March 11, 2013
March came in like a lamb….
And then the lambs started coming!
Winters in southeast Ohio are almost always dark, dreary and
down right depressing. This year
has been about the same.
For some insane reason I found this was the perfect time to
have some much needed surgery on a major problem with my shoulder. By the time I had severe pain from
holding a book, hand writing (thus many missed Christmas Greetings), typing on
the computer with more than one finger and even using a remote I could not put
it off much longer. Gratefully the
rotator cuff was only “Frayed” and not torn, but my dear surgeon does think I
have “lousy joints” =
arthritis/bone spurs. Yeah for old
age! Recovery has gone well
except now I am dealing with headaches from compensating with different
muscles. There is nothing like 24-hour
headaches for days and days. To
add to the fun were winter cold symptoms and the secondary symptoms, enough
about my aches. If you haven’t
heard from me for a while be grateful, constant pain can make me cranky! I am getting better.
In the meantime since our first lamb ever, Miss Venus was
born January 14! (see earlier blog).Then we had a set
of twins three weeks ago Sunday, February 10. The Mom went into labor around 9 a.m. Amanda, Dan and
I have been reading up and were watching carefully. She separated herself from the flock and definitely seemed
in distress. She had planted herself at the top of the far field so I had to
climb the back fence to get a good view to check her out. I prefer my staff not climb the fence and
with a bum shoulder it was not my preferred route but the shortest one…
About Noon the first lamb was born. It is pure black with a small gray
patch on the forehead. About an
hour later the second was born. It
has a white face and patch on its head, with a long all white tail. By the third time I got to the back
fence to take some photos Daddy Ram definitely was upset. He came up to the fence where I was
standing and with running starts just head buts the fence in front of me. Think of a football fullback (with similar thick necks!)
These two have been named Skunked and Lightning. To add to the drama Miss Jade, the
Pyrenees that lives in the field with them had been skunked on Friday
evening. We knew when it happened
as the skunk must have hidden under the front porch around 9 p.m. Ugh. The smell came wafting through the
cracks of the front doors and windows in the middle of our usual Friday movie
night.
By the end of the day (February 10) we were celebrating the
birth of our first twins with a cocktail…. when I noticed the entire flock
heading to the barn, sans Blackie (one of the original orphan lambs that has
bonded with Jade). Jade was
running the perimeter of the far fence line barking her danger signal to the
flock. Indeed on the far North
Fence line that is in the process of being clear-cut by the neighbors was two
dogs and two men, hauling scrap metal that had been in the wooded area they had
cleared. Then the most amazing
thing happened. Not only was Jade
barking up and down the fencerow, but also behind her with the same spirit and
fearlessness was Blackie… Baa Baa Baaing at the dogs and men. I am starting to think she thinks she
is part dog.
By the time I checked the barn the flock had taken the
protective position of putting the new borns in the barn with Mom, then had One
Ear and her lamb, Venus, closest to the barn opening and the rest of the ewes
and rams around the perimeter for protection.
Then came March.
Friday March 1 late morning I checked the barn to see if we had any more
deliveries (we have several more pregnant ewes). I found the barn empty except for one mother and a newborn
still with the placenta. I called
Amanda out and we watched the Mom clean the new baby, it is all black with a
white star on its forehead. Then
Amanda gasped and we realize another was on the way. This is a first year Mom and we did not think she had twins. Within minutes four hooves were
presenting them selves from the Mom and then she slid out a beautiful all white
lambs. Within seconds it was
shaking itself awake and trying to stand up. I have some video but they are a bit blurry. We were congratulating ourselves. Numbers 4 and 5 are here. I think we are calling them Chocolate
and Vanilla.
Saturday Dan and Amanda worked the market for me. Immediately after they left I found the
Mom and twins born on Friday upset.
All the sheep are in the barn and the babies are on the opposite side of
the fence than the Mom. I wanted
to help but then there is the issue of the protective Ram. I am re-learning my mothering skills
with pre-schoolers, “diversions.” I put several Scoops of feed in the barn to
get the flock to stay in the barn then sneaked into the field to grab the
babies. The theory is good.
About the time I get through the second gate and grab the
youngsters the Ram realizes my bluff.
He heads full steam at me and with little time I gently drop the lambs
into the mud in front of the Mom and head to the nearest gate for
protection. Gratefully I feel
calmer behind the gate and the Ram does not see me as further danger. He leads the flock back to the feed and
fresh hay in the barn. Gratefully
I get myself out of the barnyard to safety.
Sunday (March
3) I usually do the chores myself.
Mid afternoon I went out to close up the barn and call it an early day. JJ usually comes out for dinner and
brings his dog; Nova and we all catch up on the week.
