Mystang's Homesteading Circus

[greybeard]

Trial by fire--my favorite way to learn. Screw it up, get it right next time!

Tho it is or may be the most enduring way, it's my least favorite way to learn.
1. Generally causes physical, financial, and/or mental pain.
2. A huge waste of the most precious commodity humans have...time.

There are 3 ways to learn lessons.
1. Thru our own mistakes.
2. Thru the mistakes of others.
3. Thru the successes of others.

I much prefer #2 and #3 over #1.
Life is short.
It's one of the reasons I read and research so much and why I try to share the knowledge learned from that research. Much (if not most) of what I learn comes from reading others' failures and learning 'why' their efforts failed.
No one ever laid on their death bed thinking "Boy, I sure wish I had spent more time & $$$ making my own mistakes".

 

[Baymule]

Tho it is or may be the most enduring way, it's my least favorite way to learn.
1. Generally causes physical, financial, and/or mental pain.
2. A huge waste of the most precious commodity humans have...time.

There are 3 ways to learn lessons.
1. Thru our own mistakes.
2. Thru the mistakes of others.
3. Thru the successes of others.

I much prefer #2 and #3 over #1.
Life is short.
It's one of the reasons I read and research so much and why I try to share the knowledge learned from that research. Much (if not most) of what I learn comes from reading others' failures and learning 'why' their efforts failed.
No one ever laid on their death bed thinking "Boy, I sure wish I had spent more time & $$$ making my own mistakes".

The master of sarcasm didn't get the joke?

 

[greybeard]

I tend to read things exactly as they are submitted. Lack of a eyeroll emoji led me to believe you were serious.
Now, I get to eat crow, but it won't be the 1st or last time.

 

[Bruce]

I'm not real fond of #2 when I've paid them to screw it up. Cheaper to screw it up myself and learn.

 

[mystang89]

If she isn't doing any better than that, 2nd time around, she needs to find a new place to reside.... like either your freezer or the stock yard where she will be in someone's freezer. Don't perpetuate poor mothering. And a single lamb to boot.... nope, different address. Preferably a permanent terminal one.

My wife was saying the same thing and I agree. I hate to because of how few sheep we have and how hard Awassi are to come by but I'm not a fan of this. Lambing is supposed to be enjoyable for the most part but her two lambings have been far from enjoyable for me. Nothing but stress.

I have started to try and bottle feed her but she doesn't seem to know what to do so if it continues I'll probably go to a drench until I see weight gain. The dam was being more motherly to her lamb when we came home from the field trip which is nice to see, I guess. I haven't seen her nurse off the dam yet so tomorrow I'll make it a point of spending a bit more time outside with them.

Looking over the lamb I noticed fluid still trickling out the lambs mouth. We also noticed an abrasion on her head about where her horns would normally grow out at. I've also taken a picture of her now that it's daytime and better lighting but I really don't think it says much more than the first.

This is the picture of the abrasion on her head.

This is a picture of her eye. It may not be noticeable in the picture but it seems swollen.

On a separate note the children had a nice time on the field trip. We went to the Science center. Lot's of activities for them to do but they definitely enjoyed making rockets the most. Thanks to the in-laws for the season passes.

 

[farmerjan]

Looks to me that the ewe tried to either butt her against the side of the pen, or took her hoof and pawed at her and it caught the skin and tore it. That is a cut and will get infected. Also, you need to get some colostrum in that lamb NOW !!!!! Not wait til tomorrow. It is pretty obvious to me that she is not going to "mother it" and that lamb will not be able to absorb the colostrum if you keep waiting. In cattle we try to get the first feeding into the calf within 2 HOURS. Our sheep are the same way. The gut tract is able to absorb the antibodies in the colostrum, it also warms their body, gets the meconium plug in the bowels to pass so that their whole digestive/gut/intestines/ etc. and so on, gets started working. But by the time 24 hours goes by, the antibodies are not as easily absorbed and you are losing the greatest protection the lamb can have. Either get some help and get the ewe in a corner and get some colostrum out of her, or feed a colostrum REPLACER, and if necessary use an eye dropper with a bulb on the end to squirt some in the lambs mouth so it gets a taste.
Maybe the ewe doesn't have milk??? Or maybe her teats are clogged and the lamb can't get any milk from her??? Sometimes when an animal is first fresh, often in cows, the teat is plugged and it takes a few hard squeeze pulls, to get the milk out and to flow.

 

[Baymule]

I tend to read things exactly as they are submitted. Lack of a eyeroll emoji led me to believe you were serious.
Now, I get to eat crow, but it won't be the 1st or last time.

Four and twenty blackbirds, baked in a pie......

 

[Baymule]

You lamb needs help, as @farmerjan said. I caught (read that tackled) a ewe this morning and milked out colostrum to give to the lamb. He was weak and not nursing. So I had to squeeze the bottle nipple to dribble drops in his mouth. He took maybe a half once. I set him down, guided him to the ewe, who was still tied up and he suckled. She is being a VERY good mom, FF and all about her lamb.

Your lamb needs colostrum, a vet once told me that I had a 12 hour window to get the colostrum in a new baby. Later that night, my mule foal died in my arms. Your ewe is not a good mother, pull the lamb, take it in the house and bottle feed it. I'd eat that witch and enjoy every bite.

 

[mystang89]

I've gone to using a drench now. The mother seems to have mastitis. I have another ewe who is still making milk from last season so I think I'll milk her a bit so she actually gets sheep milk and not just the replacer.

 

[Bruce]

Four and twenty blackbirds, baked in a pie......

Is that a Texas delicacy?