Monday, March 10, 2008

Can Sheep Hold It In?

...I would swear this one can! More on her later...

This is today's surprise! A young ewe did this after I came to work today all by herself! When my DH brought the kids in for school, I asked him to come pick me up so I could go home and check on her. It was a good thing I did; she was standing with her head down and her mouth was starting to get cold. I stripped one teat on the ewe, the other had to wait for help from Jari as it was too tightly clogged and it hurt the ewe when I tried to open it up. I held the lamb up to nurse and she got the idea but didn't have a lot of suction. She is doing fine now, I just got back after picking the kids up from school, took them home (an excuse to go check on her again), she is still having a hard time finding the gravy train, but she is nice and strong now and will get it soon.

Another ewe, Crimson (the one pictured above) was straining and acting for all the world like she was in labor, until I moved her to the lambing jug. Last year, we moved her to the jug early so she could get comfy before time to lamb and she reabsorbed her lambs, her mother (Scarlett, mother of Little Jessie) did the same thing. Within two weeks of lambing! Haven't found a shepherd yet that has seen that happen before...

So, while I was waiting to see if Crimson was going to sh** or get off the pot, I wandered around to the front flower bed that is disguised as a weed patch. In removing some of the disguise, I found this;

Daffs

And this....

More Daffs, I think these are the ones that smell like gardenias

And some of this...

Can anyone tell me what these are?

I had to look really hard for these...

Though they look like weeds, these are actually daisies, 'Becky' daisies by name :)
I love daisies, and I have at least 4 shastas and two of this hybrid.

5 comments:

Sharon said...

Color me green for jealous. Stuff is starting to grow at Mim's but now at our house. Sigh~

Michelle said...

Yeah for you; flowers are coming! And lambs!

I have to ask my husband, but I think he would say from a veterinary standpoint that those ewes couldn't have resorbed lambs that mature, as the skeletal structure is formed and everything. Any chance something else happened to the lambs? Or that they had false pregnancies? Have you actually seen/felt lambs moving?

~~Sittin.n.Spinnin said...

False pregnancy, yes a very good possibility, in fact it is really the only explanation. BUT! What are the chances that both mom and daughter would have that happen at the same time? Whatever 'that' was? Wish we had a sheep vet around here, I would do a lot less guessing. This time I 'did' see lambs moving when Crimson was straining yesterday morning, then she just flipped the switch, turned it off like a radio! No changes this AM either...

Michelle said...

Well, if there is a genetic component or predisposition towards false pregnanies, then both mother and daughter could exhibit that trait. It would be interesting to track this line to see if it happens again.

Laura said...

I usually tube the lambs that are having a hard time - it's really easy, and you KNOW they got the colostrum that way. You can get a big (140 cc) syringe, and a feeding tube at the feedstore - milk the ewe right into the top of the syringe (holding the bottom with your thumb. Then, stick the tube in the lamb, holding their head at a natural angle so you get it into their stomach, attach the syringe, and let it drain in. I sometimes use the plunger, but very slowly (like when I have to get to work). I have tubed almost all of my lambs this year, just to make sure they get what they need. Usually, after a couple of times, they have enough strength to find the groceries on their own.