First lambs of 2010

Today our first ewe gave birth to 2 lambs. Alystyne was actually due tomorrow, but 2 other ewes were officially due before her, neither of which have yet given birth! I was so surprised that it was her lambs that we found this morning. She had 2 ewe lambs, one of which was 7 lbs at birth, and the other was 13 lbs! When we got out to the barn, the 7 lb one was lying in the straw and not very responsive. Had to get her into the house quickly and warmed her up with the hair dryer. When she finally stopped shaking, she took a bottle of colostrum replacer, and then she went back out with mom.

I made her a little coat to wear to keep her warm. I also used one we had already on her sister.

Here is big sister.

By 11:30 this morning, little sister still wasn't standing up very well and wasn't nursing. I took her to school with me because I had to be gone for 4 hours. She slept on my lap during classes.

Here she is with my dog!

Forgot to mention that these are blue-faced Leicester lambs.

Here she is back with mom, but she is still not nursing well. May need further intervention.

Oh dear, I am a sucker for lambsy-wambsies... only thing I am a bigger sucker for is goat kids. They're both bee-you-ti-ful, Claire. And now you are a ewe! LOL

oh how sweet. I hope she starts nursing soon

Darling babiez! I love the sweaters. I do hope the little one pulls out of it.. Thankz for the update!

Just went out to do a check on lambies. Bad situation. Little lambie was raising the roof with her distress calls. I could hear it before I got to the barn. Alystyne pays no attention. Bigger lambie was nursing well. I tried to put little lambie on the teat, but no luck. Alystyne kept walking away, but still letting the other one nurse. I don't know what else to do. I brought little lambie inside and fed her. She took a LOT of milk, so she was definitely hungry. Way more milk than Marshmallow ever took when she was a newborn lamb. Clearly this girl was HUNGRY! She is quiet as a mouse now, sitting on my lap. I think I have a new house lamb. I really didn't want that. I know it was sweet with Marshmallow but it's a lot of work. Sigh.

Goodness me, she looks like a rabbit...

Maybe that is the problem...She is the result of a UFO related alien rabbit-lamb implantation.....

Congratulations, though!

{{{What do you mean you don't want any more house lambs.....?}}}

Uh oh... I know it's hard to have a house baby.. Poor thing.. but probably just didn't bond with mom.. she does look like a rabbit! So cute!

Yes indeed, and one lucky rabbit I must say. I wanna come back as one of your lambs...LOL. Hay

Oh dear, do you suppose that wild rabbit that I talk to most days in the garden, and which I feed copiously, is something to do with it?!

Well, I mean, house lambs are adorable and sweet....but those nighttime feedings...ugh...there is a reason I never had children you know!! Still, lambs are much easier. I just....I'm so busy....don't have a lot of time for being a momma too....

{{{lambs of the levitating variety excepted, Catsy}}}

I'm still amazed. Out in the barn she was screaming like a banshee. She has only made two little "maaaaaa" sounds since she came inside. I think it was her choice...

She is a wise lamb child...

"Little lamb who made thee?"

"She who carries the bottle made me"

Im with Hay, I want to come back as one of your lambs...

Poor Moxie...no rest for the wick....

hi
i got a house goat
mother had two both in a hole of ice
we brought both in the house
we got the doe warm and took her to her mother
it took me 5 hour to get the buck
she would not have any thing to do with him
had tow birth in the same place witch had and ice hole
the other one had two
and they seem ok
but two day later the buck die
we mother had a sickness
we gave her shot
here is a picture of it and my dog
elle

Great picture Elle! So cute! Does the dog like the goat?! It's so sad she had them in the ice. They can die so quickly when they get too cold.

Something you could try Claire is putting mom in a head gate, or putting a halter on her and tying her up so she can't walk away. The lamb will do much better with mom than as a bottle baby, as you know, and there's still a very good chance to get her on her mother. If mom is not actively butting her away, there's an even better chance. You just have to get them together successfully for a few days until the lamb starts to smell "right" to mom.

Is she able to get on the teat if you hold the mom? If so, keeping mom stationary for a few days will probably do the trick.

Names?

Fuzzbutt.

Lanolynn.

LOL

Snow Bunny
Bottle Bunny
Honey Bunny... as in honey bunny, can I have another critter in the house? =0)

Boat
Gunny

Flowers make nice names....

