Monday, January 28, 2008

Dulce Has A Ewe Lamb

Finally! The long awaited birth of Dulce's lamb just happened. I did my pre-night-night barn check and Dulce was walking up and down the corridor on the side of the East End barn addition, baaing loudly to her unborn lamb. I watched her push for a while then realized it would be a long delivery. She pushed and pushed and the little hoofs showing wouldn't turn into legs, face and shoulders. I tried pulling gently to move things along but Dulce wouldn't have it. I decided to make myself some chamomile tea, fold the laundry, get my birthing kit together and let Dulce do her thing. When I came back to the freezing end of the barn, there was a HUGE ewe lamb - up and prancing around in the cold, but Dulce was stretched out and not moving. I feared she was dead. Dulce is an "aged ewe" and the lamb is so big, I thought it did her in. I picked up the lamb and put it by her nose. She immediately started talking and licking it. I squirted some Nutri Drench into both their mouths, dried off the lamb and put one of Auntie Jan's sweaters on. Tight fit, but just fine. I decided to check Dulce for a possible twin inside, but nothing there that I could feel. It was years before I could put my hand inside a sheep, but sometimes it has to be done. Nursed out colostrum for the baby and gave it to her. I pulled Dulce's head up, swung her around and she jumped up. As soon as she was on her feet she started fussing over her lamb. Good girl, Dulce. I led them into a pen on the warmer side, got the bucket of hot molasses water and a flake of hay. Wished them good night - same to you. One AM and work tomorrow.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Maggie,
It sounds like your lambs are going to a place where it is the best for both you and the new owners. You get more food for the existing flock and the new owners get babies that were born in a loving, human environment.
You did the right thing.

Kathleen said...

I'm not sure if the same is true for sheep, but when our goats get older, they seem to have only one baby and it almost always is enormous. Almost always an exhausting and difficult birth. That's the signal for us to begin to evaluate the doe's worth as a fiber animal and baby sitter. sometimes a doe will die during a birth like that, which is heartbreaking, and both the doe and the baby can be lost. Better to put them in with the withers(geldings) and let them be fiber babes.

Maggie's Farm said...

You are absolutely correct about the older girls. They are officially retired now. Dulce is fine today, but the other two are still a little shaky. They are in pens for special feeding and pampering until they recover.