# purplequeenvt - Lambs 2017



## purplequeenvt (Nov 20, 2016)

This is our 2nd year breeding a few ewes for fall lambs. I don't remember off the top of my head how many we bred last year, but this year we exposed 10 and 6 settled.

It's a little tricky since our breeds don't usually breed out of season. We used CIDRs and PG600 to get them cycling. Last year we had twins and singles, but this year the ewes were given BoSe (we are in a selenium deficient area) prior to breeding.

They were due yesterday and 2 lambed right on schedule.

The first ewe, Shirley (a 2 1/2 yo Border Leicester) had twin ewes early in the morning. This was her first lambing. She did not get bred as a yearling and this was her chance to redeem herself. Safe to say she did.

The 2nd ewe, Jane, is also 2 1/2 yo BL. She had twins this spring. She gave us 2 white ewe lambs and a black ram lamb last night. Yes, triplets!

A 3rd ewe seemed to be in labor last night, but didn't seem overly serious about it so we let her be. No hard pushing, no cervical dilation, no water bags. This morning she was pushing more, but there was still no dilation. After manually trying to dilate her for a while, she was making no progress. The decision was made to put her down and try to save the lamb.

For those curious about how/why this decision was made, there are several factors:

1) it's the weekend so having a vet out to do a c-section is very expensive.

2) c-sections are hard on sheep and the ewes often don't survive. There was no guarantee that the lamb was alive and we would either end up with a ewe that could never be bred again or a dead ewe with meat that we couldn't use due to the medications.

3) a terminal c-section obviously means the ewe dies. Still no guarantee that the lamb will live, but you don't have a dead ewe with unsalvagable meat. This option sucks, but is often the best option.

I am not at home (on a trip out of state to meet my new niece!) and this was my sister's sheep so she needed to make the decision. She chose terminal c-section. She had a neighbor who knows livestock and our BIL helping. They managed to save a really nice silver ewe lamb (there was only the one). The lamb was 12 lbs and was trying to come out sideways, hence the problems. Sad as she is, my sister knows she made the right choice. One life was saved and the ewe's carcass won't be wasted.

The lamb is doing extremely well and is now a house lamb, at least for the next few days.

FUN FACT:
The first 2 ewes (the twins and trips) were bred to the same ram. We had a heat wave (90+) right before the rams went. Despite the heat AND the fact that he had really bad pneumonia (106 fever when we found him sick) right before going in with the girls, he managed to settle all 3 of his ewes, has a 250% lambing rate and 4 were girls. We are still waiting on his 3rd ewe (a crossbred).

3 more to go. Freyja, a Shetland, Valarie, a cross, and another BL. I can never remember that ewe's name, but she's really fat so I call her the Obesity Queen.


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## norseofcourse (Nov 20, 2016)

Congrats on the lambs!

That's a shame about the third ewe, that's got to be one of the hardest decisions to make.  From what I've read you often end up with a dead lamb and ewe      A live lamb and minimal suffering for the ewe is one of the best outcomes of a tough situation.

Hope the other ewes have no problems!


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## Latestarter (Nov 20, 2016)

Sorry your sister lost her ewe, but at least a replacement was saved. Isn't 12 pounds rather large? Grats on the successful breedings and the majority being ewes! Hope your luck holds! Grats on the new niece as well! Have an enjoyable and safe trip!


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## Bruce (Nov 21, 2016)

Hard decision but it sure looks to have been the right one.


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## purplequeenvt (Nov 23, 2016)

Latestarter said:


> Sorry your sister lost her ewe, but at least a replacement was saved. Isn't 12 pounds rather large? Grats on the successful breedings and the majority being ewes! Hope your luck holds! Grats on the new niece as well! Have an enjoyable and safe trip!



It's large, but not overly so for the breed. We routinely have 14/15 lb lambs. The biggest issue in this case was the ewe's weight. She was too fat and with just the one big baby, there was enough space. 2 smaller lambs would have been better.


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## purplequeenvt (Nov 23, 2016)

The last 3 ewes all went in the last couple days. 

Valarie (crossbred bred to BL) had boy/girl twins. The ewe lamb has something going on with her legs, but since I haven't seen her yet, I can't say what's up, with them yet. It could have something to do with the size of the mom vs lambs. Mom is tiny (she's part Shetland) and the babies were 12.5 and 8.5. 

Nessie (BL) had black boy/girl twins. 

Freyja had a gray katmoget (just like mom) ram and a black gulmoget (just like dad) ewe. 

I will take pictures of everyone when I get home.


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## purplequeenvt (Nov 30, 2016)

I got home last night so that means it's PICTURE TIME! I might accidentally mislabel them.

These are the first set of girls.




One of the triplets




One of Shirley's girls (1st set)




Shirley and baby




Shirley's other girl




A triplet (the surviving girl)




Shirley's twins




L-R: Valarie's girl, Nessie's boy (I think), and the triplet girl




Nessie's boy




Thula, the bottle baby




Thula




Valarie's boy and one of the BLs, not sure which one




Valarie's boy




Freyja's boy, Garbanzo. We all thought he was black, but after looking at him today, I suspect he's actually brown (ignore the brown on his fleece, that is part of his pattern and not a signal of his genetic color).




Her girl (doesn't have a name yet) - black gulmoget












Baby teeth!


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## luvmypets (Nov 30, 2016)

Your killing me with these pics! They are so cute, I wanna snuggle the shetland


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## Bruce (Nov 30, 2016)

Too cute!!!! You sure they aren't stuffed animals??


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## norseofcourse (Nov 30, 2016)

Nice lambs!   Is it easier to not get attached to the ones that all look alike?


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## Mike CHS (Nov 30, 2016)

They all have that "Cuddle me" look.


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## purplequeenvt (Dec 16, 2016)

We had a surprise this morning. Izzy (1/2 Border Leicester 1/2 Romney) lambed. She was not supposed to be due until March, but apparently she had a liaison in July (our ewes have never cycled that early without help from drugs). We thought that she was bred to a BL ram, but based on how the lambs look, the Demon Ram (Shetland) had some fun.

We discovered her giant udder last night while trying to get a tarp up in the barn. We are bitterly cold at the moment. It was -15 with the windchill. She got locked up in a small pen with a heat lamp overnight just in case and sure enough, she lambed this morning.

Ram lamb




Ewe lamb


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## Bruce (Dec 16, 2016)

Congrats @purplequeenvt! Maybe you need to add "chaperone" to the LGDs' duties


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## Latestarter (Dec 16, 2016)

Congrats on a nice surprise. Glad you caught it being as cold as it is up that way.


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## TAH (Dec 16, 2016)

That is a nice surprise! 
Very cute


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## Mike CHS (Dec 16, 2016)

What a cutey!!!


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## Baymule (Dec 16, 2016)

What a beautiful bunch of lambs. So sorry about the ewe your sister lost. It is so hard to do the right thing and she sure had a hard decision to make.


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## purplequeenvt (Dec 19, 2016)

Nessie with Dory and Crusoe 




Valarie and IT (her ram)




Smile! (Garbanzo)




Thula and her mommy




Crusoe




Garbanzo




LuLu




Turtle Bean




Dory




Ernie and Dy (the surviving triplets)




Freyja and Turtle




Tori and GG


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## Ferguson K (Dec 19, 2016)

Gorgeous lambs! Sorry about your loss but at least you have a good replacement ewe. She's a goodsize.


