2001 Lambing

This year was our first crack at lambing.  We figured is couldn't go too wrong with only 3 expecting ewes.  We were quite the sight though--especially the night Martha gave birth to her single ewe lamb. . . .

With two children keeping an eye on the ewe's activities, I was continually updated on her progress:  "she's pawing the ground", "her mucus plug has come out".  Okay, so far so good.  Then after only 30 minutes or so of labor, out came Maddie!  This was shaping up to be a text book delivery, but then she continued to paw at the ground around her baby and lay down and strain.  We thought there surely was going to be a second lamb.  Maddie had been born at 10:30 p.m. and about 11:30, there was still no second lamb, midnight - no lamb, 1:00 a.m. still nothing.  She wasn't following the books!!!  She gave some signs that another birth was pending, yet she didn't seem worn out or fatigued.  I had three different books spread out in the barn.  Prior to actually getting sheep, the books seemed to cover everything and anything that we would ever need to know, but now with this ewe before me and me getting a little rummy myself (I'm definitely NOT a night person), I was not finding the definite answer that I needed.  We finally decided that we would need to do a manual check to see if indeed another lamb was still inside Martha.  By the way, the books also do not describe what a uterus should feel like, how far in (wrist, elbow, etc.) you need to check, or the fact that there are two different horns to the uterus.  We started lambing season well stocked with supplies, luckily most were never needed, but thank goodness we ordered the shoulder length gloves!!  It was understood from the beginning that I would do the "icky" stuff, so donning the plastic glove and lubricant I checked for a twin.  I ended up going in up to my elbow without feeling anything hard and lamb like.  The quick ending to this story is that no additional lamb was found, we gave her a shot of penicillin and went to bed.  We did keep an eye on her for a few days to watch for unusual discharge.

Molly was our first to lamb and gave us twin ram lambs, born March 4, 2001

Betsy was our last to lamb, we have pictures of  Baby Bell's birth