Sleepless nights are catching up with us

It’s that time of year again when we walk around like zombies for a month or so – lambing!  We began in early Feb and expect to keep going until mid March.

Each night, we take turns in checking the ewes every two hours.  These days it’s much easier than it used to be. Thanks to the CCTV cameras in the lambing shed we no longer have to trek down there in our PJ’s in the middle of the night, but it still takes its toll.

Every year we try to improve our procedures and this year we attended a talk by our local vets practice where we learnt how we can make some improvements.  There were also free stovies on offer after the lecture, and since we don’t get out much this was a strong inducement!

This year we only have a small flock of ewes as we sent all the troublesome ones to the mart in November.  We were hoping to have wiped out the cases of entropian (turned in eyelids) but have had two born already with this genetic condition.  They have to be injected with penicillin in the lid to puff it out and stop in rubbing on the eyeball.  A very unpleasant job.

We have had one set of triplets, first time in years, but sadly the mother is poorly so we have been nursing her and bottle feeding her lambs to take some of the pressure off.

Our biggest problem is knowing the exact date each ewe will lamb.  With the help of the scan man, we can make a good guess but sometimes this can be weeks out.  Next year it is our intention to fit the tup with a raddle ( a harness with a marking device) so that when he’s done the deed, it will leave a mark on the back of the ewe).  That way we will have a more accurate prospective lambing date.

Until that time, it’s constant watching and broken sleep!