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## Baymule (Dec 19, 2016)

What a bunch of cutie lambs!


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## purplequeenvt (Dec 20, 2016)

New pictures of the surprise babies from last week.





Ewe




Ram


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## norseofcourse (Dec 20, 2016)

Nice lambs!  I like the pic of LuLu looking at the cat...


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## purplequeenvt (Dec 28, 2016)

We had the vet out to ultrasound all the ewes today. 

We checked 33 ewes - 5 culls that were not supposed to be bred, but there was a chance that they were and 28 ewes that were supposed to be bred. 

Results:
27 out of 28 breeding ewes were bred
2 out 5 culls were bred (of course, 1 is 10 with only half an udder and the other prolapsed last year)

This means that we have 29 ewes due between 1/29 and 4/3. 

We are expecting lots of twins based on the results of the fall breeding. We are in a selenium deficient area and this is the first year that we have gotten our act together enough to give BoSe shots prior to breeding. Selenium is an important nutrient and a deficiency can greatly affect fertility and the number of lambs conceived. I would not be surprised to see more sets of triplets this year (I'm hoping not though).


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## purplequeenvt (Jan 7, 2017)

My Shetland girls (minus Freyja who lambed in November and is in with the "big" ewes)

Fae, she was one of the first Shetland lambs born on our farm.




Mandi (L) and Flute (R)




Celeste, she needs a haircut!




Dulci




Little Marimba




Their boyfriend, Simon. He is such a sweet guy. Love his personality! He bred at least Fae, Celeste, and Marimba. The other 3 might be bred to Promethium, a white BL ram lamb that was in with them prior to purchasing Simon.




IT is a bad lamby. He jumps on the backs of the ewes and then jumps out of the pen and spends the day eating out of the back of the feeders. When he's done, he puts himself back.




Bella, a Lincoln with BIG personality. She lambed in July and had just barely weaned her lambs when she was put back with the ram. Still managed to breed back. She was in such good condition that you couldn't tell that she had been raising twins. She originally came from the flock of a good friend of ours that passed away. She was his grandson's show ewe and was sold to a mutual friend who then gave her to us.


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## Bruce (Jan 7, 2017)

purplequeenvt said:


> IT is a bad lamby. He just on the backs of the ewes and then jumps out of the pen and spends the day eating out of the back of the feeders. When he's done, he puts himself back.



DD1 and I watched him do that. The ewes just keep on eating from (their side of) the feeder and don't even seem to notice there is a lamb standing on their backs.


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## Latestarter (Jan 7, 2017)

smart lamb!


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## Mike CHS (Jan 7, 2017)

Lambs are pretty smart.  We made a small enclosure to use as a creep feeder and immediately had to mod it.  We made the openings 10" and our broad butted pregnant ewes forced their way into it to get the feed.  We added a 2x4 to each opening to change it to 8" and only the lambs can get in.


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## babsbag (Jan 8, 2017)

Mike CHS said:


> Lambs are pretty smart.



I have never owned sheep so I can't speak first hand to their intelligence but this is what I have been told about the difference between sheep and goats.

"I take the same bucket off of my sheep's head everyday and if my goats had opposable thumbs they could beat me at chess." 

I am sure we could debate this for days...


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## Mike CHS (Jan 8, 2017)

Not with me.  I have been around goats enough to know who has the better thought process and it is goats.  Sheep are smart in a different way but they are far from dumb.


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## purplequeenvt (Jan 8, 2017)

I found this on Facebook the other day. I think it is an excellent illustration of our society's detachment from food. 




There is a large population of people in my area of VT that are all like "look at me! I'm eating only organic and local foods" and yet they still haven't a clue what actually goes into getting the animal/vegetable/mineral/whatever from the farm and onto their plate.


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## NH homesteader (Jan 8, 2017)

Haha! Same in NH. I am within a half hour of VT and I do feel like it's a bigger deal over there. But the people who want farm fresh food would shudder at watching us butcher meat on our farm. And our chickens eat bugs. Eww they say!


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## Bruce (Jan 8, 2017)

purplequeenvt said:


> I found this on Facebook the other day. I think it is an excellent illustration of our society's detachment from food.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



You mean the ones that insist the hens laying their free range eggs only eat vegetarian feed??


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## Sheepshape (Jan 9, 2017)

Crikey, those are cute lambs.

I both look forward to and have a 'worry moment' about the month of March when most of my lambs are due.

Give them a cuddle for me.


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## Baymule (Jan 9, 2017)

Looks like you are going to be posting a LOT of lamb pics!


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## purplequeenvt (Jan 27, 2017)

Not a great start to the 2017 lambs this afternoon. Dead triplets. They'd been dead a few days and were all tangled up. It took a while to get them all out. Mom seems to be ok.


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## TAH (Jan 27, 2017)

Sorry to hear you are having a ruff start to lambing, hope the rest are healthy!


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## NH homesteader (Jan 27, 2017)

Ugh, sorry for such a bad start


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## Latestarter (Jan 27, 2017)

Sorry for your losses. Hope the remaining ewes do better for you.


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## Mike CHS (Jan 27, 2017)

So sorry for this.  Hope everything from here on out goes perfectly.


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## Hens and Roos (Jan 27, 2017)

sorry to hear, hope the ewe is okay


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## Bruce (Jan 27, 2017)

That is so sad @purplequeenvt. 

Glad the ewe didn't end up with problems. I would imagine having dead lambs inside could cause health issues.


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## Baymule (Jan 28, 2017)

Sorry about the loss of your lambs. That is a tough one. I am glad that your ewe is ok.


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## norseofcourse (Jan 29, 2017)

So sorry about the triplets    how is the ewe doing?


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## purplequeenvt (Jan 30, 2017)

The ewe should be fine. She retained part of the placenta and spiked a fever shortly after lambing, but she's passed the rest (I hope) of the placenta since yesterday and has been on antibiotics. Temperature was normal this afternoon when I got home from work.


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## NH homesteader (Jan 30, 2017)

Glad she's doing ok!


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## Baymule (Jan 30, 2017)

NH homesteader said:


> Glad she's doing ok!


x2!


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## Ferguson K (Jan 31, 2017)

Sorry about the triplets.


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## purplequeenvt (Feb 6, 2017)

Another tragedy in the barn. Anita, one of the ewes that wasn't supposed to be bred, started prolapsing last week (she did this last year which is why she wasn't supposed to be bred). We got a stitch put in to hold her together on Wednesday, but yesterday while feeding, something was wrong with her. I did a quick internal exam thinking that she wasn't feeling well due to swelling preventing her from peeing. Nope. There was a water bag. Took a while, but I was eventually able to get 2 dead lambs, 3-4 weeks premature, out of her. She was pretty upset and was searching and calling for her babies. 

Both these ewes seem to have valid reasons for losing their lambs, but I don't like the fact that it was 2 in a row. We are concerned about Campylobacter (Vibrio). After speaking with our vet, we are sending some samples to Cornell for testing and all the pregnant ewes got a shot of LA-200. 

We are hoping that it's NOT vibrio and is just a coincidence, but if it is, hopefully we caught it in time to prevent further losses. We've never dealt with something like this before despite raising sheep so long.


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## norseofcourse (Feb 6, 2017)

Sorry about Anita, I hope the results come back quickly and it's not Vibrio.


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## Hens and Roos (Feb 6, 2017)

sorry to hear


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## goatgurl (Feb 6, 2017)

hate that you are having these problems.  hoping it is just a coincidence and not vibrio.