The chores are minimal: gathering eggs (we are up to a
couple dozen eggs a day), feeding and watering the chickens again, closing up
the coop then doing another head count on the lambs. I find what I
thought was the black twin and its Mom in the field close to the barn but
cannot find the white one. Usually
the twins and new borns stay close to their own Mom for many days. I did a thorough
search of the field and found the Mom, with her white and black two-day-old
twins by the tractor plow in the field, when I realized we have another new
baby the same coloring of the black one born on Friday, all black in color with
a little white on top of its head (#6).
After double-checking the placement of the ram, gratefully
in the far field I head through the stall to get a closer look at the new baby
only to hear a faint cry from the corner.
There was a small cinnamon brown baby (#7) alone in the barn. I picked it up and took it out to the barnyard
to see if the Mom would hear it cry and come in. It did. Gratefully I closed the doors to the barn to work
with the Mom to feed the baby.
By that time Scott had wandered to the barn to check out the
excitement. To our horror the Mom
sniffed the baby and twice with a couple steps gave it a strong head butt. I grabbed it up in my arms and called
Amanda on the phone for advice and moral support.
Within minutes she was in the barn with us. We held the Mom and was able to get the
baby to nurse, knowing the earliest milk, colostrums is so important for it’s
antibodies and growth. After a few
minutes nursing we stepped back to see if now the Mom would accept it. No. She backed up and again head butted the little one.
The next option was trying to milk the new Mom. I held her head while Amanda milked her
and we saved the milk to a clean jar Scott had brought in. About that time we realized the Mom did
not have much milk to give and was probably rejecting the smaller lamb, to
provide for the larger stronger one.
The next plan was to bring all the new Moms into the barn to
milk. Easier said than done. Where the ewes go, so comes the
Ram. We got them all in except for
one and pushed the Ram out the door.
(Actually I watched as Amanda grabbed and pushed him out!) Then the milking started. One by one she chose a Mom, I held the
head she milked one side then the other (utter). Then she went out to the barnyard to the last Mom. The Ram was not happy. Scott saw the
Ram in action at this point and got into the barnyard to help protect Amanda
while she got the last of the milk.
At this point we all headed to the house for a break to feed
the new baby. We had started the
flock in April of last year with twin one-week-old orphans and had extra
formula. We also had a couple of
nipples that fit on recycled clean plastic bottles. Heating the milk Amanda had collected we fed the newborn and
wrapped her in rags by the fire.
By that time JJ was here for dinner. And we sat down to our “Lamb
stew”. Boy did I pick a bad day to
try a new recipe. It was quite
tasty but believe me, eating lamb and saving a lamb all in one afternoon does
make you think a bit.
Spot, my beagle -Chihuahua, who is afraid of nothing, began
to shake as if in fear at the first sight of the newborn. Since he can sneak into the field
fences he has been big man on the farm nipping at the heels of the bulls and
steers, and playing with the lambs.
I think he got too close to the new babies in the field. He shook for an hour that night.
After dinner Amanda and I headed back to the barn to try a
second milking and she took the lamb home for the night for the frequent
feedings. Dan has taken it home
the last two nights and it is thriving.
And even Spot is relishing in having a lamb friend his own size.
Now we have a Mom that we think might be having triplets.
She is huge, and has struggled to walk for days. She has pretty much collapsed in the barn and is being hand
fed. In the last few days she has
not been off of her feet but is alert, eating and the babies seem to be
continuing to thrive. The last couple mornings I have found her floundering on her back, and have been able to get her upright on fresh straw. At time she
is grinding her teeth. After
chatting with a couple vets we have diagnosed Toxemia (Reference: http://www.merckvetmanual.com), which
is different than toxemia in humans but just as deadly. (Think about the untimely death of dear
Miss Sylvia after the birth of her daughter on the latest series of Downton Abby!)The first night we found her down I gave her a few ounces of straight corn syrup by instruction of the vet
and Amanda obtained a stronger nutritional solution in the morning. We have been administering a
concentrated food supplement, anti inflammatory, and also additional
supplements. She is still alert and eating and if all goes well we may have more lambs
in a few days…. If not.
At this point we are not hopeful that she will get back on
her feet. We want to keep her as
comfortable as possible as long as we can. If the babies are born we will be bottle-feeding them also, if she can not.
We want to be as humane as possible to our animals. It only makes sense. It is the least we can do.
Nature and life are not always happy times. We get the good with the bad. We must be grateful for the good when
we have it!
At this time we have 10 Ewes, 7 baby lambs, and two
rams. Spring is coming!
We may be hand feeding half dozen young steers in the coming
weeks.
I will keep you informed! See you all at the market on Saturday! In April we will be back outside with all the other venders.
Hugs. J
