# UPDATE Miller is thriving... mommy sheep is lopsided.. thoughts?



## Hillsvale (Mar 7, 2012)

one of our Katahdin ewes birthed twins the Saturday before last... other mature ewe is much larger (having had a single 15.5 poundr last year!!) larger than the first ewe and larger than last year....

We keep checking her whohaa... somedays we think yay... they she giggles and doesn't birth. She's eating like a big... understandable. Poor Mr. has been getting up through the night... Monday night at 3am and last night at 2:30... nada. His early morning tromps have even irritated the piggies to the point that they broke out of their pen and when we got up at 5am there they were wandering around the yard! 

I say enough... give birth already!


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## genuck (Mar 8, 2012)

I am waiting too. I have 2 first timers that have been bagged up for over a week now. No goo, no discomfort, just really really hungry. Lets hope they all go soon!


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## Hillsvale (Mar 9, 2012)

well last year she lambed a week after the first girl... no idea when the first year freshners are due but I better have one of them sheared


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## Erins Little Farm (Mar 9, 2012)

When our suffolk ewes were beginning to lamb I checked to see if they had lambed every so minutes!


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## Hillsvale (Mar 9, 2012)

the ones due now are katahdin and must be shy... they seem to lamb at night but we also work in the city and are gone 11 hours a day so checking every few minutes would be impossible


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## Erins Little Farm (Mar 9, 2012)

2 of ours lambed then the rest didn't lamb for almost a week! Oh okay. Yeah I couldn't wait until mine lambed


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## Cornish Heritage (Mar 9, 2012)

LOL! I have 6 first timers & 1 old girl left to lamb WAY after all the others. Most of them look like they should have lambed a long time ago. Most of our sheep lamb at night but we leave them to it unless we hear someone in distress. I need my sleep 

Hope they lamb soon for you.

Liz


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## TheSheepGirl (Mar 11, 2012)

I'm still waiting for my girl to lamb. She is not bagged up and is not due til april, so i'll be waiting a while.


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## Hillsvale (Mar 11, 2012)

she has bagged up almost 2 weeks ago, filled up a bit more today.... could watch the lamb (s) rolling and kicking the last few days.... she was only a week behind the last girl last year.... we are just urgh! lol... I have taken Monday and Tuesday off so hopefully, sigh hehe still have several other sheep and three goats!


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## Hillsvale (Mar 12, 2012)

poor girl, babies are rolling around and you can watch them beat her up!... she's pretty restless today, she lays down and her belly and udder is squished to the side!

and this 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 is the reason I am so anxious to see more lambs, katahdin ewe lamb born Mar 5th... her brother is hiding.

The ewe in back of her is the still ready to pop girl above.


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## Remuda1 (Mar 12, 2012)




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## Hillsvale (Mar 13, 2012)

so this morning there are still no ligaments, udder looks a bit pinker and teats just out just a bit more. Her whoohaa is slightly open but no goo.... I am this close  to taking one of those ratchetting come alongs and squeezing them out... never seen anything like this girl, swear to god the ones 6 weeks out are gonna birth first! :te


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## Hillsvale (Mar 13, 2012)

well she's in labour...


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## theawesomefowl (Mar 13, 2012)




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## Hillsvale (Mar 13, 2012)

well she is irritated that she is in the lambing pen... she was laying down and her lips were curling up... you can see the lambs rolling around in her, first time I have see that kind of activity. I'm in the house at the moment... tea for me, molasses water for mommy.


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## Remuda1 (Mar 13, 2012)




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## SheepGirl (Mar 13, 2012)

Hillsvale said:
			
		

> well she is irritated that she is in the lambing pen... she was laying down and her lips were curling up... you can see the lambs rolling around in her, first time I have see that kind of activity. I'm in the house at the moment... tea for me, molasses water for mommy.


Normally, when my ewes lay down and curl their lip and point their nose in the air, that means they are in the process of lambing. Best of luck to you and I hope all goes well.


