Tag Archives: Lambs

Weight watching

We round up the lambs for a health check

Last year’s tup, Harry, was an absolute beast.  We are always careful with the rams, especially when they are in with the girls as they can be quite confrontational if approached.  However, Harry was something else.  He was a huge brute with a large head, supposedly a cross between a Suffolk and a Dorper.  He hadn’t been sheered (and we can understand why) so his big fluffy fleece made him look even bigger.

We could not walk in the field with him unarmed.  It was essential to carry a crook and a bag of straw which could be used to lessen the blow when he ran at you.  And he did, frequently!  Head down and charge was his motto.  Sometimes we were stuck in the field with him for ages, couldn’t risk turning our back on him and every time we retreated backwards, he would come forwards.  We would have to stride towards him to show him we weren’t intimidated, he would reverse, and so the dance continued.

It was a relief when he’d done his job and we could let him go.

Nevertheless, despite all the grief he gave us, he did give us the best lambs we’ve ever had.  They are lovely big chunky animals, far superior to previous years when we’ve put them all in the Store Lamb sale (lambs that need fattening before slaughter) at the end of the year.

We rounded them all up at the weekend sorted out their feet, checked them over and weighed them.  All but three are well over weight for the Store sale so will be going to the Fat sale.

Of course we are delighted but not enough to risk keeping him on and going through that again!

Lamb-a-lot

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!

Stock control

Selecting beasts for the market

It’s getting to that time of year when we will be sending the lambs off to the mart.  Not all of them will go – some of them are just too small and will bring down the prices of the larger beasts – but most will.

We will also sending some of the older ewes, particularly if they have made a poor show in lambing.  For instance, one ewe produced just a single large lamb this year, which had to be euthanised by the vet as he wouldn’t have survived more than a day or two.

We also have a couple of ewes who have produced lambs with Entropian (inward turning eyelids). Although this is a minor condition that can be treated by injecting the eyelids, it isn’t pleasant for us or the lambs, and we would prefer not to proliferate it.  This year we have decided to be a little more disciplined and remove these ewes from our flock.

However, our ruthlessness only goes so far.  We have two older ewes that are way past their prime, but they will remain with us for the rest of their lives.  One is Geraldine (front right in the picture).  She was one of our first ever sheep and is such a character, although she has been in the wars more times than we care to mention.  The other is Agnes, who may also be over the hill, but remains very special to us for one reason or another.

This year, we have been using a new tup, and he has proved to be very challenging.  Hand reared by his previous owners he has no fear of humans. Quite the opposite in fact, and we have had to watch our backs constantly when in fhe paddock with him.  Given the chance he is more than happy to charge in and butt us, and we have resorted to carrying a bag of straw with us to help absorb the impact!

We won’t keep him on for another year and it’s one beast we will be glad to be rid of.

Lamb land

We are taken by surprise

We were feeling rather smug about lambing this year, everything was ready, or so we thought.

The ewes had been scanned, so we knew who was pregnant and how many to expect, the CCTV was set up and working after the installation of a new cable, thanks to someone who shall remain nameless, chopping up the previous one with a strimmer!

The pens were mostly ready, although we did decide to split a larger pen at the last minute to give us more indivicual lambing space.

Armed with the dates, we sat back and waited, convinced that even though some of the girls had huge udders, they weren’t going anywhere.

However, one evening it ocurred to us that given the date the first tup went in with the girls, they could have given birth two weeks previously.  Realisation set in and a late night check on the girls in the paddock revealed nothing but eyes shining back in the torchlight.

We were convinced that nothing would happen that night and we would at least be safe until the morning.

How wrong could we be.  We slipped out at sunrise and on the way to the field, could hear quite clearly small lamb voices emanating from the tin hut.  One of the ewes had given birth to two pretty little girls.  We carried the lambs inside to a lovely warm straw filled pen and mum followed.  Luckily they were all fine but we stuck them under a heat lamp just to be on the safe side.

That’ll teach us to be complacent.

So far we’ve had 10 lambs, we are feeding two as their mothers are not producing enough milk and we lost one due to an abonormality.

After mother and baby have bonded for a few days, they are transferred to the nursery pen where they can all meet each other and have plenty of space to gambol around.

It’s been very tiring so far and we’re only half way through, there are still plenty of sleepless nights to look forward to!

 

 

Polka Dot becomes Patch

A flystrike survivor – not for the squeamish

We were feeling rather pleased with ourselves when we didn’t lose any lambs this year. Just when we thought we were out of the woods one of the boys was hit by flystrike. It was the same lamb that had been rejected by his mother, Geraldine, and had to feed from the goat. He had always been smaller and weaker than the others and therefore vulnerable.

Flystrike is awful. We have seen it once before on a ewe, but it wasn’t as bad as this. Flies lay their eggs on the fleece and the maggots hatch, bury themselves in the sheep’s wool and eventually under the skin, feeding off their flesh. This little boy was badly infected and as we started to clear them from his rear end, they kept moving further up his body. It took us days to rid him of them, every time we thought we’d got it beaten, we found more. Eventually, we put a stop to their migration and then all we had to do was hope he would recover – it can be fatal.

With much TLC from us he did pull through, but there were large areas of bare pink skin all over his back and sides, which we smothered with soothing cream. Now a couple of months later, his fleece is regrowing and he’s almost back to normal, apart from the patchy bits. He is definitely much smaller than the other lambs and probably won’t catch up now. However, he seems happy enough and has a great appetite.

In other news, we have been watching the grass grow and that too is a little patchy!

