Down Mulberry Lane

Another busy day...

Lambs, lambs, lambs and more lambs.  There are so many we are having trouble keeping track of them all.  We are having a really hard lambing season.  This has to be about the worst we've seen, yet.  But having a second flock with little or no milk sure doesn't help matters.  We're starting to see a trend that the lambs with a particular sire ram are really struggling.  This was a new ram for us and he had great EPD numbers, but his lambs are just struggling to get going.  Plus the ground is wet from melting snow and causing the lambs to be cold as they just soak up the water when they lay in it.  We lost two today from getting too cold and just not getting up enough.  We watched and watched and nudged, but it wasn't enough.  We had another die just after birth, never could take a breath.  Hate those and this year we've had several do that. 

We had an odd birth two days ago.  Lambs whether born single or multiple only have one placenta.  Well we had a momma ewe have a huge ram, then two tiny lambs that looked very premature.  Well, then she passes two afterbirths.  This isn't very common, but it appears the momma ewe had been bred on two different cycles, that would make the second set at least 17 days behind.  Their lungs just weren't developed.  The one never could get a good breath and died shortly thereafter.  The second while she could breathe and eat and poop, LOL.  She ended up dying as she couldn't keep herself warm.  Her temperature regulator just wasn't working as of yet. 

Of the lambs that are alive, we have 8 or 9 bottle lambs at the moment... and we expect that number to grow.  The girls are cheerfully working hard at bottle feeding, knowing that Dad is going to give them each a ewe lamb for all their hard efforts.  We had a rule that they can only each have two lambs, but Dad is reconsidering and thinking it to be three... we will see.  We're not going to make that decision until after this lambing season.  We need to see where we end up with how the lambs do this summer.  We're unsure that we want to have this many sheep lambing at one time again... so, we may downsize.  We upsized primarily to pay off bills and put some towards college expenses for our oldest daughter.  I guess we will see how many sell and what we are left with. Anyways, the lambs are slow to get going.  The larger ones are slower this year and the little ones for the most part are more vigorous. 

We are all losing alot of sleep.  We seem to have one wanting to lamb in the middle of the night and then one or two right at dawn.  A couple during the day as well.  It just seems there is hardly a moment to rest and catch up.  Kate is working hard with the lambs.  She and I take turns staying up at night.  I try to check between 2 and 4 am, she gets up early to do the morning checks.  She is our saving grace!  She had to pull a couple lambs already and yesterday even maneuvered a stuck lamb and still had to pull for all she was worth to get him out... he was 12 pounds, but a very large bone frame.  She heard crackles as she pulled the lamb out, but he had to come out.  He appears to be fine, no broken bones, must of just been the back or neck cartilidge popping.  He had both legs stuck back, she was able to pull one leg out, but could not get the second.  I was on my way to check her myself, but the lamb started coming out before I got off the phone with my dh.  I'm so proud of her that she can make those hard decisions without us there by her side.  Her little sisters are truly looking up to her this year.  Kate wants to have her own farm.  In talking of what she wants to do after she graduates, she said teaching would be ok, but she really would just like to farm... to raise sheep and have her horse... be a wife and mom.  I think she'd do a wonderful job!   She's been posting on her blog about her trials with the sheep.  Well, enough mom bragging.

Tonight we have two lambs in the house.  They were born as triplets to a mom who barely has enough milk to raise one.  It was sad to pull them from mom, but they will learn to eat from the bottle quicker if we pull them early.  We milked colostrom from another ewe who has enough for 5!  LOL  We pulled the two who seem to be a bit slower to get on their feet.  They are now starting to stand up... a few hours after the birth... usually they are up on their feet within minutes.  I still have a couple loads of laundry to get done before bed.  I'm doing around 4 loads of dirty barn clothes each day, not to mention our regular laundry on top of that.  Diapers are ready to be washed and towels, too.  I'm finding I have to prioritize the laundry... barn towels and rags and barn clothes are top on the list, diapers and towels second, then our regular clothes if I have some spare time.   Well, I should get going on the laundry and I'll catch up on my reading between loads. 

Warmly, ~Melissa

sheep...

1:22 PM, March 15, 2007 .. Posted by Glammon

Good luck with you baby lambs! My Dad has Katahdins. We have Texels. He prefers hair sheep, and I think my husband and I are starting to see why. No one wants to shear them anymore.
Take Care
~Gretchen