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## Baymule (Feb 6, 2017)

What a disappointment. Really sorry about the loss of the lambs. Crossing fingers for you!


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## purplequeenvt (Feb 8, 2017)

Some good news and some bad. 

Bad first. Quinn, a first time ewe, prolapsed yesterday (2/7) morning. I found her at 4am when I ran out to check them before leaving for work. I put her back together and threw a couple stitches in and made it to work only 45 minutes late. 

By 7am, she'd managed to prolapse again through the stitches. I had to call a neighbor to fix her up since I wasn't able to leave work. 

She stayed together until around 1:30pm. I got home at 2 pushed everything back in a threw in another couple stitches. 

We decided last night that trying to keep her together until she lambed was too risky. There was no way she'd be able to lamb without assistance and we had no way of knowing just how close she was to lambing. We gave her drugs to induce labor last night in the hopes that she'd go into labor and dilate either during the night or sometime today (my day off). 

She was in labor by 5am and I was able to get both babies out. They were full term, but stillborn. The ewe is stitched back up (hopefully, I need to go back out and check shortly) and will hopefully recover from this trauma. 

Now the good......

In the midst of the above chaos, we had our first set of LIVE lambs this spring! 

Maud had a 12 lb white girl and, when I checked, I couldn't find a 2nd despite going almost up to my elbow. 45 minutes later, #2, a 13 lb black ram, arrived. I still have no clue where he was hiding! I've never missed a lamb before. He was nice surprise though. This ewe broke all her traditions though. She's lambed 3 times before this and each time she's had a single black ewe lamb. This time twins and the ewe was white. 

They are both gorgeous and I'll post pictures later.


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## frustratedearthmother (Feb 8, 2017)

So sorry you've had such a rough go of it lately - but congrats on the new arrivals!


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## Baymule (Feb 8, 2017)

When a ewe prolapses, does that mean that she will continue to do so? I am sorry that you have had such problems this year, it all seems to hit at once. You needed some good news, the twins sound wonderful, can't wait for pictures.


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## Mike CHS (Feb 8, 2017)

So sorry but it is always great to get some good news in spite of the bad.


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## norseofcourse (Feb 8, 2017)

Congrats on the twins!  Surprising a lamb that big could hide so well.  Sorry about the loss of the others


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## Latestarter (Feb 8, 2017)

That must be one very big ewe to hold a lamb in so deep you couldn't get to/find it... Sorry about the prolaps(es) and lost lambs... Not a good start to your season, but I hope there are no more losses. Hope she recovers and can lamb again in the future.


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## Hens and Roos (Feb 8, 2017)

Congrats on the lambs and sorry for your losses


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## purplequeenvt (Feb 8, 2017)

Tungsten (ewe)




Rhenium (ram)


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## purplequeenvt (Feb 8, 2017)

Latestarter said:


> That must be one very big ewe to hold a lamb in so deep you couldn't get to/find it... Sorry about the prolaps(es) and lost lambs... Not a good start to your season, but I hope there are no more losses. Hope she recovers and can lamb again in the future.



She will never be bred again. She prolapsed too badly. I'm not even positive that she will survive.


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## purplequeenvt (Feb 8, 2017)

Baymule said:


> When a ewe prolapses, does that mean that she will continue to do so? I am sorry that you have had such problems this year, it all seems to hit at once. You needed some good news, the twins sound wonderful, can't wait for pictures.



It all depends on why they were prolapsing. If they don't prolapse badly or it's only in the last week or so of pregnancy, then SOMETIMES they will be fine in future. We don't generally re-breed anyone that prolapses badly or that needs to be put back together more than a couple times/needs to be held together with a retainer or stitches. It's too risky and almost never ends well the 2nd time around.


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## purplequeenvt (Feb 10, 2017)

Quinn passed away this afternoon. She wasn't doing well last night, but she seemed a bit better at 4 am.

There was a new life in the barn when I got home today. Lucia, who also happens to be the mother of Quinn, had a MASSIVE ram. Osmium weighed in at 16.3 lbs! He had quite the squeeze on the way out and his eyes are very bloodshot. He has the silver fleece that we've been trying to breed for as well.


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## Bruce (Feb 10, 2017)

So so sorry about Quinn  

Glad that Osmium came along to ease the sorrow a bit.


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## luvmypets (Feb 10, 2017)

So sorry about Quinn 

But Holy Cow that's a big boy! What's the biggest lamb you have ever had?


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## purplequeenvt (Feb 10, 2017)

luvmypets said:


> So sorry about Quinn
> 
> But Holy Cow that's a big boy! What's the biggest lamb you have ever had?



19 lbs


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## luvmypets (Feb 10, 2017)

purplequeenvt said:


> 19 lbs


Oh wow! Did that lamb end up growing bigger than the others as an adult? 

Hope you don't mind the questions I find it very interesting


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## Goat Whisperer (Feb 10, 2017)

Sorry to hear about Quinn, always hard to lose an animal. 

The look on Lucia's face tells you it was a big lamb… she looks like --> 

In our first litter of quads, one kid came out (after much work) his eyes were completely bruised over! 

Hoping this is the end of all the loss you've been dealing with!


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## purplequeenvt (Feb 10, 2017)

luvmypets said:


> Oh wow! Did that lamb end up growing bigger than the others as an adult?
> 
> Hope you don't mind the questions I find it very interesting



Nope, she ended up normal sized.


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## frustratedearthmother (Feb 10, 2017)

Sorry for your loss. 

Congrats on the ram lamb!


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## norseofcourse (Feb 10, 2017)

So sorry about Quinn     and congrats on the silver lamb!


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## Hens and Roos (Feb 11, 2017)

sorry for the loss of Quinn, congrats on the new guy-very neat color


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## purplequeenvt (Feb 11, 2017)

We had a very busy morning in the barn. Ruby was in labor when we them checked at 7:30 am. She had a 13.7 lb ram.

Iridium (Ira)




A couple hours later, Gallium, had girl/boy twins.

Platinum (Patti) and Gold




Both ewes are doing really well as first time moms (and some of the stupidiest ewes in the barn too). No hesitation about what they were supposed to do.

Yesterday's boy from Lucia, Osi. You can still see his bloodshot eyes.


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## purplequeenvt (Feb 11, 2017)

Maud's babies




This is the tail on Osi. So fat! He barely felt the band.




Our chickens like using the sheep to keep their toes warm. The sheep don't seem to mind.




Maud's boy




Thula




We weighed the fall lambs (81-84 days) today and they are all (except the 2 Shetlands and the 2 Shetland crosses born December which were 30-35 lbs) 45 to almost 55 lbs. Thula, the bottle lamb, was one of the 55 lb lambs.

Maud's girl




Anita - she is the one that lost her twins about a month prematurely.




Anita has a temporary home at our neighbor's house (she also has sheep). She is wanting to milk a sheep to make soap and her one "dairy" ewe (Anita's daughter) is bred, but she'll also be raising her 1-2 lambs so there won't be much milk to go around for a while. Anita's udder, despite lambing 3-4 prematurely and NOT getting milked out after lambing, filled right up. When the neighbor said she'd take her, I went out and milked Anita out. She's a dream to milk and I got a quart from her. Impressive given that she lambed 5 days ago and was never milked out. Imagine how much she'll be giving once she starts getting milked consistently and being fed like a dairy animal!


