Lambing Live (sort of) - Page 4

Pebbles82 · 04-16-2020, 03:02 PM

Haha Luna - yes it's tempting - they grow pretty big though and can knock you out with a head butt!

Lambs coming regularly now. Yesterday one sheep had a difficult birth. First lamb was born ok. Second one was a difficult birth. The Ewe is now recovered. Both lambs are healthy and noisy but the second one has problems with his back legs and can't stand so they are in a pen near the house and having assistance with feeding. Hopefully he'll be able to stand up in a few days.

cypher · 04-16-2020, 10:48 PM

Good to hear things are mostly going well, fingers crossed for the little lamb that has been struggling.

Coco61 · 04-17-2020, 08:52 AM

How is the little lamb doing today- are his back legs getting any stronger?

Maker · 04-18-2020, 12:11 AM

My brother had the same with a calf last year, he came good with lots of tlc, he called him Timmie

Pebbles82 · 04-18-2020, 03:17 AM

Aw that’s nice to hear Maker. The lamb will need a few days before any improvement seen. This week has been a “lockdown special “. Some items needed from the vet including penicillin and a vaccine which all the lambs need to have (the penicillin is needed if a Ewe gets an infection but that can happen and OH needed some in. Farmers administer the meds themselves by injection.

As we’re self isolating we asked if the vets could drop it off. It’s only a small practice so they said no-one coming our way but they could send it by courier for a small fee. So we did that and it was supposed to arrive later the same day with the vaccine in an ice pack. Parcel never arrived. After three days the vet gave up chasing the courier and we had to ask someone to go and pick up more of the meds next day. At which point the parcel arrived! It only had to go 7 miles! Vaccine is now no good as ice pack had melted of course. More coming next week which will be fine.

All the meds then needed the bottles washing in soap and water before using in case they were contaminated.

A Ewe lambed in the barn last night as she started in the evening so OH didn’t want to leave her outside overnight.

More photos soon

Ria P · 04-18-2020, 06:11 AM

Lovely to see all the lambs but shocking that you only get £20 for their fleeces.
I'd have a go at a cottage industrie. Do you know someone who could spin and dye the wool? If its not suitable for knitting could it be used for weaving? I'm thinking of carpet luggage bags or shoulder bags with a rustic, natural look and very hard wearing with leather trimmings maybe. I had one back in the 70's which i had bought in Afghanistan.

Pebbles82 · 04-21-2020, 04:11 AM

Apologies for not adding more photos yet - the last week has been a bit hectic including a missing parcel of vet supplies. It eventually turned up. And a missing fuel tank for red diesel (so OH doesn't have to go out as he needs diesel for the tractor). It was supposed to arrive just after the Bank Holiday but apparently was out of stock so was shipped from Germany! It is somewhere in transit and could take a very long time. So a mad rush to buy temporary storage before the diesel was delivered and had a big plastic container delivered which had previously contained vegetable oil and needed cleaning out. Anyway most vet and fuel supplies sorted now.

Lambing is over half way now and going steadily.

Meanwhile here are the Dads - behind bars ha ha. (Three of the Rams, AKA Tups). They are behind a gate having been brought up to go through a footbath. The one on the left must know he's had twins as he's smiling

The one in the middle has good head (large and not too narrow) - something breeders look for. Their curly horns just keep growing - a bit like hamsters teeth! So they need carving off shorter now and then or they can grow into the side of their heads. The ones at either side have carved horns - the one in the middle still has his. It's a bit like clipping hamsters toe nails on a bigger scale - you can cut so far without it being painful or drawing blood. It's ok to leave the horns if they grow the right way - then they just curl round and round, but sometimes they grow the wrong way and point inwards.

Attachment 50506

Pebbles82 · 04-21-2020, 04:23 AM

If anyone is interested, here is a list of types of British sheep from Countryfile. Ours are Swaledales and there's a good picture of a ram with very long horns - although you can see from that photo how they could rub his face and cause sores if they grow too close. There are a lot more than 10 breeds though.

https://www.countryfile.com/wildlife...ecognise-them/

Pebbles82 · 04-21-2020, 04:29 AM

Just to add - apologies if anyone is vegetarian - the article does mention breeding for meat on occasion. This is one of the rarer breeds - the Wensleydale long haired - anyone remember Dougal the dog from magic roundabout?

https://www.wlsba.co.uk/

cypher · 04-21-2020, 04:52 AM

Sounds like it's been quite a crazy & quite stressful time with all the complications, glad things seem to be getting sorted now & that lambing is going well.
Love the photo of the Dads, the one on the left does look quite chuffed with himself lol!
Funnily enough I was looking at that countryfile list earlier along with a few other sites, thinking of making a ram soon!
I can definitely see the resemblance to Dougal there too