Blessedfarmgirl's 2024 lambing/kidding thread

[Mini Horses]

Congrats on another lamb

Milk that ewe with ample milk, supplement new one, maybe once a day so he'll nurse and help bring in milk on his mom. Freeze extra!! You just never know when you'll need it.

I try to keep a supply of colostrum & milk from first couple days -- it's richer! Gave my vet a half gal colostrum last yr, froze 1/2 gal & saved a calf plus quad goats for someone else. I do have a herd of full sized, heavy producing milk goats....but get what you can as your ewes lamb. Freeze in small containers so you can thaw & use a few ozs at a time

 

[blessedfarmgirl]

Got an ounce or so of Elanor 's milk into him with a syringe, gave him some nutridrench and fed his mom. Now he's wiped out

 

[Mini Horses]

Pretty boy and huge!

 

[SageHill]

View attachment 104251View attachment 104250

Got an ounce or so of Elanor 's milk into him with a syringe, gave him some nutridrench and fed his mom. Now he's wiped out

Sweet! He's a big guy too.

 

[Ridgetop]

fact that I'm getting all singles tells me I need to flush next year and make sure my ewes don't get bred in August. The heat probably affected how many eggs they released.

What breed is the ram? Summer heat can affect the ram's fertility more than the ewes' egg production. Flushing never hurts although too much condition also can result in fewer eggs dropped. Best condition scale is about 3-3.5 on scoring. If your ewes are too heavy, do not breed while taking weight off, best fertility is while ewes are on an upward weight gain. Take weight off first, then start feeding to maintain and gain just a little.

 

[blessedfarmgirl]

What breed is the ram? Summer heat can affect the ram's fertility more than the ewes' egg production. Flushing never hurts although too much condition also can result in fewer eggs dropped. Best condition scale is about 3-3.5 on scoring. If your ewes are too heavy, do not breed while taking weight off, best fertility is while ewes are on an upward weight gain. Take weight off first, then start feeding to maintain and gain just a little.

The ram is a Katahdin cross. I didn't think about his fertility being compromised from the heat, thanks for that tip. We were kind of droughty last August, if I remember right, and the flock's nutrition intake was a bit low, plus some of them were still nursing. We didn't have a way to separate the lambs to let the ewes dry up and keep the ram from breeding them until the fall. This year we are going to make that happen, whether with an apron or by penning him up (we will have a new ram by then as well). My ewes were certainly not too heavy, in fact, two or three were underconditioned. Live and learn! Some of it was lack of knowledge, some was simply lack of resources and infrastructure.

 

[farmerjan]

Big ram lamb.... Any chance that the 2 ewes in a pen together, would co-mother the lambs? The big lamb suck some off the other ewe that has lots of milk? Even just put him on the other ewe to get her milked down good?

 

[Baymule]

Big ram lamb.... Any chance that the 2 ewes in a pen together, would co-mother the lambs? The big lamb suck some off the other ewe that has lots of milk? Even just put him on the other ewe to get her milked down good?

It would be worth a try. Some ewes allow sneaky lambs to steal. Some ewes but the “not mine” lambs away.

 

[Baymule]

Getting infrastructure built takes money and time. Time I got!

 

[blessedfarmgirl]

Another ram lamb born last night! He was malpresented, so I'm glad it wasn't in the middle of the night. I was able to help and he's fine.
He's got black eyeliner and ear liner, and he's a big boy!
I did not find the afterbirth in the jug, but I won't worry about it unless she acts sick. She may have eaten it. I'll be keeping them in the jug at least for today to monitor her.

Update on Miss Eyebrows (Eden), she's looking better. Not completely normal, but better.
Last night Gael, Eden and ram lamb were all playing kings on the mountain with an overturned feed dish while the fourth lamb was being born nearby.This is the first time we had 3 births in three days. It's pretty crazy!

Eden whispering to Gael

Who's that??