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## NH homesteader (Feb 11, 2017)

oh my beautiful pictures! You should put the sheep and chicken picture on the POW thread. Loved it!


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## Bruce (Feb 11, 2017)

So nice @purplequeenvt !!


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## Sheepshape (Feb 12, 2017)

Lovely pics. I'd just love to give Anita a cwtch (local word for a really enveloping hug).


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## Latestarter (Feb 12, 2017)

Thanks for all the great pics. You have really pretty sheep.


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## purplequeenvt (Feb 12, 2017)

Sheepshape said:


> Lovely pics. I'd just love to give Anita a cwtch (local word for a really enveloping hug).



I do that every day! And she gets a big ol' kiss too.


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## mysunwolf (Feb 12, 2017)

Do you happen to know what breeds Anita is? She is amazing  plus that milkiness doesn't hurt.


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## purplequeenvt (Feb 12, 2017)

mysunwolf said:


> Do you happen to know what breeds Anita is? She is amazing  plus that milkiness doesn't hurt.



I do! Her daddy was a Border Leicester/Dorper cross and her mom was a Shetland/Friesian cross. I also have her "sister" (same dad, different mom) who looks completely different, but is just as milky. She's a much smaller ewe with tiny teats though so she isn't as easy to milk. She grows fat babies!

I'm heartbroken that Anita can never be bred safely again. In 17 years of raising sheep, she is in my top 10 favorites.


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## purplequeenvt (Feb 13, 2017)

"It's snowing? We hadn't noticed."

























(Those 2 ^ pictures, the sheep are laying down....)





We've gotten about a foot of snow so far. It's still snowing, but off an on now.


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## purplequeenvt (Feb 13, 2017)

Cobalt gave us a pretty black ewe this morning.

Mercury


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## purplequeenvt (Feb 13, 2017)

Some of us aren't sure what to do with a snow day, the dogs however know exactly what to do.


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## luvmypets (Feb 13, 2017)

Congrats on the ewe lamb! Such a cutie!  My sheep despise the snow, we got four inches the other day and they refused to go out for more than 5 minutes. They were all baaing to come back in.


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## purplequeenvt (Feb 13, 2017)

Snow Depth: it's all a matter of perspective....


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## purplequeenvt (Feb 15, 2017)

New babies just before midnight. Lil, she's had a basketball sized udder for 3 weeks now, had triplet girls. The littlest one, probably born first, got very chilled and is in the house trying to get warm. Hypothermic lambs can be hard to bring back, but I'm hopeful. She's super cold, but she's got a good suck reflex. It's going to be a long night.


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## purplequeenvt (Feb 15, 2017)

The little bug warmed up nicely and will be fine. She is now, unfortunately, a bottle baby. I took her back to mom a little while ago and mom didn't want her. Not surprised, but it would have made life easier. 

Her sisters are 10.75 and 9.9 lbs. She is only 6.7.


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## Hens and Roos (Feb 15, 2017)

Glad to hear the lamb is doing good!


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## frustratedearthmother (Feb 15, 2017)

Glad you were able to save her!


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## Bruce (Feb 15, 2017)

I needed to renew my DL, the letter said time for a new picture. Guess what day is the BEST day to go to the DMV?? Yep, a snow day. 

The place was nearly empty of customers, plenty of staff. I went directly from the front door to the registration window to "service" window #2 (I think there are about 15 of them). There were 4 people in line when I left, only because they all came in about the same time and there is only 1 registration window.


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## purplequeenvt (Feb 15, 2017)

Thallium, the little lambsicle. She weighs a mere 6.7 lbs.












Lead is the largest at 10.75 lbs. She's got supermodel legs.




And then there's Bismuth at 9.9 lbs. She's the plain jane of the family right now.




They are 7/8 Border Leicester, 1/8 Romney.


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## luvmypets (Feb 15, 2017)

They are so gorgeous!


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## Bruce (Feb 15, 2017)

You sure Thallium isn't a stuffed animal?


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## Mike CHS (Feb 15, 2017)

They are all cute but that one with the diaper is gorgeous.


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## NH homesteader (Feb 15, 2017)

So cute!!


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## Baymule (Feb 15, 2017)

I love the diapered lamb!  What diapers do you buy for the lambs, Huggies?


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## purplequeenvt (Feb 16, 2017)

My little Thallium isn't doing so hot today. I suspect it's after effects from the hypothermia. She was lethargic this morning and wasn't wanting to eat much. She started crashing around noon and was basically comatose by 1. I tubed her with some electrolytes and again an hour later with her milk.

We've made progress in the right direction, but we are by no means out of the woods. She's sleeping a lot, but she's now able to hold her head up and stand and walk. I've been tubing her every 4 hours and will continue that through the night as well.

I'm more optimistic than I was earlier about her chances of survival, but these babies can be so fragile and her little body has gone through a lot.

The good news is I was home to catch and work on the problem. I was supposed to be working, but I finally succumbed to the bug that's been making the rounds and I had to call out. I have no doubt she would not still be here if I had worked today. I'm still pretty sick so I'm staying home tomorrow as well.


----------



## purplequeenvt (Feb 16, 2017)

Also, this pretty lady was born this morning. Her mom, River, was huge, we all thought she was having at least 2. But no, her lamb just got the deluxe suite. No roommates. 





Unlike all the other lambs with element names, River's lambs get named after bodies of water. This girl is "Tay" which is the name of a loch in Scotland.


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## RuralFarmGirl (Feb 16, 2017)

purplequeenvt said:


> Also, this pretty lady was born this morning. Her mom, River, was huge, we all thought she was having at least 2. But no, her lamb just got the deluxe suite. No roommates.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Beautiful!!  I named all my first ewes flower names-haven't decided on this years crop yet....


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## Baymule (Feb 17, 2017)

I like this "theme" naming. So far, names for my little flock have been spur of the moment. I'll have to keep this in mind. So far, we have 3 wethered lambs, since they go to slaughter for some one's dinner, they don't get named.


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## purplequeenvt (Feb 17, 2017)

Thallium is still with us. I thought I was going to lose her during the night, but she held on. She's maybe a bit better today, but still so weak. She won't suck so she's being tubed for every meal. She can't get up on her own, but if placed on her feet, she'll walk around. 

Good news is that she finally pooped. Hopefully that means her system is starting to wake up.


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## Mike CHS (Feb 17, 2017)

I hope she stabilizes.


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## purplequeenvt (Feb 18, 2017)

I'm at work today so I haven't actually seen her myself. It was so hard to leave her with my sister, even though my sister is completely competent and would take good care of her, BUT the report is that she is so much better today. She's talking and moving around, even trying to bounce! She took part of her breakfast by bottle.


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## Bruce (Feb 18, 2017)

Sure hope Thallium is 100% soon!


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## purplequeenvt (Feb 19, 2017)

Thallium is going to be fine. She's full of spunk today and finally decided to start taking her meals from the bottle.

Esme had ewe/ram twins last night.

Polonium (Polly)




Astatine (Atticus)




And then this morning, right before leaving for work at 4:15 am, I found Ree with twin girls just born. Her 2 are itty bittys. She's a first timer and was a little freaked by them nursing. It didn't help that the smaller one had to stand on tippy toes to reach the teat. They seem to have figured everything out now.

Radon (Donna)




Francium (Franny)


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## frustratedearthmother (Feb 19, 2017)

Ahhhhhhhhhh! Cuteness overload!


