Lambing Prequel

Posted on January 24, 2016 by Robin

Lambing season is due to start in a month, but there were early lambs yesterday, the result of not moving ram lambs out of the main flock soon enough. Yes, some 5 month old lambs are fertile. I saw one of these ewes being bred and the ram lambs were moved that day. So I don’t anticipate anymore lambs until late February.

When I went to the barn yesterday morning I moved the ewes to the back as I normally do so that I can feed hay without them near the feeders. I heard a baaa. It’s pretty crowded back there with full-fleeced ewes. I walked through the flock but didn’t see a lamb. Then I heard it again and looked back. This is a poor view of the sliding door at the south end of the barn.This is looking from the other end. This happened once before–a lamb stumbled into the opening between the door and the wall and then couldn’t get out. Fortunately it wasn’t wet or too cold that night.Here he is with mom, Dazzle, in the barn.

Farm club was here during the day, but that’s for another post. Afterwards, Dan continued with his work in the barn. We have new lights in the lambing area! IMG_8384-barn Dazzle’s lamb was a surprise although I didn’t have a breeding date for her, which was an indication that she may have already been bred. I went back out last night to check the ewe I expected to lamb.She was lambing and had nice big twins.These are some flashy looking lambs, especially the little ram on the right. If he grows up nicely, those markings would make him a very pretty show lamb. Too bad he doesn’t have a known father so he can’t be in the show. Maybe he’ll make someone a nice fiber pet if he’s wethered. dog eating afterbirth Ginny was just a baby at last lambing season and wasn’t out on her own much. Today it didn’t take her long to discover a dog’s favorite part of lambing time. I usually make sure the afterbirth is not dog-accessible but when it falls out of the wheelbarrow it’s up for grabs.

Lambs

Posted on April 1, 2015 by Robin

I started the last post with a photo of my “lambing board” with two entries. It’s full now……and there is overflow onto another board. I have 72 lambs with 3 more ewes to lamb. Celeste lambed this morning. These lambs are #71 and 72. Most of the others are in the field. That’s no lamb. That’s Puddleduck Petra coming to the barn. You can meet these lambs at our spring open house, Meet the Sheep, Saturday, April 4.

Reviving a Lamb

Posted on March 13, 2015 by Robin

I went to the barn a little after 6 a.m. this morning and found what looked like a dead lamb along with two lambs who were up and nursing. The lamb that was flat out on the ground had membranes over his face and was cold and still. I pulled the membranes off of the nose and surprise! That lamb wasn’t quite dead yet. It made a little sound and started to breath raspilly. (Spellcheck says that’s not a word, but it works for me.)

First, get lamb warm. The heat lamp wasn’t fast enough… …so I brought it to the house. After it started to revive I substituted a heating pad for the hot water. Tube feeding with colostrum was next. Fortunately I had a couple of ounces in the freezer. I switched the heating pad from under the lamb to over the lamb while Rusty made sure he didn’t go anywhere. I carried the whole bundle back to the barn so I could get on with chores. That’s when I set up the heat lamp. I also milked some colostrum out of the mom and tube fed the lamb another few ounces.It got up before long and now sports the most glamorous in lamb-wear. If a ewe lambs with a single lamb in the next few days I will try to graft this one on. That will be another post. These are the other two sets of triplets and their moms.

Today’s Lambs

Posted on March 9, 2015 by Robin

Lambing moved into high gear today. It’s been one ewe a day until now. The morning started with Ginseng and twins.Next was Maggie. I pulled twins but one was dead. This one has a long story that I won’t go into now because I still have to go back to the barn. Maggie and the remaining lamb are at the UCD Veterinary Hospital for the night. Maggie was low in potassium and that needs to be dripped in over a 24 hour period.

Esmerelda is a Jacob-BFL cross who is just a year old. She delivered 7.8 and 8.8 pound Jacob-cross lambs. That first lamb was on its feet within 5 minutes.

