purplequeenvt - Ivy Knoll Farm

[purplequeenvt]

A few lamb pictures from today

Elliot




Dee




Finna


Valarie and her 4 week old boy

 

[SA Farm]

Such beautiful sheep you have <3

 

[farmerjan]

I have always loved the colored lambs..... Don't have it in the white Texas Dalls except for those that have some other blood in them like Barbados, or anything else..... but the little colored ones are just cute. And I do like the "ears" on your sheep in general.... almost look "wild or startled" but they are just cute and obviously aren't wild.....

 

[thistlebloom]

Those are excellent pictures, love it!

 

[Baymule]

I love seeing your lamb pictures. Somehow, you got a helper with the chores, lucky you! And even teaching her how to spin! Lucky girl! She will remember what you teach her, all of her life.

 

[purplequeenvt]

More new lambs on the farm! Well, they're actually my sister's lambs and they live next door. My sister was wanting a few hair sheep to train her BC on and I have a friend nearby who raises Katahdins. She had some bottle lambs for sale so we went and got 3 boys and a girl on Sunday. I'm picking up another girl (a Dorper/Katahdin) from her tomorrow.

The girl is the light brown one. The little white boy was a "sucker" buy. He's either partially blind (sometimes he acts like he can see and other times not) or mentally deficient or maybe both. We're not sure if he'll survive long-term, but for now he seems healthy.











We aren't really sure how the herding lessons are going to go in the future since the lambs see the dog as their friend. They spent quite a while running in circles around each other - the dog was trying to herd them and they were chasing her.

 

[Baymule]

The lambs are cute, love the colors!

 

[purplequeenvt]

Update on Mr Lucky.....

One of his front legs liked to hyperextend backwards since the day we brought him home and since he just seemed a little slow, I gave him .5ml of BoSe. He just kept declining though and on Tuesday night, the leg that had been wobbly and hyperextending, started bowing out instead. Wednesday morning both front legs were severely bowed and he could barely get around. That combined with his poor vision and just general slowness made me think that he had some sort of vitamin deficiency. The most likely being A or D. An A deficiency can cause vision problems and muscle weakness and a D deficiency causes rickets (bowed legs being a symptom).

We were able to find an vitamin AD&E injection and I emailed Premier1 for their advice. The 1st person that got back to me (not a vet) was extremely unhelpful so we went ahead and gave him a 3ml shot. Later, an actual vet got back to me and gave me some better advice. He suggested repeating the dose 3 days in a row and then seeing what he looks like in a week.

He had his 1st dose on Wednesday night and by the next morning, he was already looking better. His legs are straight when he first stands up, but after he walks around for a few minutes they bow again. Despite that, he's getting around so much better and he's eating a lot better too. He's stopped running into everything as well. He's a lot more active and responsive. He baa'd back at me when I spoke to him this morning.

 

[purplequeenvt]

We picked up a 5th lamb on Wednesday. A black and white Katahdin/Dorper ewe lamb. Pretty little thing. She's younger than the rest, but she's almost as tall as they are (with the exception of Lucky). She's got looong graceful legs.

 

[farmerjan]

I am a big believer in a few vitamin shots .... either soon after birth, or somewhere when we get them in to be worked for whatever reason. The calves all get A & D when they go through the chute when banded and given a blackleg shot. I honestly believe that it also helps to give them a little extra insurance against pinkeye infections. Anyone getting treated for pinkeye ALWAYS gets an A&D shot. Do not routinely give BoSe or MuSe but have not hesitated to give it to any that seem a little week on their legs because of the lack of selenium in our soils here.
We have started giving some of the multi-min to some of the calves instead of shots of individual vitamins. I am not sure that it is better, but we are trying it sorta of a trial situation. We will see if we see any better results. I hate that it is a vet prescrip drug whereas A&D is not, although we have to get the BoSe from the vet too. Vit B complex is available over the counter here and we give it, or straight B-12, for appetite stimulation.
Glad that the lamb was seeing improvement so quick. A good sign that he was definitely in need.