First Lambing!

[mysunwolf]

Creating this thread waaayyyyy before the girls are due... especially because I have no idea when they are due! They don't like me to touch them, or really get close to them, so it's hard to get photos. Don't ask me how I plan to get them to stand for milking

I have two bottle lambs, and two (hopefully) pregnant ewes. I always figure you can't really go by what someone tells you. The white is an experienced ewe, the spotted is a ewe lamb.

Anyone want to take any guesses as to when they are due? I thought the white girl was going to be due soon from looking at her bag and teats, until I finally grabbed her to take a look under her tail. Tight, pink, not swollen at all. Huh. So trying to get the experts' opinions, using bad photos of course.

White ewe, from the side:

Here you can see her "dip"--at least, I'm assuming that's what it is, and not that she's just skinny!

Bag is a decent size, but I think it should be bigger before lambing.

Out-of-focus vulva shot.

Spotty ewe lamb smiling.

Spotty ewe lamb from the side.

Any thoughts?

 

[Womwotai]

Speaking from very little experience here (as the disclaimer), I was in the same situation with ewes who are not that handleable. I found that while they were eating grain I was able to lift their tails to check their vulva but that was the best I could do. My ewes bags looked about like your white ewe's does, except that close to delivery the teats stuck out at an almost 90 degree angle. I would say your white ewe is getting close - it is hard to tell on the spotty one. The biggest sign though, was the vulva. One morning I looked at one of them and her vulva was really swollen and red-looking. At 9am I texted DH that "we might have lambs soon" and when I went to do my chores at 4:30pm, that ewe came up with a little lamb in tow.

Six days later, while checking the other two ewes, I noticed another whose vulva was swollen and red. That afternoon she left the flock to come up to the barn by herself. I noticed her getting up and lying back down several times, and at one point she stuck her head through the fence to watch what I was doing (never showed any interest in me when I wasn't carrying grain before). By next morning she had delivered her little ram lamb.

I have one more ewe who is larger than either of the other two ever were, but so far her vulva is still tight and pink so every morning when I check I figure "not today".

 

[mysunwolf]

That is really good to know about the vulvas! I know that I see a lot of the back end of goats this time of year

Kind of looks like they won't be due until end of March, April time frame, at least for the white one. The spotted one... who knows. Though she definitely look pregnant in the belly when she lies down.

I have wanted to try socializing them with some whole grains, maybe some fodder. I can't find any processed sheep pellets around here that are UNmedicated! Gives me hope though that I have some time to get them a little more tamed down rather than the crazy sheep that they are.

Sounds like that really big ewe of yours has got twins

 

[Parsnip]

Haha, I'm kind of the same with Wom, with not having a TON of experience.
I'm terrible at guessing too
My first experience with lambing involved checking daily and thinking the ewe was going to lamb any minute.
Her belly also dropped 10 days before lambing.
My other ewe, her belly dropped 5 hours before she lambed...
I like the looks of the white ewe though! She's a hair sheep?
Such a sweet face!!!

Fortunately, all my ewes are fond of me most of the time.
I sat with them for the longest time, day after day when we first got them
The ewes who have had lambies aren't as sociable right now, but that's understandable, they are busy!
When I have grain in a bucket... it's like the sound of angels voices for them or something.
Sheep go crazy for grain.
Unfortunately both of my alpacas are smart and have realized that when I get the grain out in the evening, it means it's time to go in the barn for the night. They like staying out, and won't go in the barn unless I run out to get them. Like little kids.

I have a lambing thread going right now, although lambing is done for now.
I swear I've put of thousands of udder and vulva pictures on there haha.
http://www.backyardherds.com/threads/lambing-2014-parsnip.27791/

 

[Womwotai]

I can't find any processed sheep pellets around here that are UNmedicated! Gives me hope though that I have some time to get them a little more tamed down rather than the crazy sheep that they are.

Sounds like that really big ewe of yours has got twins

Yeah, I am thinking maybe twins too

I just use "All Stock" for the sheep and goats together, since I run them together. I do also have a bag of Noble Goat but since I don't want the sheep to have that, I only give it to my goats when I can get them separated from the sheep which doesn't happen every day. The "All Stock" is a fairly generic formula, said to be for cattle, sheep, horses etc. It probably is not a perfect nutritional product for them, but they have 7 acres of pasture to graze (plus hay from said pasture over the winter), so the grain is really only to socialize them. It works in the sense that in the mornings they mill around waiting for their grain to come. And when I have the grain scoop in my hand, they'll bowl me over to get to the feed trough. And I can gently raise the tail and check the vulva while they're eating. But as far as getting them really friendly….handling is still a rodeo. Giving them their CDT shots prior to lambing was a real circus, that at one point landed me on the ground with a sheep standing OVER me. I had been hoping it would be the other way around and that situation aroused the mirth of my family. Now their feet are overgrown and I need to trim them but I'll have to have a stiff drink before I go out and start THAT LOL.

 

[Parsnip]

OOP
You reminded me Wom, I need to trim my girls's hooves before I put them with the ram.
UGH haha

 

[BrownSheep]

I would say you white gal will go within the next couple weeks.
For your spotty ewe.

 

[purplequeenvt]

For grain....ask for a no copper added stock feed.

 

[mysunwolf]

Parsnip, I have actually been through most of your lambing thread, I love seeing all the photos! All of mine are hair sheep, the white one is my favorite but I think the spotted one will make nice lambs--hopefully a ewe one of these days that I can take off her and raise to be friendly.

I can get some nicely priced whole grains like Barley, so I may go with that at first for feeding. Then they have their loose mineral of sea salt and kelp, but I will probably be getting a general loose sheep mineral to put in there that has all the other things.

Womwotai, I know exactly what you mean about injections!! They are small enough that I can wrangle them (no idea how much they weigh, though), but I'm sure that does nothing to help their fear of humans Mine just got their hoofs trimmed, but it certainly involved two very strong people!

I will keep snooping all the other lambing threads. And if there are ever babies on this end... I'll post pictures!

 

[norseofcourse]

I can't find any processed sheep pellets around here that are UNmedicated!

If you have a Tractor Supply store around, they carry (or should be able to get) pelleted sheep feed that is unmedicated (their Dumor brand). It has molasses and IMHO the quality is a little less than what I finally found and feed, but it was the only other non-medicated option I was able to find (without a two ton minimum order....).

I feed Buckeye 14% lamb and beef pellets nonmedicated, number 41350 on the tag. I only feed it when they need it (I keep a good feel on their body condition by feeling their backbone and hip bones).