look at lambing videos you’ll see this.) The second lamb was noisy, baaing constantly and sort of scrabbling with it’s feet. It seemed frantic as opposed to a more methodical attempt to stand.

You can’t rush a lamb to be ready to nurse. I didn’t know if something was wrong with this one, but I knew that, even if it was normal, it needed a little more time. We went outside and looked at the fences and the pasture. When we came back in the first lamb was doing fine. The second still wasn’t able to stand but I could hold it up and get it to nurse.

Zinnia lambing-19 We kept checking back and eventually the second lamb was on it’s feet. This photo was taken later in the day. Later that afternoon a friend of mine came with another friend to take photos of the lambs. That’s Raquel with triplet ram lambs.