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LambMetrics – September 12th 2019

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#LAMBMETRICS for the day

Drysdale & English Leicester Flocks

Born 11-12/9/19: 4
Total Lambs Born: 69
Drysdale lambs (live total): [no purebreds in 2019]
DrysdaleX lambs (total): 37
English Leicester lambs (live total): 31
Total Sets of Twins born: 15
Total Sets of Triplets born: 0
Total ewe lambs: 33
Total ram lambs: 36
Ewes lambed /68: 54 (79.4 %)
Lamb % : 125 % [live]
Assisted/Dystocias: 8
Losses: 1

Notable Midwifery tales:

Evening drinkies

Just when you think the season is quietly just limping to a close…

Brought two lambs and their mothers in this morning as they had seemed a little “flat” and hollow. As of this evening they’re already showing a great deal of improvement after some antibiotics so we’re hoping the infections have been caught early enough. It’s always a knife-edge when it comes to timing – they have to look sick enough to justify the treatment but they go downhill very fast at this age so it doesn’t take much to be that fraction late.

A couple of very small lambs born yesterday and today. Maiden ewes with their first lambs – one hadn’t even really looked pregnant! As long as they grow fast it’s all good.

Although, one (from yesterday) has ended up in the shed tonight as it was looking a little peaky and I am concerned the mother may have early mastitis. (Odd for a Drysdale maiden ewe but never say never…) Fingers crossed because this little ‘un doesn’t have the body mass to sustain it for very long. (She refused a bottle too)

On a slightly different note…. the “has to be ONE SUPER WEIRD thing every year” note… One of the ewes that lambed today literally nearly choked to death on the lamb birth membranes. The lamb had been born and hadn’t rolled much so the thin covering was still in place. The ewe started to eat them off (as they usually do) she must have had too much of a mouthful and then – she choked. Right in front of me. She coughed and coughed and COUGHED and couldn’t shift it. Her tongue was turning blue. I desperately tried to pat her on the back/side/anywhere as well as an attempt at a Heimlich maneuver!!! Stroked up (the outside) of her throat. Just anything. I was feeling very helpless. Thankfully, she managed to get it to move somehow and then she was feeling quite shaky. (So was I) After that we both needed a Bex and a lie down!!

****

The ewes and lambs have now been shifted to the bigger paddock and it’s pleasing to see the lambs growing well.

3 weeks old

LambMetrics – September 10, 2019

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#LAMBMETRICS for the day

Drysdale & English Leicester Flocks

Born 8-10/9/19: 9
Total Lambs Born: 65
Drysdale lambs (live total): [no purebreds in 2019]
DrysdaleX lambs (total): 34
English Leicester lambs (live total): 30
Total Sets of Twins born: 15
Total Sets of Triplets born: 0
Total ewe lambs: 30
Total ram lambs: 35
Ewes lambed /68: 50 (73.5 %)
Lamb % : 128 % [live]
Assisted/Dystocias: 8
Losses: 1

Notable Midwifery tales:

Beautiful spring day today.

Just the one set of twins to greet us this morning. Possibly another lamb “on the way” tonight too.

The older lambs and their mothers have been shifted to the Big Paddock from the small paddock they’ve been in. Keeping them in a smaller areas assists the Shepherdess in making sure everyone is getting enough milk and doing okay. (We learn from our mistakes, hopefully)

That paddock was getting a little crowded so the ewes and lambs willing to come running were drifted off yesterday and they are now enjoying a paddock with a View.

Lacey with her daughter, Charly, on their way to the Big Paddock.
NotSquishy loves coming over for a scratch.

Things are starting to quieten a little. Most of the “milking” problems have resolved and only 2-3 need a spare bottle top-up rather than the 12 that there was a week ago. Here’s hoping it lasts..!

LambMetrics – September 7th 2019

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#LAMBMETRICS for the day

Drysdale & English Leicester Flocks

Born today: 1
Total Lambs Born: 56
Drysdale lambs (live total): [no purebreds in 2019]
DrysdaleX lambs (total): 32
English Leicester lambs (live total): 23
Total Sets of Twins born: 12
Total Sets of Triplets born: 0
Total ewe lambs: 25
Total ram lambs: 31
Ewes lambed /68: 44 (64.7 %)
Lamb % : 125 % [live]
Assisted/Dystocias: 8
Losses: 1

Notable Midwifery tales:

Only one lamb to add to the Metrics today.

When the (multitude of) lambs received their late night bottle last night a ewe was heard yelling. The comment at the time was:
“What’s the bet that’s a Leicester?”
“Not taking that one” was the reply.

Turns out we were both wrong. It was a Drysdale. And she’d taken the Shepherdess’s regular advice to heart: If you’re in trouble then YELL and the Shepherdess will come and fix it.

So, at 10pm there was a (vocal) ewe doing laps around the Shepherdess’s legs – the Shepherdess was doing her best lamb imitation – in the torchlight until the opportunity came to careful lie the ewe down.