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## Hillsvale (Mar 13, 2012)

well it got tiring sitting there so I keep going and checking every 1/2 hour or so.... she just standing there and looking indignant that I keep looking at her gear now! There is still no goo but the other one that lambed only had a tiny touch just hours before she delivered...lol


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## Hillsvale (Mar 13, 2012)

well a check a few minutes ago found her laying down and her lip curling every 45 seconds or so... still no goo. then she decided to have a snack and stood up and she had a snack and no lip curling... its on the way, guaranteed I'll miss it! :/


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## Remuda1 (Mar 13, 2012)

I think so too, lip curling is a sign of pain.


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## Cornish Heritage (Mar 13, 2012)

LOL! Hope she has them soon or you'll be turning gray 

Liz


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## Remuda1 (Mar 13, 2012)

Any updates Hills?


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## Hillsvale (Mar 14, 2012)

false labour... braxton hicks... something, she didn't lamb through the night and Simon let her out this morning with the others before we left for work. Its chilly here today and we have a freezing rain storm last night... same for over night tonight. Hopefully she doesn't decide to lamb today outside now that I am safely at work an hour away! lol


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## nomad (Mar 14, 2012)

We noticed that when the weather would take a turn that is when our sheep lambed or goats kidded.  I think it may have something to do with the changing barometer.

Maybe she will "hold off" until you return home.

I hope you will be able to laugh when retelling this lambing saga!


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## Hillsvale (Mar 14, 2012)

well last year they just surprised us... both within a week of each other. this year one of them was put in her pen and we expected her to go within a couple days... next morning twins! The weather went from 20 degrees C on Monday, 3 degrees C yesterday... freezing rain last night... its snowing and expecting freezing rain too.

yikes!


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## Remuda1 (Mar 14, 2012)

Anything yet?


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## Hillsvale (Mar 14, 2012)

nope, babies are still rolling... she is still pigging out, she is getting extra grain so she's probably working us! lol


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## Remuda1 (Mar 16, 2012)

Ha!  She just might be  . Anything yet?? I waited two whole days before I checked back in with ya, LOL.  

Kristi


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## Hillsvale (Mar 16, 2012)

NO! grrrrr, if she follows a proper cycle last year she lambed a week after the first girl... if thats the case then it wont be for another week!


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## carolinagirl (Mar 17, 2012)

And I thought only goats were drama queens.  Looks like sheep are too.


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## Hillsvale (Mar 17, 2012)

definately


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## Hillsvale (Mar 20, 2012)

So mummy had lovely lambs, the first a female and then a male but right from the start the mother showed no interest in the boy. Now she is headbutting and pushing him away but accepting the girl. The male has no first milk to talk of. Thinking of putting the twins behind a section so they can scent each other and hope that mother will accept both .. any ideas?


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## aggieterpkatie (Mar 20, 2012)

Unless she's being severely aggressive to him, keep him in with them and hold or tie your ewe and let him nurse.  It's really crucial that he nurses soon.  You may have to do this several times a day for a few days, but hopefully she'll go ahead and accept him.  Sometimes ewes have a hard time counting past "1" and need a little encouragement.


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## Hillsvale (Mar 20, 2012)

I have made her nurse the male and have put the twins together behind a cornered off section so they can scent each other. I will get them out every hour to nurse.


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## Hillsvale (Mar 20, 2012)

This ewe had a single 15.5 pounder last year.  Simon was researching and found a spot that spoke of the corralling the twins closely so they blend scents within the mommies pen so he is at home doing that...  we did hold her so the ram lamb could nurse the colostrum.

Mommy is flicking him away with her head fairly roughly we thought... she still hadn't passed her placenta at this point so I'm sure perhaps the contractions we bugging her but she was sweet to the little ewe lamb and would turn and fling him away... 

I had to come into work to get people organized for the day but am on my way back home shortly to help force the issue...


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## purplequeenvt (Mar 20, 2012)

Some sheep are just dumb like that. We had one ewe who, for a couple years, wouldn't accept ram lambs. Another one (a black ewe) didn't like white babies - we had to trick her by putting dark jackets on them.  This year we had a first timer who had her lambs all by herself early in the morning, I found them at 4 and everything was fine and dandy. Both babies were up and nursed. A few hours later though, she changed her mind and didn't want one. I worked on her for a couple days before I gave up.

