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LambMetrics – 26th August 2021

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#LAMBMETRICS for the last few days

Drysdale & English Leicester Flocks

Born today: 1
Total Lambs Born: 107
Drysdale lambs (live total): 48
English Leicester lambs (live total): 37
English Leicester X lambs (live total): 13
Total Sets of Twins born: 35
Total Sets of Triplets born: 0
Total ewe lambs: 53
Total ram lambs: 54
Ewes lambed /70: 70  (100 %)
Lamb % : 140 % [live]
Assisted/Dystocias: 11
Losses: 9 [lamb]; 0 [ewe]

Castledale & Merino Flocks

Born today: 5
Total Lambs Born: 97
MerinoX lambs (live total): 21
Castledale lambs (live total): 67
Total Sets of Twins born: 37
Total Sets of Triplets born: 0
Ewes lambed /62: 59  (95.2 %)
Lamb % : 149% [live]
Assisted/Dystocias: 2
Losses: 9 [lamb]; 1 [ewe]

 

NOTABLE MIDWIFERY TALES:

Things have slowed right down now. All the English Leicesters are done. (Still need to go through my numbers through as I’ve made a mistake somewhere!)

There are a couple of Merino ewes still to lamb. One lambed twins this afternoon but she only wants one. I am not amused.

Meanwhile…. enjoy the lambs in the sunshine 🙂

  • Tulip and her lamb
  • Tulip and her lamb
  • The last English Leicester lamb for 2021
  • The last English Leicester lamb for 2021

And a snippet of the chaos and mayhem that as we get ready for feed time!

Way too many on the bottle but I guess that means I saved them….

LambMetrics – 23rd August 2021

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#LAMBMETRICS for the day

Drysdale & English Leicester Flocks

Born today: 4
Total Lambs Born: 107
Drysdale lambs (live total): 48
English Leicester lambs (live total): 36
English Leicester X lambs (live total): 13
Total Sets of Twins born: 35
Total Sets of Triplets born: 0
Total ewe lambs: 52
Total ram lambs: 54
Ewes lambed /70: 69  (98.5 %)
Lamb % : 140 % [live]
Assisted/Dystocias: 11
Losses: 9 [lamb]; 0 [ewe]

Castledale & Merino Flocks

Born today: 3
Total Lambs Born: 95
MerinoX lambs (live total): 19
Castledale lambs (live total): 67
Total Sets of Twins born: 36
Total Sets of Triplets born: 0
Ewes lambed /62: 57  (91.9 %)
Lamb % : 151% [live]
Assisted/Dystocias: 2
Losses: 7 [lamb]; 0 [ewe]

 

NOTABLE MIDWIFERY TALES:

Home stretch now….

Plenty of rain overnight and today. The sheep weren’t very happy with it – they’ve been enjoying the recent sunshine and perfect lambing weather!

The second to last English Leicester ewe finally lambed this afternoon. A relief since she was pregnant to the ram who seems to have been throwing large lambs and we won’t have to do 2am checks on her any more!

The remaining English Leicester ewe is a maiden so could lamb tomorrow or could wait several days.

The English Leicesters love lambing under this old cypress tree – which makes the shepherdess have to crawl in on her hands and knees if there is trouble!! But it keeps them very weather protected.

The bottle-raised lambs are doing well. More on them later…. in the meantime here are a couple of pics. 🙂

“Fluffy” – the first lamb of the year who is on the bottle after the fox attack damaged her face/jaw

LambMetrics – 21st August 2021

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#LAMBMETRICS for the last 2 days

Drysdale & English Leicester Flocks

Born today: 4
Total Lambs Born: 102
Drysdale lambs (live total): 48
English Leicester lambs (live total): 31
English Leicester X lambs (live total): 13
Total Sets of Twins born: 33
Total Sets of Triplets born: 0
Total ewe lambs: 48
Total ram lambs: 53
Ewes lambed /70: 66  (94.3 %)
Lamb % : 139 % [live]
Assisted/Dystocias: 11
Losses: 9 [lamb]; 0 [ewe]

Castledale & Merino Flocks

Born today: 13
Total Lambs Born: 92
MerinoX lambs (live total): 17
Castledale lambs (live total): 66
Total Sets of Twins born: 35
Total Sets of Triplets born: 0
Ewes lambed /62: 55  (88.7 %)
Lamb % : 148.9% [live]
Assisted/Dystocias: 2
Losses: 7 [lamb]; 0 [ewe]

 

NOTABLE MIDWIFERY TALES:

Another beautiful, sunny couple of days! Great lamb-growing weather. 🙂 🙂

The final Drysdale ewe lambed yesterday. A pretty little lamb that is an English Leicester cross.

