More New Lambs

 Cedar Pond's Tovah lambed today and after some assistance gave birth to a healthy ewe lamb.

To read about her delivery & check out my stint as a midwife here , Spot On Cedar Pond *.
Cedar Pond's Gudrid also had her first lamb today, a healthy lilac ewe lamb. Today was a good day. God is so good to me, praise him !

Both lambs were sired by Shadow Mountain's Landon Tonkin.

Buttercup's New Lamb ~

Buttercup had her lamb yesterday. A Sunday afternoon lamb.Here is the new baby fresh out of the womb.

It's a girl! A baby girl lamb is called a ewe lamb. 'Ewe' means female sheep.A lamb is a baby sheep.Ewe lamb !

Momma and baby are doing very well. The lamb was up and bouncing before she was dried off from birth. She was suckling her mother within the hour. What a miracle, what a blessing ! I love lambing season here on Cedar Pond. ( The lamb is the daughter of Cedar Pond's Goth and Bide-a-wee Buttercup. )

First Lamb of 2013 & My Sister Helped !

The first lamb of this new year has been born.Naomi, my oldest and favorite ewe has given birth to a healthy ram lamb.The sire of this ram lamb is Goth.

As I was handing out soda crackers tonight, one of my sheep's favorite snacks, Naomi, who will push her way through the flock to be first for her crackers, stood apart. Oh-oh, when Naomi won't approach me for her soda crackers something is up. Sure enough, I saw she had pawed the bedding and earth to make a hollowed out area, and was in a cramped-looking postiton. I left her for awhile to let nature take it's course.

Half hour later I saw a head poking out of her rear area , hmmm, I hope this little lamb comes soon.

I checked on her in another half hour and the head was still hanging out but there seemed no progress. Oh dear. I ran into the house and  got my youngest sister to help out. I had her hold onto Naomi's horns while I soaped up my hands and carefully slipped them into Naomi to see what was going on. I could feel the lamb had broad shoulders and it was not going to be born without assistance, and without assistance Naomi would die too.  I did not want to lose either.

It took some doing, but my sister held firmly onto Naomi's horns while I worked at the other end, and after a LOT of pulling, slowly, carefully, but firmly, the big lamb slid out. Poor Naomi. I will begin giving her  penicillin shots tomorrow to prevent any infections from taking hold because I had to insert my hands into her and manipulate the lamb, and pull, pull, pull.

The lamb is big for a Jacob sheep lamb, his horns are already protruding from his head.I was surprised all the pulling on his head, shoulders, and sometimes even his neck did not cause him to be strangled or suffocated. Happy beginning, a new little ram lamb is now suckling milk from his very old mother who is tending him like the very good mother sheep she has always been. The first lamb of this year, my youngest sister helped, and all is well for now. God is good, praise Him !

Welcome to the world little one.

Sheep Midwifery, Good Friends & Neighbors

~I am holding this little ewe lamb for Hubby to tag her ear and band her tail. She won't like this at all, but as soon as I put her back with her mother she will nurse and in a short while will be as frisky as she ever was. I need to get the new lambs tagged and banded before I take off for the weekend with my sisters. Hubby might need the lambing jugs ( temporary pens for mama and baby sheep for up to 3 days after lambing).I have 2 or 3 more ewes left to lamb and Hubby will probably need to have an empty pen for one or more of them. So as soon as this little ewe settles down after tagging I will release her and her mom out into the general pen, with the other sheep and moms and lambs.
~This morning I looked outside while sipping my coffee and noticed Naomi, one of my older ewes, behaving oddly. She is pushing against the shelter side panel. Hmmm....
~She passed a bit of birth matter and I eagerly awaited the gush of a new lamb ....I waited, and waited. Pretty soon she was laying on the ground and pushing some more. This went on for more than an hour, with intense contractions, grimacing, some baaing, pacing, and then repeating the whole thing again. To no avail. Uh oh.... I am home alone and there is no one to help me hold her, and check her out. But wait !
~ I have the best friends and neighbors....I hope for all of you such friends and neighbors. Dirt's family is wonderful in this kind of pinch! I call and they are home. Even though Lanny is sick, she grabs her girls and rushes right over. Bet and Anna help me corner Naomi, and while I hold her, Bet reaches into Naomi and feels out the situation. The lamb is big, and breech, but Bet is able to carefully manipulate the lamb into a good position and gently ease her out of Naomi. A big ewe lamb!
~Anna suctions the nostrils and inside the mouth, getting out the suffocating mucous, then firmly grabs the lamb and flings her in a circle around her ( Anna's ) head. This helps force the mucous out of the lamb. ( This works for newborn almost suffocatingly dead puppies and baby goats too)The trick to this procedure is to make sure the slippery baby does not fly out of your hands, I usually need to use a towel wrapped around the legs.
~At first, Naomi was tired and did not respond to her lamb. Oh no ! I am going away for the weekend and Hubby will have a bottle baby. I don't want a bottle baby. So we left the lamb and mom for a few minutes. When I came back, Naomi was cleaning her baby off....hip hip hooray!
~The baby was very noisy, baaing a lot, but not up and around. So I gave her some Nutri Drench, which is a nutritional supplement especially for distressed lambs, goats, sheep....and then I stood her up. She wobbled, and wavered, but she remained standing. She is going to be O.K.

~I am so thankful this did not happen while I was gone. I am so thankful my friend and her daughters could be here to help. I am so thankful the lamb and her mama are fine.~

~ I have kept Jacob sheep for about 18 years now and have only had to assist 3 or 4 sheep in all these years. Naomi is one of my favorite ewes and I would have been very, very sad to lose her and any of her lambs. Naomi is the daughter of one of my favorite ewes, Ruth. I will tell of Ruth sometime later. I loved Ruth......and now that Naomi is getting older I want to keep a pretty ewe lamb from her...

"There are numerous breeds of multiple horned sheep throughout the world. Of the eighteen breeds mentioned by A.R. Werner in 'An Enquiry into the Origin of the Piebald or Jacob Sheep", thirteen of them are known to have the polycerate trait ( many horns ). Many of the spotted, horned breeds of Europe had become extinct by the turn of the 20th century." JACOB SHEEP IN AMERICA by Ingrid Painter

Blessings: Good friends, healthy lambs AND their mothers