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## NH homesteader (Feb 19, 2017)

My thoughts exactly! So cute!!!
So happy Thallium is doing well too!


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## Baymule (Feb 19, 2017)

What adorable lambs! Love them!


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## goatgurl (Feb 19, 2017)

so cute, I don't even think I can pick a favorite 'cause they are all just to cute.   hoping that thallium keeps on keepin' on.


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## Sheepshape (Feb 20, 2017)

You have some really beautiful lambs. Congratulations to you on keeping them safe. Their 'elemental' names are going to be difficult to remember.....I have tended to go for easy to remember....Horns (has horns), Dotty (has dots), Longface, Mrs T (always has triplets), Myrtle (bleats with a murrrrr sound), Ermentrude(bleat sounds just like that), Maggot (had maggots), Popeye (had to have eye removed after fighting)etc. I do have some with rather more romantic sounding names, though.....Seren (Welsh for 'star'....star on her forehead, Marilyn (a real beauty) etc.

Hoping Thallium continues to thrive.

The tiny ones can do fine. LLeila (my avatar) weighed less than a pound, whilst her 'twin' brother weighed over 14. Her lungs were, however, mature. She had to be hand fed, but has grown into a healthy ewe.

Good luck with your little ones.


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## RuralFarmGirl (Feb 20, 2017)

purplequeenvt said:


> Thallium is going to be fine. She's full of spunk today and finally decided to start taking her meals from the bottle.
> 
> Esme had ewe/ram twins last night.
> 
> ...


I love love seeing these precious new lambs. Kinda helps as I wait for mine!


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## purplequeenvt (Feb 21, 2017)

Carolina the Southdown had ram/ewe twins this evening. Really nice looking babies. 

There's a first timer that appears to be in labor and we induced Willow tonight. Willow is huge and has had borderline ketosis for almost 2 months now. Her udder is full and she's ready to go, but we really need her lamb while people are around due to her increase risk. Supposedly the drugs can take up to 24 hours to work, but the last ewe we induced was dilated a few hours later and Willow is already showing signs of labor. It may be a long night.


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## luvmypets (Feb 21, 2017)

purplequeenvt said:


> Carolina the Southdown had ram/ewe twins this evening. Really nice looking babies.
> 
> There's a first timer that appears to be in labor and we induced Willow tonight. Willow is huge and has had borderline ketosis for almost 2 months now. Her udder is full and she's ready to go, but we really need her lamb while people are around due to her increase risk. Supposedly the drugs can take up to 24 hours to work, but the last ewe we induced was dilated a few hours later and Willow is already showing signs of labor. It may be a long night.


Good luck with Willow!


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## Baymule (Feb 21, 2017)

Make a pot of coffee!


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## purplequeenvt (Feb 23, 2017)

We had the vet out this afternoon to do a c-section on Willow. She was not progressing the way she should have been, especially with the drugs she was given to induce her. 

The c-section was a success as far as the lambs were concerned. 3 live babies! 2 girls and a boy. They are doing well. 

Willow has a long recovery ahead of her. She's doing well at the moment. She's up and eating. We don't think she's going to take her babies after that stress, but we are trying. Chance for infection is high. 

Willow and her babies.




So the reason for all the trouble is that one of the babies (1st in line) had her head turned back. There wasn't room for her to get turned correctly, and, because her head was back, Willow's cervix wasn't getting the correct signals. Babies are all doing well. The girls were both 9.5 lbs and the boy was 8.5. 

This was the 1st in line to be born, but #3 when taken out by alternative means. I call her Roadblock. Not actually her name obviously.


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## frustratedearthmother (Feb 23, 2017)

Hope she recover uneventfully!  Congrats on the babies!


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## Mike CHS (Feb 23, 2017)

That was a good call.  It sounds like you would have lost all 4 of them.


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## NH homesteader (Feb 23, 2017)

They're so adorable! Glad you were able to get them out safely.and I hope Willow recovers well.

Also you take beautiful pictures. I have been meaning to say that.


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## Bruce (Feb 23, 2017)

Geez @purplequeenvt, you sure seem to be having a lot of good old Vermont pot holes in your lambing road this year. Glad it all came out well.


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## Baymule (Feb 23, 2017)

What beautiful babies. I kinda like Roadblock LOL I hope Willow recovers with no complications.


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## norseofcourse (Feb 23, 2017)

Congrats on 3 live healthy lambs!  I hope Willow heals up fast and well.
I like Roadblock too...


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## Sheepshape (Feb 24, 2017)

Beautiful lambs (and mama Willow).

I'm sure they will all be fine.


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## purplequeenvt (Feb 24, 2017)

Willow is doing well today and has decided to accept her girls. We had someone that purchased a wether from us last year (she has other sheep) that wanted a bottle baby and she drove 4 hours one way today to get the ram. We thought 2 lambs was enough for a Willow to handle.


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## Mike CHS (Feb 24, 2017)

That worked out perfectly.


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## purplequeenvt (Feb 25, 2017)

Don't think I ever posted a picture of Carolina's babies.

Radium (Brad) and Actinium (Ace)




Sally (Thallium), the BB. She got moved to the barn today. She's not happy.




One of the c-section triplets sucking on Lyd's nose.




River and Tay




Peppy (one of Lil's triplets)








My pyrs are all living at a neighbor's farm due to some neighbor issues. Mira loves her 2nd mommy too.


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## Bruce (Feb 25, 2017)

I don't think I would like a lamb sucking on my nose!


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## purplequeenvt (Feb 26, 2017)

Bruce said:


> I don't think I would like a lamb sucking on my nose!



I saw your post on your journal a while ago about feeding bones and I forgot to go back and respond about whether Merlin was alive or not. In answer to your question....he's fine.


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## Bruce (Feb 26, 2017)

Glad I didn't kill him with "kindness"


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## NH homesteader (Feb 26, 2017)

Merlin. Such a sweet face.


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## purplequeenvt (Mar 1, 2017)

Somehow the sheep seem to know that I don't work on Wednesdays because invariably, someone starts lambing shortly after I get home on Tuesday. This week, 2 sheep lambed within a few hours of each other on Tuesday. I was up until midnight dealing with issues. Another ewe lambed this morning. Needless to say, I didn't get any sleep.

Jamie went first. After faking labor for almost 2 weeks, she finally decided it was time to let them out. We discovered that Jamie has a very small pelvis and the first lamb got stuck. It took a lot of work to get her out and when she came out, she only took a couple gasps before she was gone. #2 came out much easier. He's a spunky little guy named Neptunium.




Jamie retained her placenta and was straining really hard. She didn't prolapse, but she was extremely uncomfortable. She got a dose of Oxytocin and banamine and is feeling better now. Still hasn't fully cleaned and will get another dose of oxy tonight if she hasn't cleaned by then.

Cami lambed a couple hours after Jamie. She had 2 big beautiful girls, 1st was black and the 2nd white. The white girl was born breech and apparently badly broke the ribs on her right side on the way out (that's one of the big risks of breech births - ribs breaking or suffocation). Her lung was getting stabbed every time she took a breath. She passed away this afternoon.

The black girl is "Plutonium" and the white one was "Americium" 




Minnie had 2 black babies - 1 boy, Curium ("Curry") and 1 girl, Berkelium ("Kelly").


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## frustratedearthmother (Mar 1, 2017)

Congrats on your births - but so sorry for your losses.


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## norseofcourse (Mar 1, 2017)

I'm so sorry for the ones you lost     Glad that the others and their moms are doing well.