Late in the day yesterday there were two English Leicester ewes in labour simultaneously. Made all the more fun because they both needed a little help. (I’m not using that ram again next year – he throws too many big lambs!)

Both of the ewes were supposed to have twins on board but one ewe had a whopper of a ram lamb and then there was nothing.

Got her into the shed just in case she had trouble with the second since it seemed to be taking a while to arrive. She appeared to like the access to the hay pile…..

Next morning revealed…. no extra lamb but she seemed as fat as ever! Looks like the preg scanner was wrong on this one.

Today was quiet – even managed to get some time in the workshop – with a rash of new Merino and Castledale ewes lambing. My numbers there are starting to get hazy as I think I’ve double-counted some!

One of the Merino ewes had a big single lamb this morning (handy to the hay feeder….. ready for a snack?) and there were several sets of twins but they didn’t want me too close. They are definitely getting much better with that. The calmness of the Drysdales and English Leicesters must be rubbing off. 🙂

LambMetrics – 19th August 2021

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#LAMBMETRICS for the day

Drysdale & English Leicester Flocks

Born today: 7
Total Lambs Born: 98
Drysdale lambs (live total): 48
English Leicester lambs (live total): 29
English Leicester X lambs (live total): 12
Total Sets of Twins born: 32
Total Sets of Triplets born: 0
Total ewe lambs: 47
Total ram lambs: 50
Ewes lambed /70: 63  (90 %)
Lamb % : 141 % [live]
Assisted/Dystocias: 9
Losses: 8 [lamb]; 0 [ewe]

Castledale & Merino Flocks

Born today: 12
Total Lambs Born: 79
MerinoX lambs (live total): 11
Castledale lambs (live total): 59
Total Sets of Twins born: 31
Total Sets of Triplets born: 0
Ewes lambed /62: 47  (75.8 %)
Lamb % : 148.9% [live]
Assisted/Dystocias: 2
Losses: 7 [lamb]; 0 [ewe]

 

NOTABLE MIDWIFERY TALES:

Homestretch now….

All the Drysdales have lambed, bar 1. Not bad, I figure. 21 day joining and 19 days to lamb down (except the 1, there’s always “one”. haha)

A handful of English Leicesters left and then mostly Castledale ewes. I’ve probably mucked up the Castledale lamb numbers as they don’t move around as easily the stud sheep and I may have double-counted some. LOL

Another beautiful day in paradise today and the ewes and lambs now out in the big paddock were enjoying themselves immensely. The lambs are getting to the wonderful age when “evening zoomies” are a Thing. It’s very fun to watch.

[Side note: Our Friends of Beersheba Farm subscribers have been getting an exclusive livestream most days over in the subscribers’ (closed) Facebook group. If you want to “sponsor a lamb” then you are most welcome to check out the subscription options available and then come join us. 🙂 ]

Now I had better get myself moving and go give some evening bottles and check the ewes.

Catch you tomorrow!

LambMetrics – 18th August 2021

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#LAMBMETRICS for the day

Drysdale & English Leicester Flocks

Born today: 5
Total Lambs Born: 91
Drysdale lambs (live total): 47
English Leicester lambs (live total): 24
English Leicester X lambs (live total): 11
Total Sets of Twins born: 31
Total Sets of Triplets born: 0
Total ewe lambs: 45
Total ram lambs: 45
Ewes lambed /70: 57  (81.4 %)
Lamb % : 144 % [live]
Assisted/Dystocias: 8
Losses: 8 [lamb]; 0 [ewe]

