Since my sheep escaped moved into the nearer field, I can see them from my window, at least when it's light enough. This morning I could see a small white blob next to a large white blob: lambs!
I quickly dressed and walked across the lane with my lambing kit in hand. There was Gregor with two perfect little lambs, a ram and a ewe. Then I saw that ewe 160S also had two small white blobs with her, a ram and a ewe. Two easy births, four lambs, no fuss. I did the Cabbage Patch dance and a little bit of Running Man while singing "Go sheepses,go sheepses!" and I don't care who saw it.
I moved them all into the maternity orchard (our garden) behind some electric fencing, just until the lambs are big enough that a fox won't take them. Ewe 160S has a touch of mastitis, but that's manageable.
What a great start to the day! Our new total: 10 surviving ewes, 18 lambs.
7 comments:
And "Go Shepherds! Go Shepherds!" That is a wonderful way to start the day. Here's to Mike for letting you sleep the whole night through. Happy dances here in the Subarctic too :-)
Hurrah for eight hours sleep!
I was sorry about Ugly Sheep; glad things are going better.
I was so happy for you that I had to post my joy. Thanks for sharing both the tough stories and the happy ones. I never miss a post.
Those are some adorable white blobs!
Being sheep ignorant as I am, and also pretty curious, why does the ewe in your pictures have no wool on her chest?
The Morrisey - It's a loss of wool, like hair loss, and the overarching reason is physical stress. That's why it's not uncommon in pregnant ewes, especially those coping with the demands of multiple births. I have two ewes with wool loss. The one in the picture has mastitis or possibly a mammary growth. Some vets say the cause is selenium deficiency (our soil is very deficient and I have to keep special mineral licks out all year round), or not enough vitamin E, or just "wool slip" due to a hormone imbalance around lambing. It affects my plain (thinner) ewes on their necks and heads.
Thanks! I learn something every day (if only I could go home when that happens, I keep hoping work will institute that rule but so far no luck!)
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