My advice is to keep working on it. Tie her in a corner so she can't turn to sniff him as he nurses. You can get something called Mother Up which smells like peppermint. You spray it on the babies and the mother's face and it supposed to mask the babies' scent so she can't tell them apart.


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## Hillsvale (Mar 20, 2012)

So we tried every hour to get mom to accept him, no go. ... I spread the poo from the accepted ewe lamb on the ram and mommys face...

I have all the bottle feeding supplies but the guy just won't do it. He nursed mom (forced) for about 5 minutes every hour until about 3pm when we knew she would never accept him. We broke out the pen so this baby, his sister and the 24 day old lambs can get into an area by themselves... so this little doll can get away from being slammed about.

We got about 3 oz down him using a syringe.... at about 4pm (this was milk from mom)
I tried a baby bottle and long nipple... nope
I tried the black nipple you put on a bottle (replacer)
I tried a long red lamb nipple that goes on a calf bottle (for lambs... replacer)

He seemed to sort of chew on it from the side but didn't make much of an effort, I tried to squeeze it out for him but it didn't help much. Could he have just gotten enough? I saw him pass two of the tarry black poops but no pee.

Simon is staying home tomorrow to try and get things going... any suggestions? 









the ewe lamb is laying down... she had lovely dark brown and black spots everywhere, looks like she had cleopatra eye liner on... the ram lamb (standing) has a few black and brown spots and the longest legs I have seen on a new born... he is taller than the 24 day old lambs!


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## Cornish Heritage (Mar 20, 2012)

> He nursed mom (forced) for about 5 minutes every hour until about 3pm


If he's been drinking so well off of Mama he is going to need to be hungry to accept the bottle. I would tube feed him tonight if you think he is hungry but it will honestly not hurt him to wait until morning. By morning he will be hungry & although might be reticent to accept the bottle, he will do with some persuasion. These little ones are tough & the joy of lambs is that you do not need to get up in the night to feed 

Liz


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## Hillsvale (Mar 20, 2012)

we will see in 5 hours.... been 3 since I tried.


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## Hillsvale (Mar 21, 2012)

5 30 this morning... little Miller (named after the beer bottle he is drinking from) was nice an hungry, took 5 or 6 ounces of formula very willingly...

Should be interesting with us working an hour away from home but I guess he's going to have to learn to wait 6 hours and I will need to make the 2 hour round trip at lunch time or he will need to learn to drink from the teat bucket.



any suggestions other than the milk replacer?


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## aggieterpkatie (Mar 21, 2012)

He should do fine on a 3x/day schedule. I work full time and I feed my bottle babies (goats) at 6 AM, 4pm, and 10 pm.  Either they'll survive that way, or they won't, since I can't quit my job and can't go home to feed them at lunch.      He should do just fine on milk replacer.  And love the name.


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## Hillsvale (Mar 21, 2012)

good to know, he will end up going 6am to 6pm but the 24 day old lambs were eating grain at a week old so we will encourage Miller to as well... we don't usually name many of our animals but that one seemed fitting. I could bring him to work in a cage but would hate for him to be stuck like that...


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## Cornish Heritage (Mar 21, 2012)

> 5 30 this morning... little Miller (named after the beer bottle he is drinking from) was nice an hungry, took 5 or 6 ounces of formula very willingly...


That's wonderful  Hunger is a great motivator.

Liz


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## Hillsvale (Mar 21, 2012)

well Simon is at home with him today... he took some of his bottle at lunch time and at about 2pm I called to check in so he took the remaining bottle down to the barn and Miller stood there and drank while standing on the floor... no A.D.D. setting in at all! 

His mommy still doesn't like him but he went to each and everyone there and baa'd at them looking for attention so things are looking up.

Now if we could get him to use the teat bucket things would be awesome, he has to go to work tomorrow! I thank god that its balmy here and not the fridged March that we usually have... the usual temperature is around 10 degrees and we are at 26 right now, smashing records..


