Tuesday, February 08, 2011

Yikes, this Weather!


The wind is blowing very hard and cold air is coming into the barn in every crevice. Lambs born this morning are doing well. They should as I got a LOT of colostrum into them. The ewe twins born to the ambivalent mom are nagging her silly. I am trying to stay out of the picture as much as possible, as I know my presence makes the ewes nervous. What else is this human going to do to us? She lets the girls nurse, then sees me and bolts from them. She can't go too far as she's in a room pen. I will check the girls mouths this evening to make sure they are warm and bellies firm. Big giant ewe single - have to weigh her I bet she's 11 or 12 pounds - is sleeping off the hefty cup of colostrum I made her drink. With this awful cold weather I'm not taking any chances. I have an extra cup saved for the two ewes I know have udder trouble - Shavaun and Lilly. Will save even more when I get the next lamb from a healthy udder. I'm so careful with these udders. I pour Iodine over my fingers before I nurse out the ewes. I don't want to put any bacteria in those teats and ruin them. The lambs have an antibacterial component to their saliva which prevents them from contaminating their mom's udders. Prince William is whiny and complaining about being in the maternity ward. He does not play well with others. Monkey and Spikey are in there now and they are doing fine. I brought PW back inside to give him a bottle, as I don't want him to go down hill. He took half a bottle, then peed a flood on my lap. Guess he's not dehydrated. Miss Mamie and her boys, as yet unnamed, are doing well. I was worried about her udder as she's older, but she seems to be satisfying them. They are gorgeous boys, so I will be sure to band them so I can keep them forever. I have Zack, the new registered Border Leicester ram, for next year's lambing anyway. He is bursting with wool and is the BEST NATURED ram lamb I have ever seen, even more than my BFL rams who I thought were real pussycats. Zack is even halter trained and walks like a dog. Libby Llop really took good care of him. After the trauma of a couple of weeks ago, with prolapses and ring-womb nightmares, lambing is going much better. Better not speak and jinx it for sure. I have a roast chicken in the oven, to eat tonight and to heat this place. Electric heat is just too $$ so I'm using the wood stove and cooking to heat the place. So much work toting wood but this is the weather for it as long as the stove doesn't back puff. Will bring Knut in tonight as the temps are diving. More pregnant ewes on deck including some beautiful black girls. I'm running out of sweaters!!!

2 comments:

Cornerstone Fibres said...

Working on sweater #6 now!!!
HUGS
Kim and crew

Maggie's Farm said...

Thank you, thank you Kimmie! I'm on my last sweaters. Two ram lambs just born and one ewe starting up. Might have to cut up sweaters which I hate to do. I should have been ready for this!