Lambing live

Our most successful year, ever

Lambing is always a stressful time here at the croft and this year was no exception. It’s filled with sleepless nights watching restless sheep and anxious days peering at fragile looking lambs wondering if they’re feeding properly. This year was made a wee bit easier by the installation of our CCTV cameras. Instead of spending hours in a chilly shed, we could monitor all the activity from the warmth of the house, only needing to venture out when a lambing was actually in progress.

It all went much more smoothly than usual and of course we could see which lambs were feeding and which ones needed a bit of help. One particular boy (we named him Polka-dot, after we marked him with a blue spot so that we could recognise him instantly in the crowd), spent his time standing hunched in the corner. We eventually came to the conclusion that he wasn’t getting enough milk so with the aid of an obliging goat, we supplemented his mother’s milk. He is now fat and healthy.

Most of the births were straightforward, the ewes producing mainly twins but there were a couple of singles. No triplets this time which is good for the mothers as it’s easier to cope with two. However, we did have one first-timer that gave us cause for concern. After watching her all night on camera, she finally got started in the early hours, but the lamb was going nowhere. It was stuck fast. Thanks to the assistance of our obliging neighbour, an experienced sheep farmer, now retired, and some baling twine, we managed to heave the enourmous lamb out.

Despite the fact that it took quite a while and its tongue was blue, it survived and is now thriving. What a relief and we were so grateful for the help, you learn something new every year.

Only one left to lamb now and she is certainly taking her time. All the rest are ready to be vaccinated and move on out to pastures new.

In other news, Fin seems to be responding to the medications and is feeling a lot more comfortable now.

The lamb after the storm

We discover a sickly lamb, just in the nick of time

We were doing our morning rounds after a particularly wild and stormy night when we noticed that one of the lambs was missing.

After racing over to the paddock, we discovered her laying on her side in a muddy puddle unable to get to her feet.

Luckily she was still alive but only just.  We immediately bundled her into a wheelbarrow and rolled her back to the shed.

Once inside we tipped her out onto a thick bed of straw, propped her up with a square bale and then hung the heat lamp above her to try and stop her shivers.

Next we had to try and get something inside her and since it was obvious that she was in no condition to eat anything, we filled a syringe with a ketosis drench (used for twin lamb syndrome) and squirted that down her throat.

For the next few hours we monitored her progress as she gradually returned to the land of the living, giving her another drench and making sure she had water and some hay to nibble on.

Within a couple of days she had made a remarkable recovery and could was eating normally but was still off her feet, so we lifted her up and held her until she got her balance.

She is now back to normal and baaing loudly for food every time we walk into the shed.  She will soon be fit enough to re-join the others outside.

Even though they have a shelter in their field, they rarely seem to use it, so we think she must have fallen over in the storm and wore herself out trying to get back up.

Thankfully this time it was a happy ending.

 

 

8 lambs a leaping

The lambs first day out

It was an exhausting month with lambing drawn out over several weeks.  We ended up with  a total of 8 lambs which was a little disappointing.  Four girls who we will keep as breeding stock and 4 boys who will go to the mart later in the year.  Due to the appalling wet weather, we kept them inside for longer than usual but when a beautiful sunny day presented itself on Saturday, we finally turfed them outside.

One of our favourite moments is when they all get their first taste of freedom and meet the other lambs face to face.  There is always mass confusion with the ewes rushing forward with the smell of spring grass in the nostrils, completely forgetting about their babies.  They rush to the field and with their mouths full baa loudly for the lambs.

The lambs, meanwhile haven’t got a clue what’s going on and are running round in circles looking for mummy and shouting.  When they catch up and get to the field they are suddenly confronted with a whole load of sheep and have to find their mother.  It’s pandemonium.

Eventually it all gets sorted out and then the leaping starts.  It’s amazing how high they can jump.

Now that lambing is done we start kidding, and that’s no joke.  Check back next month for a goat story.

It’s lambing time

After many a sleepless night, the lambs finally arrive

After a month of disturbed nights, checking the ewes to make sure they weren’t giving birth, we finally welcomed our first lambs on Friday afternoon.  Despite the fact that we were on high alert, the first lambing didn’t happen without a hitch.  Agnes, started early by expelling the water bag but by lunchtime nothing else had appeared.  She wasn’t distressed but we were.

Eventually the rubber gloves were deployed and we discovered that the lamb on it’s way out had too many legs.  It was quickly clear to us that two were trying to emerge together.  After some skilful manipulation and untangling of small bodies, one of the lambs was pushed back whilst the other was pulled out.  The first, thank goodness, was alive and well.  The second one came out backwards with more than a little assistance.  We weren’t sure if it was all over and since she had been so huge, we ventured back in and pulled a third out.

All were boys and all appear healthy and are feeding well.  We may have to supplement them with goat’s milk if Agnes can’t produce enough to sustain all three but we will keep a close eye on them and monitor their progress.

Well that’s one down, only another 5 to go until we can once again sleep peacefully at night.

While shepherds watch

Shepherds at work

All of the lambs have now been born, and following some time inside the livestock shed (while the weather was still unpredictable), they have now been moved to their outside residence.

Luckily for us, we also have some ‘lamb monitors’ available to perform regular checks for us. As you can see, they enjoy their work!

Elsewhere, the polytunnel is starting to take shape with good signs of growth, and the grass is finally looking like making an effort. It will need to work harder though, otherwise our hay crop this year will be very poor.

The slow start to the season could make things quite tricky!