Jenkinson Farm and Garden: March came in like a lamb....and the lambs came!

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.