Norseofcourse's lambing thread - 2015 - over, or not?

[mikiz]

Oh wow you must be pulling your hair out!! I hope she lambs without any problems!

 

[norseofcourse]

Oh wow you must be pulling your hair out!! I hope she lambs without any problems!

Thank - I'm a lot calmer than I appear I'm sure she'll be fine if/when she lambs, it's just that I've been present for nearly all of my lamb births, and I really want to keep up that record!

The first question is, Is she pregnant? I'm pretty sure... this morning she again had a bit of udder development. And there's the vulva swelling, her roundness on her right side, and the lamb movement I was sure I've seen, and some slight personality/behavior changes. But it could all be something else - weight gain, false pregnancy, hormones, the heat, my imagination...

So this evening when I got home, I took my stethoscope out, to see if I could hear any fetal heartbeats. Worth a try, right? She got on the milk stand easily, and first I trimmed some wool and dags away from her back end and udder. Then I listened for her heartbeat - it was hard to pick out over her breathing, but I heard it. Then I tried to hear fetal heartbeat. No luck. I heard her breathing, and a lot of bubbles, gurgles and odd squeaky sounds, but nothing I could discern as another heartbeat. But, I am way, way out of practice with that stethoscope.

Then I tried placing my hand against her side, to see if I could feel any movement. No luck with that, either, but I know feeling movement is a hit-or-miss kind of thing, and you're not always lucky to have the lamb moving when or where you want to feel it.

So, I trimmed a lot of wool off her belly, to help her stay a bit cooler, then let all the sheep into the main pasture.

If Brosa is pregnant, the next question is how far long; how close to lambing. I'm about 90% sure she's pregnant. So - how close to lambing? That's harder. So far, I've had the best success by how their vulva changes as they get closer. Brosa's looks swollen, but not enough to be 'within days'. She may fool me, or I may be able to tell when she gets close - only time will answer that.

 

[Goat Whisperer]

You can send some blood out for a test, she needs to be at least 1 month pregnant with the goats. I would think its the same with sheep.

Have you bumped her? Give her some nurti-drench and wait 5-10 minutes and bump her. You may be able to better answer that way.

She would have me going crazy

 

[norseofcourse]

You can send some blood out for a test, she needs to be at least 1 month pregnant with the goats. I would think its the same with sheep.

Have you bumped her? Give her some nurti-drench and wait 5-10 minutes and bump her. You may be able to better answer that way.

She would have me going crazy

Hmmm, interesting about the blood test. Not sure I'll do it this time, but something to keep in mind.

I have no idea what to feel for when bumping a sheep. I'm sure if it's possible to 'imagine' you feel something, I could do that...

I'm starting to lean back towards 'not pregnant'. Her vulva hasn't seemed to have gotten any more swollen, and she does still have a small udder, but it hasn't gotten any larger, either. I'll still keep an eye on her, but have stopped checking her as often. She's not the one who drives me crazy - I drive myself crazy! I would not want her lambing this late in the season anyway, so if she truly isn't pregnant I suppose that's a good thing.

 

[Roving Jacobs]

I've done pregnancy blood tests on my goats before. It's not hard but drawing blood gives me the willies. This year a friend of mine bought a preg-tone portable ultrasound I'm hoping I can borrow late this year since she breeds earlier than me. Between that and a marking harness I'm hoping for no more mysteries and spending weeks staring at back sides