Castledale & Merino Flocks

Born today: 7
Total Lambs Born: 67
MerinoX lambs (live total): 10
Castledale lambs (live total): 51
Total Sets of Twins born: 28
Total Sets of Triplets born: 0
Ewes lambed /62: 41  (66.1 %)
Lamb % : 149% [live]
Assisted/Dystocias: 2
Losses: 6 [lamb]; 0 [ewe]

 

NOTABLE MIDWIFERY TALES:

One of the issues this year has been finding time to actually write about the Daily Adventures! This is the first year we’ve had to do multiple Night Rounds and we’re exhausted most of the time. There had already been a decision to change some of the intensity of the workload due to sheep numbers and paddock availability but the Fox Situation threw a huge spanner in that and has, at least, doubled the workload. We don’t really have the infrastructure to have been more time efficient. Hopefully next year!
No matter what the system there are always pro/cons. This year has been Live and Learn! (Well, actually farming tends to be like that all the time. hahaha)

Over the years it has been frustrating to lose lambs from unknown reasons and this year has provided the opportunity to work out perhaps where the system has been going wrong. One thing is certain: the Drysdales and English Leicesters have a much better mothering instinct. They won’t run away from their lamb if the shepherdess checks things out and will follow their lamb being carried to a much greater extent. Plus, they KNOW which lamb/s are THEIRS.

Overnight happenings included: a fox sighting (Maggie sent it packing), rescuing a lamb from a perilous situation, and giving a quick hand to a Drysdale ewe that I didn’t want to listen to carrying on for hours…!

Ended up being a lovely spring day today and the lambs were loving it. Am finally “risking all”, due to the feed situation, and have shifted the ewes and older lambs into a much bigger paddock. Lots of foxy hiding places so a bit worried!

And if you’re up for a Good News Story:
This morning I discovered a Castledale ewe with a stillborn lamb. A shame but thought maybe the mother could take care of one of the “spares” currently on the bottle. Didn’t have time for fancy stuff so tried the old “sheepskin on the new lamb” trick. The ewe wasn’t fooled. But it was out in the paddock which was less than ideal. Left the poor, sad lad out there with his “jacket” on while I did some other chores.

Came back to find a Drysdale ewe had just lambed and unfortunately, one of her twins seemed to have been stillborn. (have nothing for weeks and then 2 in one day?!) But that didn’t seem to worry her – she had the little ewe lamb to clean up as well as the rather odd-looking lanky lamb…… Yep, she’d just adopted that young Castledale lad without batting an eyelash! He didn’t quite believe it – wasn’t trying to drink (“that’s rude”) despite her licking him all over.
I took his “jacket” off to help him feel less miserable and a short while later both lambs were drinking.

Miracles do happen. 🙂

LambMetrics – 16th August 2021

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#LAMBMETRICS for the last 2 days

Drysdale & English Leicester Flocks

Born today: 19
Total Lambs Born: 78
Drysdale lambs (live total): 43
English Leicester lambs (live total): 18
English Leicester X lambs (live total): 10
Total Sets of Twins born: 27
Total Sets of Triplets born: 0
Total ewe lambs: 39
Total ram lambs: 38
Ewes lambed /70: 49  (70 %)
Lamb % : 145 % [live]
Assisted/Dystocias: 8
Losses: 6 [lamb]; 0 [ewe]

Castledale & Merino Flocks

Born today: 16
Total Lambs Born: 56
MerinoX lambs (live total): 7
Castledale lambs (live total): 44
Total Sets of Twins born: 26
Total Sets of Triplets born: 0
Ewes lambed /62: 32  (51.6 %)
Lamb % : 159% [live]
Assisted/Dystocias: 2
Losses: 5 [lamb]; 0 [ewe]

 

NOTABLE MIDWIFERY TALES:

Lambs everywhere at the moment. Obviously “peak lamb” !!! And absolute chaos!

“Oh yes, mum. I definitely had THREE lambs. Really really” ….. (Not!)

Unfortunately, all the lambs that needed a colostrum supplement were all born the same day! Yesterday ended up supplementing 4 sets of twins. Just one of those things.

Tiny Lamb (EL x Drysdale)
Whopper… A couple of hours old

And today there was a TINY lamb born and then another that was a WHOPPER (his mother still isn’t walking properly..!)

And that’s it for today – I need to get back to check the ewes as the fox has been back and causing trouble.