Tag Archives: Jacob x BFL

Ears Lambing

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Ears is a BFL-Jacob cross–the only crossbred ewe that I have now. She lambed on March 8–that was only two weeks ago but it sure seems like a long time now. Ears                                                             This photo was taken two days prior to the day she lambed.

Ears lambing-1                     I now have a different BFL ram here so Ears was bred to Peyton, making her lambs 75% BFL.

Ears lambing-2                           The first lamb was born about 1 in the afternoon.Ears lambing-3                        He was on his feet within 15 minutes.Ears lambing-4                  Even after as many lambs as I’ve watched just after birth I am always amazed by how quickly they stand and try to nurse.Ears lambing-5

Ears lambing-6            Ears was working on the next lamb but it was an hour after the first had been born and I saw significant meconium staining. That indicates some level of fetal distress, so I pulled this lamb. No wonder it was slow in coming–it was 12.4 pounds!Ears lambing-9                         I checked for another lamb and this one was born in about another five minutes. Ears lambing-10                         This is 31 pounds of lambs!Ears lambing-11                              All were up and trying to nurse in half an hour. IMG_5617                   This is Ears and her triplets the next day.IMG_5618                           So very cute!!!

 

Lambs!

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If you read the last post you know there is a contest about who will lamb first. No one is a winner yet because the choices didn’t include the ewe who did actually lamb first. (Don’t worry, the contest was just for the ewes in that blog post–we’ll still have a winner.)

I came home from town today to find Ears, a BFL-x ewe, just about ready to deliver. I didn’t have a breeding date for her so no lambing date either.IMG_9083One lamb.IMG_9110Two lambs.IMG_9134Three lambs. All were up and nursing quickly. Good job, Ears!

I always look at the sheep surroundings for potential hazards. My feeders are chained to the fence or wall so they can’t fall on a sheep. If I use baling twine to tie something (rarely because I have plenty of 2′ lengths of chain with clips)…but if I do use baling twine I make sure that there is no loop in which a sheep could get a head or horn stuck. If I leave a ewe to lamb in the larger lambing area I make sure the gate is shut with an extra chain because I know a lamb can squeeze through the space between the gate and the wall. So I was sitting in the straw watching the first lamb move around and I planned to move this extra panel before I went to the house because…IMG_9101…I knew that, however unlikely, a lamb could get stuck between it and the wall.  IMG_9103Sure enough, that happened while I was still sitting there.

So what could be cuter than a baby lamb? (Or at least As Cute?)DSC_6011How about this foal that was just 12 hours old?DSC_6021He was born down the road at my friend’s house. We have to wait 5 months for lambs to be born. This foal was due on January 29 (11 months) and was just born today on February 22! That is almost a year of gestation for the mare.