The trusty torch revealed some yellow-stained tippy-toes sticking out of the vulva of Drysdale 543 (Grand-daughter of her Imperial Highness Kimmy, just by the way, no wonder she was has attitude) so time was of the essence as the lamb was now stressed.

The lamb was a bit large but extraction was relatively simple and straightforward – in less than five minutes a strapping lad was placed in front of an eager mother to lick.

Both the Shepherdess and the Deupty Shepherdess are hoping the remaining ewes are not over-cooking their lambs now because being over-cooked often means trouble in the delivery.

We won’t worry about that too much though – let’s just enjoy what we have.

Here’s a rainbow picture from in between showers and sunshine this afternoon. More fun tomorrow?

LambMetrics – September 6th, 2019

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#LAMBMETRICS for the day

Drysdale & English Leicester Flocks

Born today: 4
Total Lambs Born: 55
Drysdale lambs (live total): [no purebreds in 2019]
DrysdaleX lambs (total): 31
English Leicester lambs (live total): 23
Total Sets of Twins born: 12
Total Sets of Triplets born: 0
Total ewe lambs: 25
Total ram lambs: 30
Ewes lambed /68: 43 (63.2 %)
Lamb % : 125 % [live]
Assisted/Dystocias: 7
Losses: 1

Notable Midwifery tales:

Remember Hermione the Lambnapper who was taking after her mother yesterday?

Just after the blog posted last night she had her lamb. 🙂

Hermione and her strapping young lad

Today was supposed to be easy….. yeah, right.

This year we’re really trying to make sure the lambs are getting enough milk so we pretty much have them under a microscope – and analysing each move they make (or don’t). The downside is several more getting “top-up” bottles during the day.

Today saw a few heavy showers come through and about lunchtime (bottle time) the lambs were fed but one English Leicester lamb was missing. After 15-20 minutes of looking behind sheds, under the tractor in the shed (favourite spot!) in the nettles patches, under fences, behind woodpiles it was looking increasingly like it had vanished into thin air. Maybe it was taken by an eagle was one thought.

Then, the thought that maybe it had squeezed through the gate into the feed shed while it was raining. Walk in… no….. then turn around and…

Smart lamb, staying dry and making his mother/s freak out

The mother was very pleased to see him. He needs a top-up bottle though (one reason why he was feeling a bit frail and hid himself away).

Meanwhile, while the searching was going on it was noticed that the neighbour’s young cattle had got through the fence and were in our paddock! Once the lambs had been sorted out it was up the hill to move sheep out of the way so the cattle could be collected. (The sheep were a little bemused – “we just moved in here yesterday!”)  The cattle thought this was a wonderful idea and ran around exploring. I left the neighbour to do the cattle wrangling – and I headed home for a late lunch!

After a quick dash to town to post some orders it was time to clean pens and check on a pet ewe that had looked like she was “ready”.

Chores were done, English Leicesters were rearranged but there was still no lambs from “Miss Piggy”. A few alarm bells were ringing as she was watched walking around the paddock. She wasn’t going to be easy to get into the shed so she was caught in the paddock and with the 2nd shepherdess holding the mother’s “hand” a quick exam determined that Miss Piggy was indeed “ready” but the lamb at the door was trying to be born breech (hocks first in this case) and the placenta was already trying to come with it (that’s not good). Thankfully, no-one takes photos while the shepherdess has arm-length obstetric gloves on with her hand inserted to manipulate a lamb!

The lamb’s legs were moved so that the toes would come first and then it was pulled pretty easily. It was alive! It was placed in front of Miss Piggy and she immediately started to lick it which is a very important instinctive behaviour for lamb-mother bonding and for the external stimulation of the lamb.

Miss Piggy has had twins previously and our standard procedure when doing an intervention is to always check for a twin. There was a twin.

This twin was in correct birthing position and a bit further “back” in the uterus. Normally it would be fine to leave the ewe to deliver the second lamb but with darkness approaching and being unsure how long everything else had taken it was decided to extract the second. That turned out to be a good decision as the second lamb was showing signs of stress – it had done a poo whilst in utero. Being jammed up behind your brother is common across the species…. 😉

Both lambs were a good size and Miss Piggy is a great mum. 🙂 (She’s not a Drysdale or a English Leicester, she’s actually a Composite (a crossbred with lots of breeds in it!)).

LambMetrics – September 5th, 2019

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#LAMBMETRICS for the day

Drysdale & English Leicester Flocks

Born today: 6
Total Lambs Born: 51
Drysdale lambs (live total): [no purebreds in 2019]
DrysdaleX lambs (total): 27
English Leicester lambs (live total): 23
Total Sets of Twins born: 11
Total Sets of Triplets born: 0
Total ewe lambs: 23
Total ram lambs: 28
Ewes lambed /68: 40 (58.8 %)
Lamb % : 125 % [live]
Assisted/Dystocias: 6
Losses: 1

Notable Midwifery tales:

May as well get the bad news out of the way – the sick English Leicester lamb passed away overnight. 🙁 When we went over for the late feed there was improvement and we went to bed more hopeful but, as so often happens, it was the final “rally” before the end. His mum is upset but she’s moved on from standing over him so she’s doing okay (Have had Drysdale ewes want to stand over the lamb for days.)

