Pet lambs

LambMetrics – 21st August 2022

August 21, 2022 by Wendy Beer

LambMetrics is our lambing blog which tells some of the tales of farm life at lambing time.
Also contains pretty lamb pictures – and maybe a few confronting ones too.

#LAMBMETRICS for the day
Drysdale & English Leicester Flocks (incl. Black flock)

Born today: 9
Total Lambs Born: 14
Drysdale lambs (live total): 1
Drysdale X lambs (live total): 1
English Leicester lambs (live total): 10
English Leicester X lambs (live total): 0
Total Sets of Twins born: 4
Total Sets of Triplets born: 0
Total ewe lambs: 9
Total ram lambs: 5
Ewes lambed /86: 10 (11.63 %)
Lamb % : 120 % [live]
Assisted/Dystocias: 2
Losses: 2 [lamb]; 0 [ewe]

Castledale & Merino Flocks

Born today: 3
Total Lambs Born: 7
MerinoX lambs (live total): 4
Castledale lambs (live total): 2
Total Sets of Twins born: 3
Total Sets of Triplets born: 0
Ewes lambed /98: 4 (4.08 %)
Lamb % : 150% [live]
Assisted/Dystocias: 0
Losses: 1 [lamb]; 0 [ewe]

NOTABLE MIDWIFERY TALES:

Lambs everywhere today!

Another 4 sets of twins as well as a bunch of singles meant for a busy day. No-one needed assistance in the delivery which was good but am supplementing a handful of lambs until their mothers’ milk “comes in” (hopefully!!!!)

Discovered that Pebbles, who lambed yesterday, appears to have damage from previous mastitis experience which hadn’t been noticed. One of her lambs is being supplemented as a result.

An English Leicester ewe had twins but really doesn’t care for the ram lamb, only wants the ewe lamb. She is currently in the Sin Bin to try and persuade her to accept both…. She lets him drink if I stand there and stop her dashing about.

An unfortunate mishap this morning when we found a maiden Merino ewe had delivered her lamb, sat on its head and then ended up on her back unable to get up. She’s okay now but she’s a sad mama because her lamb didn’t survive the experience. 🙁

In better news…. there were quite a few English Leicesters born today with very capable mothers.

And dear old Minty, Drysdale Queen calmly presented her newest.

Not bad for an old girl who just turned 10.

It will be interesting to see how this strapping lad grows out. He’s very quiet – like his mum and all her siblings.

Just on dusk there were a couple of new lambs in the Singles mob but it was too late to grab their details – that will be on tomorrow’s numbers!

LambMetrics – 31st August 2021

August 31, 2021 by Wendy Beer

#LAMBMETRICS for the last few days

Drysdale & English Leicester Flocks

Born today: 0
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: 1
Total Lambs Born: 100
MerinoX lambs (live total): 25
Castledale lambs (live total): 67
Total Sets of Twins born: 38
Total Sets of Triplets born: 0
Ewes lambed /62: 62 (100 %)
Lamb % : 148% [live]
Assisted/Dystocias: 3
Losses: 10 [lamb]; 1 [ewe]

NOTABLE MIDWIFERY TALES:

All done and dusted!

The last Merino ewe lambed a day or so ago. Unfortunately, as is wont with the last handful (why, I do not know) it was slightly overcooked and the ewe had herself in a bad position (legs uphill is *bad*) and lamb got stuck and had died before I arrived. The ewe took a while to get herself walking again (took the tractor taxi to the hospital but then she broke out…. lol)

The number of lambs on the bottle this year (saved!) is a bit overwhelming but they had adjusted very nicely to the new “Lambars” and are going through milk at a rate of knots! LOL

I will try get a further Stat Breakdown done in the next few days.

