Holy goat rodeo! This lambing season could not have been any more stressful!

Our lambing season began the evening of Feb 9 with pulling a massive single ram lamb from our smallest ewe, Bluebelle. He had all feet backwards and his head totally out. We tried to push his head back in to grab some feet, but she’s so tiny and I’m afraid it would have ripped her open to push him all the way back in. It was 11pm and our livestock vet is an hour and a half away. We were to the point where we were going to lose one or both of them, so we pulled and ended up losing the little ram as we focused on saving Bluebelle. It was sad. It was stressful. It makes one question every life choice. For the rest of the night, I thought I’d sell the farm, move to an apartment in the city, and start drinking heavily. Bluebelle was completely fine the next morning, like nothing happened. After a couple weeks, I put her back in the pasture, but every time she heard one of the new lambs cry, she came running to the gate to see if it was hers. So sad. I know she was depressed, and now a month later, she’s doing better.

photo: Bluebelle with Ayla in the background.

The next morning, I ended up in bed for two days with body aches and fever. A friend said it was a trauma response, and I wouldn’t doubt it. It took more than a week to feel normal again. All that time, I was marching out repeatedly to check the other ewes, but nobody seemed interested in giving up their hostages.

Finally on Feb 22, everything started to pop! I checked the lamb-barn camera at 2:30 am on Sunday morning, and found Ayla drying off twins. Can you imagine how fast one moves when wet newborn lambs are in the barn in the middle of the night and it’s 5 degrees?? Go go go!

I turned on a heat lamp, helped dry them, and put wool sweaters on them. A boy, Grayson, and a girl, Georgina. By 4:30am, I realized Georgina wasn’t doing so well. She was a bit lethargic, wouldn’t open her eyes (like a newborn kitten), and couldn’t figure out how to nurse. Her front legs were very bowed and though she could stand fine, she didn’t walk so well. You can tell which one she is in the photos because her tiny little ears are underdeveloped. It’s like she’s a preemie. If it were any other animal, I’d say she’s the runt of the litter, but I’ve never heard of such a thing with sheep. She couldn’t nurse, so I started giving her colostrum by bottle every few hours.

We thought a few times throughout the day we would lose her because she was so unresponsive and often limp, but she kept taking the next bottle all day and into day two. By the second night (Feb 23), I saw on the lamb-barn camera her momma headbutt her into the wall. Dang it! That’s what we call rejection. Usually moms know if a baby isn’t going to make it, and in the sheep world, they push that baby away. Well, NOW we have a house lamb! I brought her in and placed her in a crate. And here we are, bottles every four hours for the next four days. I’ll leave Georgina here for a moment while we see what other fresh hell lambing season has in store for us…

The next morning on Feb 24 at 6am, Buttercup started labor. She was lying down and bracing her back legs in front of her like she was going to push, but after hours of this, she wasn’t getting anywhere. She wasn’t really pushing, but definitely doing something. After a few calls to sheep friends and our vet, we loaded her up at noon for the hour and a half ride to the vet. He examined her and said she wasn’t fully dilated yet, so we had a choice. We could leave her there, but they wouldn’t be there to watch her overnight. We could do a c-section right then. Or, we could take her home and she’d probably lamb by morning. We took her home. Another hour and a half ride back.

As we sat down to supper, we saw her on the lamb-barn camera – PUSHING!! Long story short, she pushed for over an hour and we finally pulled a lamb with help from a sheep friend who ran over after my panicked phone call. This lamb was in the same position as Bluebelle’s lamb – all feet backwards. Fortunately, Buttercup is a bigger ewe and was fully dilated and we got his feet and pulled him out. About a half hour later, she delivered a girl by herself. We named them Graham and Gracie.

Can these sheep just deliver healthy lambs in the correct position like last year when everything went smoothly?!

The next day on Feb 25, I put Delilah in her stall for the evening and she immediately laid down on her side and “baahed” really loudly. Um, I think it’s go-time for her. I was alone. No spouse, no sheep friends at home, no mentor nearby. You can imagine how my blood pressure was rising!! Delilah pushed twice and out popped a boy! We named him Gino. As she was licking him, another lamb flopped out like a fish. A girl! We named her Ginny, but I’m already calling her Gin Gin so I don’t have to sing that Tommy Tutone song in my head (867-5309). After all the stress of lambing season, Delilah pushed at 3:30pm and delivered both lambs by 3:43. Thank you. THAT’S the way it’s supposed to happen!

I’m keeping Gracie and Gin Gin. Grayson and Graham are going to a friend’s farm as wethers. Gino is being traded with another flock here in TN, as both our rams are dual registered and we’re both looking for new genetics.

So what happened with Georgina??

At 2 wks old, Georgina wasn’t doing much. She drank her bottle. She was gaining weight. The vet said her heart and lungs and sucking reflex are all good. There’s something quirky about her face and she’s still not walking much, but as long as she’s eating, she’ll probably be fine. If there is something genetic or neurological with her, we can’t treat that anyway. I took her out with the other lambs daily as often as I could, and she watched them, but didn’t go toward them. A local goat/sheep rescue had another 2-wk-old lamb who needed a friend and offered to take her, so I surrendered her to them. She’s now 4 wks old and still not progressing much, but they love her dearly. If she can make the transition to grass and grain over the next month from her bottle, she’ll be a good pet for someone. I don’t think she’ll ever be a member of a flock, but she has lots of love to give. Such a sweet girl and a strong little fighter in her little tutu!

Even though lambing season played hard ball this year, we still win!

photo: Gino and sleeping sister Gin Gin

photo: Gin Gin

For sheep-type folks, all lambs are registered Olde English. Gin Gin and Gino are also registered NABSSAR.