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## Latestarter (Mar 2, 2017)

Sounds like you're having an exceptionally rough year with lambing... too many problems/complications/losses... Truly sorry to hear... Hope you're able to catch up on some rest.


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## Bruce (Mar 3, 2017)

What @Latestarter said!


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## purplequeenvt (Mar 4, 2017)

We have a theory on the cause of our issues this year. 

My youngest sister works at a large goat dairy (somewhere around 400 milking, I think) while she's at school and they've been having major issues. In the beginning they thought it was a clostridial disease, but testing showed it was acidosis. They've lost a large number of does, goats have lost condition, production has dropped, birthing problems, etc. It's all because of the feed. They get a custom mix with very specific ingredients. The farm manager finds all the ingredients for their mix for the mill. They have recently discovered that when the mill runs out of a feed component, instead of letting him know, they substitute with something else. This of course can completely screw things up nutritionally. 

The lady that My sister lives with, who also works at the dairy, checked the ketones on a bunch of NON-pregnant does the other day. Every one of them indicated ketosis. 

We get our grain from the same mill. It's not a custom feed, it's one that the mill produces themselves. If they are going to mess with a custom feed for one of their biggest clients, why wouldn't they with their own feed? 

My sister, and a vet that works at her school, think that we may be dealing with sub clinical ketosis caused by the grain. That would explain the majority, if not all of the birthing problems. I couldn't figure out why Minnie would have had an issue with ketosis. She wasn't a good candidate for it. Young, good condition - not skinny, not fat, we were only expecting 1-2 lambs from her and she only had 2 normal sized babies. She had none of the normal risk factors. 

This could also explain the issues with Lena last fall (the terminal c-section), Willow's problems, aborted lambs, etc.....

There is no reason why our flock should be dealing with ketosis. Majority of the ewes are excellent condition, 5 or under, healthy animals. We feed 2nd cut hay and a 20% protein grain. We get our hay from our neighbor and she feeds it to her sheep (and our yearlings are at her place). None of the sheep there have had any issues and 2 of her 3 ewes that have lambed she got from us. The difference is the grain. She feeds grain from a different source. 

My sister has commented several times that they grain looks different once in a while, like they changed something. I don't usually feed grain out, but I've noticed some changes too. 

My sister's vet friend wants some grain samples and is thinking about doing a case study on our farm. I stopped and got Ketosticks on my way home and we are going to check all the ewes for ketosis. 

It's upsetting to think about, but also a relief. There just might be a reason for all the heartbreak instead of "**** happens" and something we can do about it.


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## Mike CHS (Mar 4, 2017)

Hopefully they can pin down what the problem is.  I would hate to have to deal with something like you did.


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## NH homesteader (Mar 4, 2017)

Wow I hope you are able to figure it out. That is so frustrating, but at least fixable.


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## Bruce (Mar 4, 2017)

Wow, not good. Please tell me that the mill is NOT Poulin Grains. I buy from them specifically because they are a 3rd generation Vermont Family owned business. It would be cheaper to buy stuff made by the big multinational companies.


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## purplequeenvt (Mar 4, 2017)

Bruce said:


> Wow, not good. Please tell me that the mill is NOT Poulin Grains. I buy from them specifically because they are a 3rd generation Vermont Family owned business. It would be cheaper to buy stuff made by the big multinational companies.



No worries, NOT Poulin.


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## NH homesteader (Mar 4, 2017)

Good good, I feed my pigs Poulin!


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## norseofcourse (Mar 4, 2017)

Oh wow, a mill switching ingredients with no notice is not good!  Are you going to talk to the mill, or switch suppliers?


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## Hens and Roos (Mar 4, 2017)

sorry to hear of all the difficulties, hope you are able to figure out the possible grain issues.

Congrats on all the lambs, they sure are cute!


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## Bossroo (Mar 4, 2017)

purplequeenvt said:


> We have a theory on the cause of our issues this year.
> 
> My youngest sister works at a large goat dairy (somewhere around 400 milking, I think) while she's at school and they've been having major issues. In the beginning they thought it was a clostridial disease, but testing showed it was acidosis. They've lost a large number of does, goats have lost condition, production has dropped, birthing problems, etc. It's all because of the feed. They get a custom mix with very specific ingredients. The farm manager finds all the ingredients for their mix for the mill. They have recently discovered that when the mill runs out of a feed component, instead of letting him know, they substitute with something else. This of course can completely screw things up nutritionally.
> 
> ...


I would recommend that you as well as the goat dairy have a necropsy performed on your animals by your nearest University Veterinary School and your State Veterinary Animal Health Dept.. Then based on the results,  you should have enough evidence to file a law suit against the feed mill and win for damages.


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## purplequeenvt (Mar 4, 2017)

Bossroo said:


> I would recommend that you as well as the goat dairy have a necropsy performed on your animals by your nearest University Veterinary School and your State Veterinary Animal Health Dept.. Then based on the results,  you should have enough evidence to file a law suit against the feed mill and win for damages.



I don't think we would be able to get enough solid evidence to win anything against them, but the dairy does. If they file any kind of suit against the mill, I'm pretty sure the mill will be finished.


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## Bruce (Mar 4, 2017)

phew! Thanks.


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## Latestarter (Mar 7, 2017)

Wow... just wow... now that is most disturbing... Whoever is running that mill needs some serious alteration! Perhaps you could partner on a law suit with the dairy... more a class action type situation. If these damages are being done to your farm and the dairy, I would surmise that they have damaged other farms as well. I would be royally pi$$ed! In any case, I'd be finding a new mill to provide feed/grain regardless. I hope the issue has been properly identified so now it can be rectified.


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## purplequeenvt (Mar 9, 2017)

Will the trouble never end? 

Montana(old Southdown that wasn't supposed to be bred last fall) lambed yesterday afternoon. Babies, both boys, are fine. They were breech and required a helping hand to get out, but they are healthy and lively.

Montana only has half an udder (from mastitis a few years ago), but her "good" side isn't making enough for them. The babies are both still with her, but they are on the bottle too.

Babies may be doing well, but mom is not. Shortly after the 2nd was born, she started passing large clumps of bright red clots and got quite weak. She did perk up after a big dose of CMPK (that stuff has been used way too often this year). She was doing ok for the rest of the day and last night, but she's crashed today. Not interested in food at all. I dosed her again with CMPK. I hate to treat her with anything else that would have a withdrawal (pain meds, antibiotics, etc...) given that I have no idea what is wrong and we may decide that she should be put down. If she has no meds on board, she won't go to waste.

On to the next problem....

I went out to the  barn at 4 this morning to feed Sally, the goat (yes, we have a bottle goat, long story), and the 2 new babies before heading to work. After they were all full, I went out to the paddock to do a quick check of everyone else. I found Bea (my bottle baby from 2 years ago) with a big dead lamb on the ground and her uterus hanging out. The lamb, a ewe, had a very swollen head and tongue so my guess is that she was good and stuck and when she finally came out, the uterus came with her.

I got my sister out of bed to help me, but it still took over an hour to put her uterus back where it needed to be. I stitched her vulva shut (I'm pretty sure our vet would have given me a medal for my stitch job) so there would be less chance of things coming back out if she started straining again. 

I stayed home from work today to make sure she was ok. So far she's fine. Obviously not comfortable and still weak, but she's been eating and drinking and gets up and down and moves around the pen.

