New Lamb Pics

Hi ladies, I've had an eventful weekend here on the farm. Started with a ewe who presented her lamb head first but no legs visible so I had to go fishing and pull it. A very large (15.5 lb) black ram lamb who set a new weight record for us. He has a halo of white wool on the top of his head so I've called him Gabriel. This ewe is famous for multiple lambs so when she didn't present another I had to go looking. Found a pair of legs way far in so managed to grab them and pull. Turned out they were hind legs (semi breech) which explained why she wasn't contracting or feeling the need to push. This was another ram lamb but white this time and about half the size. He was out of the placenta and quite bloody which was quite unusual. He was too weak to nurse so I had to stomach tube him twice yesterday and keep him under a heat lamp in the barn with Mom and brother. This morning when I went down to check he was up on all 4 feet and nursing on his own - yippee!!

The we had a ewe who was not progressing with her labor and not dilating which meant we had to call in the vet. Ended up having to do a c-section to save Mom and try to save the baby. Unfortunately the baby was already dead and it's doubtful we'll ever be able to breed her again as she had suffered internal trauma. Of course it was one of my best ewe's, a colored Romney with a killer fleece. Hopefully we'll be able to prevent infection. Time will tell. She was up and eating and drinking the next morning so fingers crossed. It was 2am before I got to bed after this one.

Today we had a ewe deliver a white ram lamb and I'm glad to say both Mom and baby are doing fine!

Here's some pics for you:

Looking for the right stop to lamb. This

is a Coopworth ewe which is a cross between

a Romney and Border Leicestershire.

If you look closely you can see a black

head starting to emerge.

Just born

Not quite ready to stand

Up on his feet and looking for milk. The

brown sheep in the background is this ewe's lamb

from last year. She's quite curious! It'll be her

turn next Spring.

Lamb #2

Lambs born earlier in the week.

Mom wondering what the heck I'm doing!

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Susan the Blue Lake Knitter on April 1, 2012 at 6:45pm

Julie, Thanks for the pics... very good for all of us NON shepherds... the lambs are so, so cute.

Permalink Reply by wendy on April 1, 2012 at 7:38pm

What sweet, sweet pictures! Wow, what a weekend you have had, but very interesting. I feel as if I was reading All Creatures,Great and Small. I'm sorry to hear of the loss of one of your lambs, that's sad. But I too will keep my fingers crossed that Mom continues to heal and do well.

Permalink Reply by cherylbwaters on April 1, 2012 at 8:21pm

Oh, Julie, those pictures were exciting. I'm so sorry about the one baby and hope that momma gets over the trauma.

Permalink Reply by Dawn Railsback on April 2, 2012 at 8:34am

What a roller coaster weekend. Love the pics of the new babies! So sorry to hear about the baby that you lost and hope that mom gets better quickly.

Permalink Reply by Elaine Wenger on April 2, 2012 at 8:47am

Julie thank you for the wonderful pics. Hope all grow healthy and happy. So this is why we all sit and spin and are so attached to our fiber art.

Permalink Reply by Julie Hartford on April 2, 2012 at 2:29pm

There are always a couple of lambs that don't survive. It keeps me humble. All I can do is my best and leave the rest in God's hands. The c-section Mom is doing really well today.

Permalink Reply by PickleSue on April 2, 2012 at 4:19pm

Julie- Thank you for the pictures, truly! :) We used to have sheep and I really don't miss the chaos of lambing time. :P Of course for a while, I was working full-time with a wee one when we were lambing (hubs worked full-time, too). But I don't know if that was worse or when I was only working part-time with 2 kids and hubs worked out of town during the week all the time and we were lambing. :)

What I'm amazed at by your pictures is that anyone lambed during the day! I don't think I ever remember any of ours doing that! HA! I'm sure we'll have sheep again, so I better store up my energy now. :P You have some beauties!!

Permalink Reply by Julie Hartford on April 3, 2012 at 4:13am

We found that by giving the grain in the evening instead of morning it resulted in ewes that lambed from the hours of 5am till about 6pm. There is scientific evidence to back this up. Mind you, not ALL the ewes have read this LOL. When people ask me if I enjoy lambing I always reply "Yes, but I'm always glad when it's over". No lambs born yesterday so I spent a delightful hour spinning in the sunshine - bliss! I find spinning so relaxing.

Permalink Reply by wendy on April 3, 2012 at 6:14am

That is so interesting!

I agree, spinning is so very relaxing, I'm glad you were able to find some relaxing time for yourself. :o)

Permalink Reply by PickleSue on April 3, 2012 at 9:03am

Julie- we always fed in the evening, but I didn't know that was why! Lol. Maybe I just don't remember accurately. Or the night ones were just more memorable.

Permalink Reply by cherylbwaters on April 3, 2012 at 1:31pm

"Mind you, not ALL the ewes have read this LOL." My husband loved this part of your comment!

Permalink Reply by wendy on April 3, 2012 at 6:15am

Pickle, I didn't know you had lambs! Makes me wonder what you haven't raised - lol.