March 1, 2013 Finally!

Why has this winter seemed so very, very long?  I can't wait for warm weather and to go outside and work in the garden and eat meals in the courtyard and knit and spin on the front porch!  I know, it'll be here soon.  I see 60's in the forcast next week.  So glad because we're having our knitting guild here to do drop spindling and see the lambs.

The lambs.  What a story!  So, Lilly has her little boy on Saturday.  All goes well.  She gets out of the creep on Wednesday.  The ram smells blood and tries to mount her and kill lamb.  He is isolated in the inner pasture - all other sheep in the outer passage.  After lunch, Liv goes to the mailbox and comes running back screaming because Sweet Pea has given birth and the lamb looks dead in the field.  We both run out and find the little guy barely breathing.  We look up and another lamb is by Sweet Pea's side, we look across the field and there's another lamb with Lilly and her baby!  Sweet Pea had triplets!!!  Now what do we do?  We had to manipulate Dan the ram into a pen by the chicken coop in order to get Sweet Pea and babies into the creep.  It still looks like the littlest is not going to make it.  Run to get plastic bin and towel - get him in the house with heat lamp.  Now what do we do?  Liv thinks quick and remembers goat milk.  I get in the car and speed down the road to the "Goat  Lady" to get fresh goat milk to try and keep the little guy alive.  Job done, Liv has bottle with nipple ready and we get him to drink - he stands up and gives Liv a kiss!

 

Now, just when we thought all was well, we go back to Sweet Pea only to find her trying to kill one of her babies - the only girl.  It was a very frightening thing.  She did not want that girl for nothing.  I had to grab it and get it out of the creep - into the house - another bottle ready to go.  But surely we can not bottle feed two lams?   Oh boy, what now?  Checked on line and they said to make a little pen in the creep to keep the unwanted and wanted lamb together - so the scent rubs off.  I go and gather hammer, nails, boards and try.  But my building skills are very lacking.  Call husband and say, come home quick.  This is way too much to handle right now.  He is on the way.  But what about the little girl?  Call Anna - my shepherd friend that started me in all this madness up by D.C.  She came to the rescue by telling me to take the placenta and rub it ont he lamb to give the lamb the mom's scent in order for her to accept it.   as soon as David gets home and changed he, Arianna and I go out and get the placenta still in the field and rub it on little Rose.  I keep putting Rose to Sweet Pea's nose and she sniffs, but turns, sniffs and turns, sniffs and turns away.  She at least is not trying to kill her.  The lambs sleep, David and I watch over them all in the creep.  At 7:00 p.m. the lambs awake and the little boy tries to nurse, but Rose is in the way and Sweet Pea is running from her!  She still won't accept her.  If we built the little pen we'd have to be in the barn all through the night every two hours getting them to nurse, so we decide to just bring the girl into the house and bottle feed her as well.  So the madness for the next 2 months begins!  Luckily Olivia and Arianna wanted to get up in the middle of the night to feed.  We fed colostrum x for two days with the goat milk.  Now we're are changing to lamb milk replacer and water.  Both have had a little diahrrea so are getting too much, so we'll cut back but keep feeding a few more days through the night because they are so little.  At least until they can drink 6-8 ounces before bed.