I'm going to attempt to get her to take at least one of Montana's boys. Not getting my hopes up, but it's worth a try.

Montana's boys

"Californium", he'll be called Sunny (or Brother).




"Einsteinium" AKA Albert 




Minnie with her boy, Curry


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## norseofcourse (Mar 9, 2017)

I'm so sorry you've had such troubles     Best thoughts for Montana and Sally and the new little ones.


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## Bruce (Mar 9, 2017)

Wow @purplequeenvt, just no rest on this path! Sure hope Bea recovers and can take on one of Montana's boys. You don't really need any more bottle babies. 

Curry on Minnie sure is cute.


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## Latestarter (Mar 9, 2017)

Sorry the issues and troubles continue... I hope you can figure out what has caused this turn of "luck".... Hope you're able to save the lambs and ewes.


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## Hens and Roos (Mar 9, 2017)

x2 on what @Latestarter said


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## purplequeenvt (Mar 11, 2017)

Montana was pretty touch and go for a couple days, but she seems to be doing better now. Bea is on the mend as well. I took her stitches out today and all seems well. I've been holding her to let Albert nurse off of her. She's not pleased, but didn't fight quite as much this afternoon. He now sees her as a food source so following her around and bugging her.

We have new babies today. Not from our sheep though. Our longtime friend and fellow Border Leicester breeder (she also lives only 10 minutes away) called this afternoon to offer us a bottle ewe lamb. She had an older ewe with only half an udder (other side was questionable) had triplets today. Since we have a lack of nice white ewe lambs this year, we decided to get her. When we got there, she offered us the other ewe lamb too. So now we have 2 new girl babies.

Erma (Fermium) and Wendy (Mendelevium)








Erma


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## NH homesteader (Mar 11, 2017)

so cute!


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## Baymule (Mar 11, 2017)

I think I would switch grain mills--and let them know why. It makes sense that if they are switching ingredients and switching up the formulations for the feed, that it would affect your ewes. So sorry that you are having such a hard year.


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## Mike CHS (Mar 12, 2017)

Those pictures should make anyone smile.


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## purplequeenvt (Mar 12, 2017)

Wendy, one of the new bottle babies, is struggling. She seemed ok when we picked her up, but a little while later, she started having issues. She has a really high heart rate and I suspect White Muscle Disease. She's received BoSe, but it's hard to tell if it's helping or not yet. 

Since it's affecting her heart, chances aren't good that she'll recover.


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## Hens and Roos (Mar 12, 2017)

keeping our fingers crossed for her


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## Goat Whisperer (Mar 12, 2017)

purplequeenvt said:


> Wendy, one of the new bottle babies, is struggling. She seemed ok when we picked her up, but a little while later, she started having issues. She has a really high heart rate and I suspect White Muscle Disease. She's received BoSe, but it's hard to tell if it's helping or not yet.
> 
> Since it's affecting her heart, chances aren't good that she'll recover.


We had something similar last year with a quad. His heart rate was crazy high and and was breathing very rapid. Gave BoSe but didn't think he'd make it through the night. 
He lived but he still wasn't right. Put him on LA 200 just in case of infection. For several months he was never right, but almost a year later he seems fine 
So now he is a useless wether that is to small to eat but we don't want to place him as a pet in fear that his heart could go out and devastate someone.


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## Latestarter (Mar 12, 2017)

They are so cute! I sure hope the one pulls through.


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## purplequeenvt (Mar 13, 2017)

Wendy passed away last night and a necropsy today seems to confirm my diagnoses of WMD. It was a night of heartbreak for us (once again). 1st Wendy and then my sweet little baby, Sally. She very suddenly got very ill yesterday and she died in my arms last night about 20 minutes after I heard about Wendy (my sister had taken her back to school with her with the idea that the school vet could do a necropsy  if she didn't make it).

My sister kept the our friend that we got Wendy and Erma from in the loop and today she offered us a triplet ewe lamb from a set born last night as a replacement. So now I have a new little baby girl snuggled in bed with me. She moves out to the barn tomorrow.


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## Latestarter (Mar 13, 2017)

so sorry PQVT   Way too much loss and heartache this spring...


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## norseofcourse (Mar 14, 2017)

I'm so sorry you've had so many losses     at least you know on the WMD.


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## Mike CHS (Mar 14, 2017)

I can't even imagine how your night went but I am glad you have that little cutey to soothe it somewhat.


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## Baymule (Mar 14, 2017)

I'm sorry that you are having such a tough time of it. That's a cutie you have there.


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## Bruce (Mar 14, 2017)

Ah Geez @purplequeenvt you sure are having a rough time of it.


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## BlessedWithGoats (Mar 14, 2017)

I'm so sorry for all the losses you've been through PQVT.  
Congrats on the surviving babies.


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## Hens and Roos (Mar 14, 2017)

So sorry for all the losses


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## NH homesteader (Mar 14, 2017)

So sorry this year has been so hard for you.


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## purplequeenvt (Mar 16, 2017)

First of the Shetland babies born early this morning. I found them right before I left for work.

Dulci, first time mom, did an excellent job. She had a white girl and a black boy. These guys were born at the last possible time to be from the Border Leicester ram, but the girl technically shouldn't be white if she were from Simon, the BFL.





Only 9 more ewes to go.


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## Bruce (Mar 16, 2017)




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## norseofcourse (Mar 16, 2017)

Congrats on the lambs!


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## BlessedWithGoats (Mar 16, 2017)

Congrats! They are both cute, and I think the ewe lamb is darling!


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## purplequeenvt (Mar 17, 2017)

2 of the Lincolns lambed today! Bella lambed early this morning (found right before I left for work) and gave us a gorgeous natural colored EWE! Niki followed this afternoon with another gorgeous EWE, but white this time. 1 more Lincoln to go and she looks like she might go in the next couple days.

Bella's baby, Siobhan  




Niki's girl, Sybil




Tubby, the crossbred ewe, is considering lambing tonight as is Mandy one of the Shetlands.


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## purplequeenvt (Mar 17, 2017)

Fun fact about Bella, she had twins 8 months ago.


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## Latestarter (Mar 17, 2017)

Nice to see some healthy lambs being born without complications. Grats!


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## TAH (Mar 18, 2017)

Congrats on lambs without any issues!


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## purplequeenvt (Mar 18, 2017)

More babies!

Mandy (Shetland) had black ram lamb this early this morning.




Tubby had twin rams a few hours later. Tubby is only 15 months old. 








Only 5 ewes left! 1 Lincoln and 4 Shetlands to go! The Lincoln and 1 of the Shetlands should go really soon.


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## Baymule (Mar 18, 2017)

Your lambs are so cute.


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## Latestarter (Mar 19, 2017)

Sorry you're now getting so many ram lambs... But at least they're healthy! Congrats.


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## Bruce (Mar 19, 2017)

purplequeenvt said:


> Bella's baby, Siobhan


Out of curiosity, how did you choose that name? I ask because I had never heard it before a girl with that name started working at my favorite family owned market about a year ago. I had to look it up to find that it is Irish.


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## purplequeenvt (Mar 20, 2017)

Bruce said:


> Out of curiosity, how did you choose that name? I ask because I had never heard it before a girl with that name started working at my favorite family owned market about a year ago. I had to look it up to find that it is Irish.



It's a name that I've always really liked and she was born on St Patrick's Day so it seemed appropriate to give her an Irish name.