Oh, maybe your favorite Olympic athelete

Annabelle (ooo, I like that one, I'll have to go find something to name Annabelle now... tah)

I told my secretary she could name a lamb this year. The bigger one is therefore named Tululu. Don't even ask. Pronounced toolooloo.

The little one is probably being named Cosette. She is still indoors.

Gallesfarm - I used your trick on the second pair of twins, which arrived this morning! One big ram lamb and a tiny (4 lb 11 oz) ewe lamb. That was first thing this morning. They both got mild to moderate hypothermia out in the barn - the ram while we were waiting for the second lamb to be born, and then she was so tiny that she never really got up. We took both inside again, but we tied mom up on the shearing stand. I milked her out, much to her displeasure. It took us over an hour to get any sucking instinct from either lamb. The ram was first - he is much bigger but I haven't weighed him yet. I fed him the colostrum first and he perked up. The little girl took nearly another hour to warm up. Finally she suckled but it's now 3 pm and she only just tried to stand for the first time about half an hour ago. It's a good thing we didn't leave her with mom because she would not have made it since she can barely stand yet. The ram lamb learned to go on the teat using Gallesfarm's method and I think he'll be fine. Little girl will be in the house for a few days being coddled. I will try milking out mom again later.

At least Cosette has a friend. I am going to try to get them back out to the barn within a week to play with the other lambs and have a sheepy upbringing, even if they are still on the bottle. I think it will be better that way.

We had to keep Marshmallow in the house for a couple of months last year because at the time, we were undergoing testing for Johnes disease on the farm, which was an 8 week test, and I couldn't risk putting her out there until we had results.

Anyway, Kelly gets to name the ram and I will name the girl after a few days when I feel more secure that she will be making it. Here she is in the sun in her warming box.

Shunny Sheep + Bunny big oops in other post.. that was goat + bunny.. sorry!
Bamb Bunny + Lamb

Bewe Bunny + Ewe

Ewenny LMAO I'm sorry

Good heavens, what have you been drinking?!
Oh, waaait a minute... you've been lamb-asted with adorabilityness. Gone all fluffy in the head.

I think she's had too much fresh air; she needs to get back out there and smell those diesel fumes....lol.

Yes, diesel fumes would definitely cut the wooly cute-icle that's growing over her brain... good idea!

This message was edited Mar 2, 2010 5:18 PM

Here's yesterday's ewe lamb (left) and today's ewe lamb (right). Not sure if today's will make it. Keep your fingers crossed.

Ah... little Gin and Tonic...
Hope they both make it, keeping fingers, toes and eyes crossed.

Jayryunen: I LIKE it!

Is there really that great a difference in size, Moxie...or is the picture misleading?

I don't think the pic is that misleading, she said the one born today was under 5 pounds. Hope she makes it.

In Billy's mind he has named it.. Superman cause of the cape. and the girl is Lava Girl.. He also loved the picture of the Kelly and the cat..LOL
So when Kelly names it, you have to let us know so I can help Billy understand..

Catsy - there really is that much of a difference in size. The scary thing being that the larger one is a small BFL lamb. They are often 10-14 lbs. The "big" one was 7 lb 7 oz. The tiny one is 4 lb 11 oz. I think we had nutrition problems in the sheep this winter. With Kelly's loss of work, and then his more recent part time, below minimum wage employment, I had to pay for his former house mortgage for much of 2009, as well as my own mortgage on the farm and the land next door, all the utility bills on both places, all the food for us, not to mention all the animal feed. I just couldn't afford as high of a quality hay this year, and I think this is the result. I feel awful about that but I did what I could. :-(

How are little Gin and Tonic doing today?

Before you go thumping on yourself, C, do you know what weight lambs these ewes have borne before? Because breed lamb weight is a range, and some ewes will produce smaller lambs, and one twin is often smaller and not too thrifty. Remember, these critters should be able to produce healthy weight lambs on open range. What's happened here may have very little to do with poor quality feed.

For all you know, both of these mother ewes were the small twin and that's why they were for sale.

This message was edited Mar 3, 2010 8:18 AM

My mom is 97... she says "If you did the best you could, how can you possibly feel guilty for not doing better?" NO one could ask more of you if you did your best. You kept them alive and loved. These are tough times, the animals have to bear the hardships with us, unfortunately. It could have been much worse.

Jay has a good point too.. there are several factors Mother Nature doesn't explain to us!