# Please some lambing help



## ancient (Mar 30, 2020)

Hi. I'm new here. Anyhow I've been raising goats for a few years now, I  my 3rd year kidding. Goats always seem to be relatively  easy to care for and kidding goes easy, I sometimes  have to help but it's a quick process.  So to the sheep, this is my first year with sheep which I was hesitant  to get in the first place as I heard they are way more problematic then goats. So this morning  I go to the barn to see my 2 ewes due any day  now. My one ewe refused her grain and wanted to be on her own. I separated  her as I figured feo. What I know from goat behavior  shes going to lamb. That was 7 hours ago. Shes been moaning softly to herself and just standing  there. The hips are hollow like they are supposed to be but no water bag yet and I tried to milk her and she has nothing. Am I just being paranoid.  Not sure what to do . My husband has been laid off with this covid 19 as well as other family which we just had to financially help and we cant afford a vet . Any help or advice?  Shes eating hay


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## purplequeenvt (Mar 30, 2020)

Is she just standing around looking miserable or has she been down and pushing at all?

If she’s just acting uncomfortable, I’d give her more time before interfering. Give her some space and quiet.


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## ancient (Mar 30, 2020)

Thank you for the quick reply. Yes , shes not dialated  , no water bag, just miserable.  I'm sure I'm just being a nervous  Nellie. Shes just more of a pet to the family  then livestock.  We got her from a local sheep farmer as an orphan  lamb 
 My daughter fell in love and since the goats were so mean to her , my daughter and her were inseparable.  The lamb spent probably the first 6 months of her life coming into the house at night (with a diaper) and sleeping on my daughters bed. She eventually got to big and we got more sheep for her to have company. We would be devastated  if something  happened  to  her


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## Mike CHS (Mar 30, 2020)

We have a couple that start acting that way two or more days before lambing.  I would just give her time.


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## ancient (Mar 30, 2020)

Thank goodness.  Thank you both so much. Guess I'm just too worried


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## Baymule (Mar 30, 2020)

ancient said:


> Thank goodness.  Thank you both so much. Guess I'm just too worried


You just care deeply about her. Take a deep breath, I think we all go through this. I have one due any moment.....since March 10!!!! She's 20 days over due and I saw her get bred and wrote it down. Since it's pouring rain and storming, she's probably giving birth right now (she's in the barn) but I doubt it. They will make you crazy!


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## YourRabbitGirl (Mar 31, 2020)

ancient said:


> Hi. I'm new here. Anyhow I've been raising goats for a few years now, I  my 3rd year kidding. Goats always seem to be relatively  easy to care for and kidding goes easy, I sometimes  have to help but it's a quick process.  So to the sheep, this is my first year with sheep which I was hesitant  to get in the first place as I heard they are way more problematic then goats. So this morning  I go to the barn to see my 2 ewes due any day  now. My one ewe refused her grain and wanted to be on her own. I separated  her as I figured feo. What I know from goat behavior  shes going to lamb. That was 7 hours ago. Shes been moaning softly to herself and just standing  there. The hips are hollow like they are supposed to be but no water bag yet and I tried to milk her and she has nothing. Am I just being paranoid.  Not sure what to do . My husband has been laid off with this covid 19 as well as other family which we just had to financially help and we cant afford a vet . Any help or advice?  Shes eating hay


Here in the Philippines, we are under community quarantine, we cant really do that much. I hope this will end soon.


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## ancient (Apr 5, 2020)

Ok. So she had a single lamb last night sometime. I really dont want to interfere but I sat in the barn for a couple hours. The lamb was cleaned off but seemed like every time she went to get milk the mom moved away. I dont know if she got any colostrum yet. Should I milk some out and give it to her to be safe?


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## Sheepshape (Apr 5, 2020)

Get someone to hold the ewe and push the lamb in the direction of the teat....they usually latch on straight away.

I've had 3 do just this in the last 2 days....all are first timers and all were happy to nurse the lamb after they had had been 'shown the ropes'. It is quite common in first-timers and almost never recurs in subsequent pregnancies.

Some sheep are 'off ' for a good couple of days before they go into full-blown labour.

I hope hubby recovers soon from the virus.