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## Hillsvale (Mar 22, 2012)

left 2 day old Miller with his teat bucket... seemed to be OK with it, 2 cups of replacer... bucket was dry this morning so I left him with 4 cups of replacer in the bucket and we went to work... hopefully he does well today.


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## Remuda1 (Mar 22, 2012)

Hope all goes well, sounds like he's on the right track


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## aggieterpkatie (Mar 22, 2012)

That's great!


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## Cornish Heritage (Mar 22, 2012)

Sounds like he's a smart one 

Liz


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## Hillsvale (Mar 25, 2012)

So this mommy ewe is still not feeding Miller but he is thriving on the milk replacer... growing faster than his sister in fact however the little ewe lamb is only nursing off one side. We have slightly milked the unused side but she is desperately lop sided.

Has anyone had any success blocking of the used side to force baby to nurse the other side? If so what did you use, I should think she would want to tear off anything we used.


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## SheepGirl (Mar 25, 2012)

Single lambs will usually only nurse on the one side. Your ewe's udder, though unattractive, should be fine, so I wouldn't worry about trying to get it to even out.


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## Bossroo (Mar 26, 2012)

SheepGirl said:
			
		

> Single lambs will usually only nurse on the one side. Your ewe's udder, though unattractive, should be fine, so I wouldn't worry about trying to get it to even out.


???       ...     I have raised hundreds of lambs, quite a few were singles... all of the singles ALWAYS  nursed from both sides of the udder.  This ewe may be suffering from mastitis on the one side, therefore it may be sore so she is not allowing her ewe lamb to nurse on that side.


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## Hillsvale (Mar 26, 2012)

She does not have mastis... I posted because I was concerned she would get it with baby only nursing the one side. The lamb is a twin, she immediately rejected the second born. I can milk it while she's eating grain.. she hates it but will allow it. I have only milked out a bit to relieve pressure.


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## Remuda1 (Mar 26, 2012)

Hills, I have read that some lambs have to be "introduced" to the other side. What I've read says you should hold the lamb to the un-nursed side a few times till they get the hang of it. Sort of like a right handed learning how to use their left hand I suppose. In any case, it may be worth a shot..... Hope this helps


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## Hillsvale (Mar 26, 2012)

Remuda1 said:
			
		

> Hills, I have read that some lambs have to be "introduced" to the other side. What I've read says you should hold the lamb to the un-nursed side a few times till they get the hang of it. Sort of like a right handed learning how to use their left hand I suppose. In any case, it may be worth a shot..... Hope this helps


I thought we may try this tonight while she is getting her grain..


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## aggieterpkatie (Mar 26, 2012)

Bossroo said:
			
		

> all of the singles ALWAYS  nursed from both sides of the udder.  This ewe may be suffering from mastitis on the one side, therefore it may be sore so she is not allowing her ewe lamb to nurse on that side.


This has been my experience as well.  Could be the lamb is young and as she gets older she'll figure out there are 2 taps!


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## SheepGirl (Mar 26, 2012)

Well our lambs might just be downright dumb!!  Our single lambs always nurse one side all the way through weaning...you can tell just by looking at the mom's udder (plus I never see them attempt to go to the other side).


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## Hillsvale (Mar 26, 2012)

our single guy hit the full bar up last year... continued to try right up to the day he turned 6 months and was sent for processing!  Little miss couldn't handle both buy I will pin mommy into a corner nd try and get the ewe lamb to work the room.


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## Remuda1 (Mar 26, 2012)

Hillsvale said:
			
		

> Remuda1 said:
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Let us know how it goes  good luck!


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## Hillsvale (Mar 26, 2012)

Ewe lamb was having NONE of that side of the ewes udder however well much to her displeasure but greedy guts for the grain, Miller was put on that side and he was hungry (his teat bucket was drained of the 4 cups we put in this morning).. so he nursed enought to take the edge off him until I could sanitize his bucket. Mommy definately does not have mastis and hopefully we will prevent anything by letting him nurse a bit to relieve pressure in the evenings... she definately was not as big this evening as she was on Saturday...


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