Baby Valentine

I've been anticipating the last birth for several days now.  When I got home from work today, after making a few inevitable stops, I got the dogs out right away.  They ran around enjoying this lovely weather, then I heard the maaaaahhh, maaaaahhh sound that cuts right through every shepherd.  Lamb - a live lamb!!  I ran Sadie Puppy back into the house and dashed into the barn to see what was going on.  There he was - skinny little lamb, only one, looking a little lost in the kindergarten pen.  Mom was attentive, but the several other sheep and four big lambs were distracting her.  As soon as everybody sees me they start to mill around and beg for food.  I went back inside for my kit which includes the iodine and scissors for the clip and dip of the lamb's cord, then the syringe barrel and jar for the stripping of the teat.  I did the ram lamb - Valentine, ofcourse - then got his sweater on.  Who knows how long he was milling around the pen I can only imagine.  He was nicely dried off and mom was "talking" to him.  Looking good, I thought.  Now to catch Mom and make sure her teat was open and the milk was flowing.  Mom had mastitis in the past and I feared there was no milk in there.  I was nervous about what to do if there was nothing to give the baby.  I had to catch her first - no easy task.  Mom saw the halter and bolted.  We went round and round, which is definitely NOT a good thing to do with a new mother, and the other moms and lambs were thoroughly spooked.  I had everyone all upset and little Valentine was run over at least once.  I climbed back out and got another halter I could fashion into a lasso. A cowboy I am not, but after several attempts I managed to get the halter around the mother's middle section, holding her behind the front legs.  I was trying for the neck but she stepped through it before I could tighten it.  The middle was good enough and I pulled her to the wall and tied her.  I leaned her against the stone wall and held her with my chest and head while I held the jar under a teat.  One teat was totally obstructed by the old mastitis, but the other one was soft and full of fluid.  I made a sigh of relief into her belly and started to nurse out the liquid gold - thick, gooey colostrum that contains the important antibodies the lamb will take into his system through receptors that line his belly.  The sooner after birth the lamb gets the vital juice the better as the receptors act with decreasing efficiency over 24 hours.  I was squeezing blind but knew I was getting something.  When I looked I was very pleased.  I had enough for him and some left over.  I let mom go, but still kept her tied, then took the baby on my lap with my legs crossed.  I squirted the milk into the side of his mouth with the 3 cc syringe barrel.   3 cc's is the perfect amount for a lamb to swallow.  I got a good amount into his belly then watched while he went a little shaky, like he was drunk, then went right to sleep.  The colostrum always has the same effect.  Some shepherds think it's silly to go this extra length to give the lamb it's first meal, but I've found it's cheap insurance against losing your lamb.  I have to nurse the teat out anyway to clear the plug - I just take it one step further.  In the wild a lamb that could not get up and nurse out that plug itself would die, ensuring that only the strongest lambs survived.  I want them all to survive.  While Valentine slept I went about the barn looking for panels to use for a jug.  An hour later I had a nifty pen built and tied firm with baling twine.  I gave mom a bucket of warm water and molasses, with a flake of second cut hay and a little mouthful of grain.  She was famished.  I'm proud of this old girl and was glad to give her some special treatment.  Back to my other chores and got inside around 8.  I was going to save the piece of salmon I bought at the market today but cooked it to celebrate the birth of little Valentine.  A cup of tea, another barn check or two, and I am down for the count.