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## Baymule (Apr 5, 2020)

I had 2 first fresheners last year that I had to tie up and sprawl out in the barn floor to put the lamb up to the teat to nurse.  It took several hours of "interfering" to get them over the hump.


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## YourRabbitGirl (Apr 6, 2020)

ancient said:


> Hi. I'm new here. Anyhow I've been raising goats for a few years now, I  my 3rd year kidding. Goats always seem to be relatively  easy to care for and kidding goes easy, I sometimes  have to help but it's a quick process.  So to the sheep, this is my first year with sheep which I was hesitant  to get in the first place as I heard they are way more problematic then goats. So this morning  I go to the barn to see my 2 ewes due any day  now. My one ewe refused her grain and wanted to be on her own. I separated  her as I figured feo. What I know from goat behavior  shes going to lamb. That was 7 hours ago. Shes been moaning softly to herself and just standing  there. The hips are hollow like they are supposed to be but no water bag yet and I tried to milk her and she has nothing. Am I just being paranoid.  Not sure what to do . My husband has been laid off with this covid 19 as well as other family which we just had to financially help and we cant afford a vet . Any help or advice?  Shes eating hay


Yeah, This virus is really having a toll on our duties as farmers, especially about our responsibilities, Im really sad about what's happening to him. I hope he'll get better.


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## ancient (Apr 7, 2020)

Oh my goodness,  I feel like an idiot with all these questions.  I've never had a single problem with kidding and this is the 3rd year for me. 
 Another question.  I gave the lamb and mom a couple  hours  and went back to check I realized even without the mom walking away it wasnt possible  for the lamb to feed. Not 100 percent  sure the reason , either birth defect or maybe mom kicked her???her mouth was slightly  deformed and she could barely close it. We brought her in (I milked mom for colostrum) and she just couldn't take a bottle.  By later in the afternoon  we tried several  failed attempts  at inserting  a feeding tube. It went in once , we got a few tablespoons down and we kind of panicked  and stopped.  By the evening  I took the needle  out of a new syringe  and got her to take about 10cc every hour. She looked so skinny and pathetic but was always  up and walking. So it went like this from Sunday till this morning (including 4 tiny feedings at night) this morning she was starving.she took several syringes  and still looked hungry but I stopped as I didnt want to make her sick. A couple hours later she was hungry and actually  took a  bottle I gave her probably  less then a quarter  cup. My question  is how much and often should I feed her now. I really dont want her to get bloat but she looks like a rag doll all skin and bones


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## Sheepshape (Apr 7, 2020)

Let her have as much milk as she wants. Never had a problem with doing this. Bloat develops due to rumen swelling after inappropriate diet, so won't be a problem after milk feeds.


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## Baymule (Apr 9, 2020)

Her mouth is deformed? Could you provide a picture?  With a deformed mouth, she may never be able to eat properly. An over or under bite does not necessarily mean a death sentence, but you wouldn't want to breed her and have that in your flock.


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## Mini Horses (Apr 9, 2020)

Glad she is nursing at bottle, possibly you can get her to latch the ewe and save everyone time.   I'd at least try to have ewe take care of  the lamb, to teach it to be a lamb.

But, does lamb maybe have a "wry mouth" ?  This can happen in utero and while only a few hours old can sometimes be moved back into place while their bones are still soft.  It usually presents as if the top & bottom jaws went in wrong directions and can't close inline with one another.   The nursing action of latching and suckling may well be enough for the muscle to pull everything back in line --- if that is what it is.    If the lamb has milk coming out it's nose when nursing, then look to cleft pallet. 


Here's a wry mouthed goat...





Otherwise, how is momma ewe, baby and "grammy" doing?

As to your DH -- I read that to mean he was off because of closings from CV-19, not having it.   Is that right?  Hope so!


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## ancient (Apr 10, 2020)

Not a good picture but the little one is such  a ball of energy.  She has learned to suck though it takes a while to finnish a bottle.  Seems like shes bounced back  nicely.  Not worried if I cant breed her it would just break my heart to see her pass. Thanks to everyone  for the help. I get worried  way to easily when it comes to my animals


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## animalmom (Apr 11, 2020)

She looks like a real doll.  You are doing a great job with her.


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