Now there is a mad scramble for last minute preparations for The Big Wool Show! A wonderful online woolly event – based in Australia but accessible everywhere. 🙂 🙂

So, our online shop will close for “refurbishment” later tonight and then open up for The Big Wool Show on Saturday morning! 😀

LambMetrics – 28th August 2021

August 28, 2021 by Wendy Beer

#LAMBMETRICS for the last few days

Drysdale & English Leicester Flocks

Castledale & Merino Flocks

Born today: 4
Total Lambs Born: 99
MerinoX lambs (live total): 25
Castledale lambs (live total): 67
Total Sets of Twins born: 38
Total Sets of Triplets born: 0
Ewes lambed /62: 61 (98.3 %)
Lamb % : 150% [live]
Assisted/Dystocias: 2
Losses: 9 [lamb]; 1 [ewe]

NOTABLE MIDWIFERY TALES:

Down to only 1 ewe still pregnant. I think. (I don’t have the hi-viz tags on the Merino and Castledale ewes and it’s got confusing with a paddock full of lambs. lol)

Beautiful day today but the other night – straight after the blog – was drama-filled when I went back to feed lambs and went to try get 2 lambs back with their mother and then discovered a ewe “down” and her (new) lamb missing.

Found it under a fallen tree. Couldn’t tell if a fox had tried to grab it or if it had bled a bit due to getting itself into a tight spot.

The Merino ewe is okay now but wasn’t interested in her lamb whatsoever. And at 9pm I wasn’t going to muck about – a jacket, a bottle and a warm shed were in its future. (The ICU Small Animal rugs are awesome – I can put a heat pack in the jacket to keep the lamb snug all night.) Lamby is now doing well.

And then there was another lamb whose mother didn’t want it.

Those of you keeping track will realise this means that now I have WAY TOO MANY lambs on the bottle.

I caved. I got the special “Lambar” feeder to make like easier for Mum and I.

The poddy lambs may need a blog post all their own. There are a variety of reasons the lambs are on the bottle – ranging from fox attack injuries to orphans. They are quite the “gang” now!

One set of twins is on the bottle because their mum had been ill and subsequently didn’t have quite enough milk when they were born.

This ewe had a partial vaginal prolapse. The “retainer” normally ties to the wool but short wool necessitates a harness to “hold it all in”!

There was a request for a Floss update.

You will be pleased to know that Floss appears to have made a full recovery! Thank you all for the love, prayers and good wishes for her.

The other day was International Dog Day or some such thing. So here are some pics of the other dogs here. 🙂

Bramble and Brighid are slowing down now. Maggie isn’t an awesome sheepdog generally but she’s been very useful on the night rounds during lambing. She’s been taking “guard dog” duties very seriously!

Today was so lovely – so here are some flowers in the garden too.

Peach – “Lady Palmerston”
“Silver Princess” – E. caesia spp

Supposed to rain tonight – obviously that means the last sheep will probably lamb!

Hopefully the stats can be wrapped up tomorrow!

LambMetrics – 26th August 2021

August 26, 2021 by Wendy Beer

#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

August 23, 2021 by Wendy Beer

#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 – 22nd August 2021

August 22, 2021 by Wendy Beer

#LAMBMETRICS for the last 2 days

Drysdale & English Leicester Flocks

Born today: 1
Total Lambs Born: 103
Drysdale lambs (live total): 48
English Leicester lambs (live total): 32
English Leicester X lambs (live total): 13
Total Sets of Twins born: 33
Total Sets of Triplets born: 0
Total ewe lambs: 49
Total ram lambs: 53
Ewes lambed /70: 67 (95.7 %)
Lamb % : 138.8 % [live]
Assisted/Dystocias: 11
Losses: 9 [lamb]; 0 [ewe]

Castledale & Merino Flocks

Born today: 0
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:

Not a lot to report for today. Things are winding down and no doubt will drag on for a few days yet.

Warm and sunny today the lambs (being solar-powered!) were enjoying themselves immensely.

Here’s some lambspam for you to enjoy too. 🙂