Foxglove is another Lilac ewe with lilac lambs (although it’s hard to tell when they are wet).This is the kind of lambing I like. Put her in the barn. Go to the house. Come back to the barn and there are lambs nursing. Here is the count so far. By the way the TB means that I’ve banded Tails and given BOSE. Rams and ewes are color coded (blue for boy)

Lambing in Threes – Not Always Pretty

Posted on March 7, 2015 by Robin

Lambing count so far: 4 sets of twins and 2 sets of triplets. I hope this is not indicative of the rest of lambing season.

After checking Ventura every so often for lambing progress I found her with only a tail hanging out. Not a good sign.I don’t know any other way to deliver a lamb in that position other than to push it back in and find some feet to pull. This is lamb #1. With lamb #1 at 5 lb 6 oz and in an abnormal presentation that’s an indication that this is a triplet delivery.Lamb #2.Here are all three.

Ventura with all three lambs the next day. They clean up pretty well.

Here is what I found in the barn this morning:Loretta had one small lamb that had obviously been up for awhile and there were multiple fluid filled membranes. Triplets again? Yes.The second two were trying to come at the same time. Match up a head and two feet and pull that one. The next one comes easily.

That third lamb took quite awhile to get going. I let her stay in that sunny spot as long as the sun was there.

Not triplets but three happy Farm Club members and three babies.

Loretta’s lambs

Posted on March 3, 2014 by Robin

This lamb is missing his Jacob facial markings, but I still like these photos. He was on his feet and walking in less than 10 minutes. The twin has all the right spots. You can watch their birth in this video.

Mary Had a Little Lamb…and then Another

Posted on February 25, 2014 by Robin

I have been anxiously awaiting lambs. Athena started us off early by lambing last week, but there has been nothing since. Mary was calling for lambs all morning and she finally got her wish. Others came to investigate. I moved Mary and her ewe lamb inside where she had her second lamb, a big ram. It will be a busy few weeks.

First Lamb

Posted on February 20, 2014 by Robin

Athena lambed ahead of schedule. Unfortunately the biggest twin (12.2 lbs) was dead when I went out this morning. Although it looks as though it was born alive (or at least was full term) there was something wrong with it. It’s belly was full of fluid so I think there was probably a congenital problem with it and it never could have survived.

This lamb is 8 pounds.It’s obvious who the dad is:

Lambs everywhere

Posted on February 25, 2013 by Robin

Eight lambs today brought us to 22 lambs in five days since lambing began. It was hectic today. I had a Lambtown Fiber Committee meeting scheduled here from 1 to 3. One ewe (Delilah) lambed with twins and I put another ewe (Belinda) in a lambing pen just before the meeting started. One of the participants in the meeting brought her kids and the kids needed something to do. They were charged with the task of telling us if Belinda started having a lamb. About half way through the meeting the kids told us that a different ewe had just had a lamb. That was Terraza and I brought her into the barn. By the time the meeting was over there were 5 more lambs (2 for Terraza, 2 for Belinda, and 1 more for Delilah, giving her triplets). The morning began with finding Summer’s lambs. Unfortunately one was dead. (This is not a very good photo but it is of the live lamb.)The third of Delilah’s triplets. Look at those horns.This is Belinda. It’s no wonder that lambs and ewes get mixed up when lambing in a confined area. Belinda was desperate to have a lamb, any lamb.Delilah and her triplets.Terraza and twins. 1-DSC_5697weigh Dona came for the meeting and she took some photos. I like to weigh the lambs so I have an answer when people ask me “how much do they weigh when they are born?”Here are the official Lamb Watchers of the day. This is one of Eliza’s lambs, born a couple of days ago. Hot Lips and one of her lambs.The Lambing Board.

Summer & Paulette

Posted on March 8, 2012 by Robin

Go back to February 28th’s post to see Summer while still pregnant. She lambed three days later on March 2.

This is Summer with her ewe lambs at 4 days old. They were 7.2, 7.5, and 8 lbs at birth.

I think Paulette will take Summer’s place as “the sheep most likely to have triplets”.

In this case, I know that Paulette is having triplets. She was not supposed to be bred because she usually lambs at the State Fair. However, Faulkner got in with her and this is the result. A sonogram showed triplets…and this follows quads at the fair last year!

Meridian Jacobs' Blog

Life on the farm and at the loom.

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