# A Horrible start to lambing



## Sheepshape (Mar 12, 2014)

This year has been nightmarish.

Two sets of premature twins, of which only one individual survived. Then a set of dead twins.....cause unclear.

Finally two days ago an ex-bottle lamb pet produced a pair of seemingly healthy twins, and yesterday a vigorous ewe lamb.

I have never had such a horrible start to lambing and wonder if I would be better to take up knitting or cake baking.


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## greenmulberry (Mar 12, 2014)

I hope this was just a fluke and the rest are easy.


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## jodief100 (Mar 12, 2014)

I am very sorry.  Sometimes things just happen.


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## Pioneer Chicken (Mar 12, 2014)

Awww...I'm so sorry.  I'm having a rough time with my goat kids, too.  It's so hard to keep on going when things like this happen. I think sometimes we just have to keep pushing on even when we want to give up and go to something easier.   At some point, you'll get through it; maybe even learn a thing or two through the hard times and how to be better prepared.  I guess that's one good thing about me having so much kid trouble; I'm getting a lot of first-aid stuff on hand now.  Hoping you'll feel better and get some healthy lambs soon.


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## Womwotai (Mar 12, 2014)

Sheepshape said:


> Finally two days ago an ex-bottle lamb pet produced a pair of seemingly healthy twins, and yesterday a vigorous ewe lamb.


I'm so sorry you're having such a hard time.  I didn't really understand the problem with the quoted sentence though.  Did the same ewe have twins one day and another lamb the next, or was it two different ewes?  But healthy and vigorous seem like good things…..


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## Hens and Roos (Mar 12, 2014)




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## bonbean01 (Mar 12, 2014)

So sorry and hope things get better!!!


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## Goat Whisperer (Mar 12, 2014)

So sorry you are having such a hard time of it. This year has been a hard one for lots of people, very weird. 

Hoping things start to look up SOON!


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## Southdown (Mar 12, 2014)

It's so hard to lose lambs.  I get so excited waiting the whole five months.  But it's still worth it when you get to hold a healthy lamb.  It makes the wait worth it.


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## Southern by choice (Mar 13, 2014)

So sorry sheepscape. This really has been an awful year for so many all over the country. Simply strange.


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## Sheepshape (Mar 13, 2014)

Thank you for your kind thoughts folks....I know some of you have been there....to all of you who have, I hope things improve for you all.

I have another ewe draining unhealthy birth fluids for about 24 hours. It will probably be best for me to take a dead lamb to the vet for analysis.

Womwotai....I  have healthy twins born to one ewe and a healthy ewe lamb to a second ewe. these 3 are doing fine so far.

Here we had appalling wet weather up until about a week ago.....I'm really not sure if this was the cause.

It can be pretty hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel sometimes.


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## promiseacres (Mar 13, 2014)

sorry you lost your lambs...never easy
 for some healthy lambs


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## Baymule (Mar 13, 2014)

Sometimes you get all the bad things up front. Sometimes things that can go wrong, just do. Sometimes you get discouraged and want to throw in the towel. Sometimes you could just sit down and cry from sheer frustration. Sometimes you wonder "why"?

But then sometimes you get that perfect moment that you have worked so hard for. Sometimes you see that elusive light at the end of the tunnel and you follow it to greener pastures, golden sunshine and healthy lambs.

Sometimes you come here to share your sadness and frustrations and we can encourage you. EVERYTIME you get up, dust off your britches and get going again.


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## Sheepshape (Mar 14, 2014)

Unfortunately, that light is yet to appear.

My ewe draining the nasty birth fluids delivered a dead lamb. After antibiotics and anti-inflammatories, the poor ewe is looking a lot better. She is still with the dead lamb. I have found that leaving the ewe with the dead lamb allows them to come to terms with the loss, and after 24 hours taking away the dead lamb and moving mum to the 'dry ewe' field is done with no distress to the ewe.

Even one of my 'healthy twins' is unwell. I have given her antibiotics and am working my hardest to keep her going.

I'm genuinely praying.


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## norseofcourse (Mar 14, 2014)

I'm sorry it's been such a rough year so far...


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## Riva (Mar 14, 2014)

Hi Sheepshape

Sorry to hear about your troubles, we had a dreadful winter here last year and my first 4 ewes all struggled to have live births.  After digging them out of the 5 feet snow drifts they were in a sorry state.  We found the only way to keep twins alive was to take the smaller twin off the ewe and bottle feed it.


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## bonbean01 (Mar 14, 2014)




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## Sheepshape (Mar 17, 2014)

At last, things have looked up.

My sickly twin born to pet ewe, Minnie, made a sustained recovery after I gave her an antibiotic (I suspected lamb pneumonia related to inhalation at birth) and spent all day making sure she got onto mom to feed.

3 healthy sets of twins and one healthy singleton followed. Another ewe produced healthy twins, but she had a very prolonged and difficult birth followed by her being completely exhausted and having very little milk (two days ago). A supplementary couple of feeds to one twin (the other won't take the bottle), analgesia and rest for mum, and she is looking better this morning. (This is what I'm sure we all regard as pretty normal lambing stuff).

How lovely is it to see  spring sunshine and healthy lambs?




 

This is pet Minnie with her two lambs on the right and another ewe's lamb relaxing with them. Oh and this little ewe has the most appalling bleat.....sounds like a mixture between someone saying 'Oh' and being strangled.....and she loves the sound of her own voice so much she has gone a bit hoarse.


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## norseofcourse (Mar 17, 2014)

Glad things have been going so much better!  And I envy you all that wonderful green grass!!


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## newgirl97 (Mar 17, 2014)

So glad to hear that things are finally picking up!

Did you ever send one of the dead lambs in for testing?


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## Sheepshape (Mar 18, 2014)

Nothing of note was found in the dead lamb  plus placenta we sent .....maybe an unfortunate collection of 'standard' lambing problems clustered together. Newgirl97, those ARE lovely ladies.

We have had the most appalling winter...not cold, but stormy and with the heaviest rainfall since records began. Lots of flooding. This and one other are the only fields that look like this, having been set aside for lambs. The others are churned up mud.

I'm praying things continue on a regular vane. That prayer also goes out for all of you affected by such problems.


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