But! It wasn’t all bad. The good news was that the other lambs that were worrying us last night are all okay! Lambs are being fed and the lamb with the odd shoulder and “ad hoc bandage” is able to get itself up and about and feeding well.

After the bottle-feeding and the initial checks of a newborn lamb it was on to check the rest of the lambs. Bedlam!

The Nursery

Then it was a quick walk across the paddock to the flock of Merino and Castledale ewes to shift them into a new paddock. Only had to call once and they came running.

Waiting at the gate.

There was a fair bit of skipping and jumping when they went through the gate. They are relishing not having “grown-up responsibilities” this year!

By lunchtime there were three more ewes that had lambed – two sets of twins and a single. All English Leicester.

This evening though was when the fun started. The first thing noticed upon arrival for evening feed and chores was that the young, black, English Leicester ewe (pictured above) had “lost” her lamb….. It had been lambnapped!

When her “Imperial Highness” Kimmy passed away at the start of the year (at the Grand age of 14) we thought the serious lambnapping days were over.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Hermione* has now decided to take up the mantle that was laid down by her mother, Kimmy. (Family tradition – Kimmy’s mother was a thief too!)

Separating the desperate mother-to-be, Hermione, from the timid, bewildered first-time mother was tricky. The young ewe wouldn’t follow her lamb well enough but Hermione would. So, it ended up that the first course of action was to use the lamb to get Hermione up and out of the paddock.

“Noooooooooo…. my babeeeeeeeee” Not.

Once the lambnapper was removed from the scene the lamb was returned to its mother who was a bit unsure about the whole drama. Unfortunately, Hermione had been licking the lamb (and letting it drink!) which puts her scent on the lamb and which puts the actual mother off believing it’s hers!

The young ewe was left to re-bond with her lamb and the next procedure was to stop Hermione stealing the other newborn from the morning! And she was determined! Again, we had to use that newborn to tempt Hermione into the pens in the shed as well as get the actual mother in as well. That ewe, a maiden Drysdale, was also a bit confused but she was more strongly bonded than the black ewe so it was easier. They were tucked into a pen at one end of the shed and Hermione was firmly placed into a pen at the other end. If she’s anything like her mother she will have a lamb tonight or tomorrow.

Hermione looking wistfully at lambs that Could Be Hers.

Getting the young, black ewe up to the shed for penning overnight was a test of patience. She isn’t as quiet as the rest of the girls and they normally follow you quite well if you’re carrying the lamb. Not this one. Took strategic person-placement and judicious use of shed-friendly ewes (ie. one of the ones whose lambs are being bottle-fed) to get her into the shed for some quiet bonding time.

The night-time check is about happen so stay tuned for tomorrow’s episode! 😉

* Hermione is English Leicester X Drysdale, along with her twin brother – Harry. She has had 2 previous pregnancies.

LambMetrics – September 4th, 2019

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#LAMBMETRICS for the day

Drysdale & English Leicester Flocks

Born today: 3
Total Lambs Born: 45
Drysdale lambs (live total): [no purebreds in 2019]
DrysdaleX lambs (total): 26
English Leicester lambs (live total): 19
Total Sets of Twins born: 9
Total Sets of Triplets born: 0
Total ewe lambs: 20
Total ram lambs: 25
Ewes lambed /68: 36 (52.9 %)
Lamb % : 125 % [live]
Assisted/Dystocias: 6
Losses: 0

Notable Midwifery tales:

A teeny tiny

Only three lambs born today but it’s been a little rough – as opposed to plain sailing.

In good news – one of the sets of twins that started on the bottle yesterday because their mum was “deficient” in the colostrum department seem to now be getting enough and her milk seem to be coming through. Yay!

And the other lambs taking the bottle are very sweet – as you’d expect.

“Feeeeeed me. Again.”

The not-so-good aspect of the day involve a first-time mother that seems to have had a lamb which is perhaps a bit prem/dopey/NotQuiteRight and it won’t accept assistance from me and I’m not sure the mum is doing her thing properly. That may not end well. Nature sucks sometimes.

Then there was a lamb born this morning and seemed all okay but this evening has presented with possibly a damaged shoulder. ?! Argh. An attempt has been made to try and strap it but it’s all a bit shonky. Fingers crossed on that one.

But the worst thing was finding a week-old English Leicester lamb (male) who is sick. Seemed fine last night but it’s very sick and has a poor prognosis despite antibiotics. Nature sucks sometimes. 🙁  7-14 days old seems to be a fraught time – one reason I try watch them very carefully. Unfortunately, prey animals like sheep hide illness very well and lambs can be very fragile. (Sometimes they are as tough as nails too… it’s a weird thing.)

Hoping tomorrow brings some slightly better scenes!

Anyone for milk?