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## purplequeenvt (Mar 20, 2017)

Latestarter said:


> Sorry you're now getting so many ram lambs... But at least they're healthy! Congrats.



These are crossbred lambs so their ultimate purpose is meat. Which means that it's fine that they are boys. Girls are way ahead anyways.


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## purplequeenvt (Mar 25, 2017)

__ https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10211572896985474
			








__ https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10211572898265506
			








__ https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10211572906705717
			




A few fun videos from this evening.

The last 5 ewes are still holding out on us.


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## Mike CHS (Mar 25, 2017)

Those videos say why we all do what we do.


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## purplequeenvt (Mar 27, 2017)

Something very sad happened today. A lamb was born, a very pretty lamb with spots and a soft, fine fleece. The perfect lamb in fact, just what I was hoping for when I crossed my Shetlands with a BFL. Why is she so sad, you might wonder. This is why......IT HAS TESTICLES!!!!! 

He will keep his testicles for now, but he will most likely end up as a fiber wether.


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## frustratedearthmother (Mar 27, 2017)

Dontcha just hate it when that happens?   Maybe he will produce a lot of "perfect" lambs if he gets to keep his testicles????  He is a cutie for sure!


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## Hens and Roos (Mar 27, 2017)

He is sure cute!


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## Bruce (Mar 27, 2017)

Silly lambs! Let's boing up and down, let's play Parkour on our Moms!

Sorry your perfect lamb isn't the gender you wanted. When you said something sad happened I thought you lost it.


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## purplequeenvt (Mar 28, 2017)

Another ewe down, 3 to go!

Pazi the Lincoln FINALLY lambed. She had a ram and a ewe. The ram is nice structurally, but he has a big black spot on his side. That's a major fault in a white Lincoln. He's cute though.

Suki




Smitty




The last 3 ewes are Shetlands bred to the Blueface ram. I'm guessing that Flute will be next. I thought she might go last night/today, but nothing so far. I don't have a due date on her, but her hormones are kicking in. She screams at me every time I go in the barn and she was a bit obsessed with Celeste's baby last night.


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## Baymule (Mar 28, 2017)

Maybe you'll get a spotty _ewe _lamb! Hope so!


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## purplequeenvt (Mar 31, 2017)

We got the feed analysis back today on the grain. Not good at all. Protein was over 22%, copper was *11ppm*, Ca/P ratio was off (1.2:0.8), and there was NO selenium, molybdenum, or sulfur (molybdenum and sulfur help bind excess copper). Not sure what our next step is, but we may need to do some bloodwork on the sheep.


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## purplequeenvt (Mar 31, 2017)

Fae is tired of being pregnant. She's due on the 3rd.


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## NH homesteader (Mar 31, 2017)

She's gorgeous!

Sorry for those of us who are non-sheepies... What should the copper be?  I assume Ca/P and protein should be similar to goats.

This is very bad, for you and potentially a lot of people. I'm glad it's being figured out so it won't affect the rest of your flock (and others).


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## Goat Whisperer (Mar 31, 2017)

What does the feed tag say? How far off is everything?


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## purplequeenvt (Mar 31, 2017)

Goat Whisperer said:


> What does the feed tag say? How far off is everything?



That's the problem. The feed tag is very vague. It lists all the supposed ingredients, but only has protein, fat, and fiber with percentages. 

BTW, there is sulfur and selenium listed in the ingredients. Copper is NOT on there. 

I haven't seen the actual report yet so I don't know exactly what it says.


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## Bruce (Mar 31, 2017)

Oh man, talk about providing a poor product. Bad enough if it is equipment of some sort that doesn't perform or last as long as is should but anything meant to feed anything NEEDS to be spot on. 

Poor Fae, only a few days now. You can make it!


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## purplequeenvt (Mar 31, 2017)

Got some more feed numbers from my sister who has the report. 

Protein 22.3%
Fiber 13.9%
Calcium 1.21%
Phosphorus .84%
Magnesium .49%
Potassium 1.28%
Sodium .36%

Iron 174ppm
Manganese 99ppm
Zinc 66ppm
Copper 11ppm

TDN 74.7%


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## Bruce (Mar 31, 2017)

For comparison, here is Poulin's "sheep complete pellet" (from their website). I have no idea what is considered "ideal", what is "too much or too little" nor what to make of the "extra" ingredients in that sample and/or in Poulin's:

CRUDE PROTEIN MIN 16.00 PCT
CRUDE FAT MIN 3.00 PCT
CRUDE FIBER MAX 10.00 PCT
CALCIUM MIN 1.10 PCT
CALCIUM MAX 1.50 PCT
PHOSPHORUS MIN 0.55 PCT
SALT MIN 0.45 PCT
SALT MAX 0.55 PCT
SELENIUM MIN 0.50 PPM
VITAMIN A MIN 7200.00 IU/LB


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## norseofcourse (Mar 31, 2017)

My sheep feed says it has between 10 and 14 ppm copper (Buckeye lamb and beef pellets).

The protein seems high, and the lack of some nutrients isn't good.  And the possibility they've switched around ingredients from time to time, without notice, could be a big problem.  How long since you've stopped feeding it?  Do your sheep seem to be any different?


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## purplequeenvt (Apr 1, 2017)

At first I thought Marimba was trying to pull a mean April Fools Day joke on me, but now I guess I believe that she was really in labor.....





It's a girl too! *Technically* she's spotted as well, but I don't usually count head spots as "real" spots.


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## Bruce (Apr 1, 2017)

I've been painting, I'd be happy to clean the brush off on her if you like 

Sure is pretty.


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## purplequeenvt (Apr 3, 2017)

Fae lambed late last night. That means that Flute is the Rotten Egg. Can you smell her through your computer?





I was not there for the delivery since my sister, who's home on school break, decided not to wake me up (probably a wise decision since I needed to be out the door by 4:15 this morning). She says that both babies were trying to come out at the same time. She was feeling 2 heads and 3 feet. Obviously that wasn't working so she had to sort them out a little.

Both were GIRLS! I guess Fae does love me after all.

I've decided to go with names of silent movies stars for the last few lambs. I think I already said that Marimba's baby is Greta (Garbo).

Fae's first baby is Lillian (Gish)




Baby number 2 is technically spotted. She just one big GIANT white spot. She has a patch on her bum were her actual color shows through. Her name is Dorothy, Dot for short (yes, that was on purpose).




Dot's spot


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## Baymule (Apr 3, 2017)

Your curly wooled lambs are so darn cute, it almost makes me want wool sheep......almost.


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## Bruce (Apr 3, 2017)

I can't get over how much the new lambs look like stuffed animals, so fuzzy.


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## Mike CHS (Apr 3, 2017)

Dot would fit right in with our flock but they would be jealous of all of the wool


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## purplequeenvt (Apr 4, 2017)

And we're DONE!!!

Flute had her babies just a little while ago.





The black one (the pattern is called gulmoget) is a boy and the white (again, technically spotted)) is a girl.


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## Bruce (Apr 4, 2017)

YEA!! You got a lot of nice animals but much heartbreak to go with them. I hope next year is less problematic.


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## norseofcourse (Apr 5, 2017)

Congrats!!  I still have 4 ewes to go...


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## Baymule (Apr 5, 2017)

Well done Flute!


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## purplequeenvt (Apr 6, 2017)

Some better pictures of Flute's babies.





You can see the ram's pattern here.


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## Latestarter (Apr 10, 2017)

Congrats on a successful close to lambing season. You sure got off to a rough start.


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