I Have Got to Write This Down

Sometimes I think is this really happening? That's why I've got to write it down, at least the part that I can remember when the dust clears. I took the evening shift while Matt slept. Did my last barn check at midnight then went to bed. Matt agreed to take the midnight shift but I didn't wake him up until 2 am. When I woke at 5 and saw he wasn't in the apt. I knew something must be going on. Laid back down and sure enough he came in and said he needed help getting a new mother in the jug. This can be very tricky. Sheep pick a spot and "dig" out a hole to have their lambs, and that's where they like to stay. I told him to go to bed and I would take care of it. There she was, in the middle of the barn with a huge ewe lamb. I tidied up the jug then went to get her lamb. I did my Quasimoto backward walk with the lamb screaming - it's better if she yells to keep the ewe's attention - toward the jug. Mom got half way there then turned around and ran through the barn calling for her baby. I decided to try a different tack and put the lamb in the jug. I found the mother and got behind her and walked toward her. Naturally she ran away from me but in the right direction. She noticed some sheep eating the hay that was in the jug from the last lamb and ran in there with them, and her baby. Whew! In the pasture a lamb might or might not mother up okay, but I like to minimize my losses, especially when it's costing me a small fortune to have these sheep. If I'm going to have them I'm going to try to do it right. I found a sweater - unbelievable what different sizes I need for these lambs. Last year's sweaters are partially felted from washing and don't stretch well. They will be fine for the goat kids when they come. For now I find myself using bigger sweaters - a relief in a way since I was worried about the size of my lambs with no grain being fed to the pregnant moms. Found one that might fit and got in the jug. Mom had a cord hanging but no afterbirth...always a concern. There might be another lamb in there. Retained placenta can cause infection. Should I give her oxytocin? I only like to do that if I have to...I waited and took care of the lamb, a big beautiful girl. Mom let me nurse her out, to my surprise, and I fed the lamb with my little syringe. I saved some for Buddy. Colostrum does not have the same antibodies when consumed by a lamb after a day old. The lamb's stomach is lined with receptors that take in the antibodies with decreasing efficiency after a day of life. I still wanted to give Buddy some warm, gooey milk. It has to do him some good. I went back to check on mom, still no afterbirth. Took a walk to the East End, also the Ice Box of the barn. This later addition has no insulation at all in the roof and with the big door frozen open the temperature here is dramatically colder. Then I heard the sounds - a mother speaking to her unborn baby, talking it into the world. I saw my most beautiful ewe, Myrna's daughter, pawing at the hay. Okay, it's 7 am. Matt is unconscious. I had to make a judgement call, am I going to work? I hate to take sick days but I couldn't leave this new mother in the freezing cold to give birth alone. The BOCE people have been very supportive of my farming efforts, and I haven't taken any sick days in January. I dialed up the computer and reported in "sheep" today. Went back to the barn and there was the bubble, then there was the lamb!! Same deal as before, she didn't want to leave the freezing spot where she dropped her lamb, and the walk back to the inner barn where the jugs are is a long way. We did it in three steps. I took the lamb a ways, then when she broke away I put the lamb down and let her come back to inspect it. On the third leg I put the lamb in the jug and the same thing happened - she ran in to get the hay. I went in to get my second (third?) cup of coffee and clean up my jar and syringe from the last birth. I decided to give this mom some time to get used to her new baby and the jug. I thought I should get hay down for the flock and the new moms, too. Up the ladder. I always marvel at the enormity of my "house," and imagine a time when it was a thriving 350 farm, with the mow filled to the brim, and the pre-Sisters climbing up the bales to change the light bulbs every year. Back to the task at hand. I threw down bales from the hole we cut in the wall to the new addition, then a bale to the Rambos and Merinos with the goat kids, then three bales down the ladder to the West End where the jugs are. I have to climb down and wade (or fight) my way through the sheep to get to the bales. They are so desperate for food they stand on the smaller sheep. I pulled a yearling out from under the crowd last night who had fainted away. I usually keep the bales tied up so less is wasted, but I needed to break open a bale for the three moms in jugs. I turned around and there was another lamb in the pen with the latest mom! Two little black twins! I got my gear, climbed in with them and found that they are one of each, a ewe and a ram lamb. This is especially satisfying because these are Myrna's grand lambs. Myrna is one of my early ewes who had twice miscarried full term twins. It was just hearbreaking and I will never forget pulling up to the field and seeing two little black dots lying in the grass. Myrna had run up to me, baaing like crazy, as if to say, Mama! Mama! You can't imagine what just happened! They were huge, must have been an awful birth. And they were dead. So last year when Myrna had these gorgeous ewe twins, one white and one black, I rejoiced. These lambs are her legacy. I think Myrna is pregnant again. Let's hope things go as well as they did this morning with her daughter.