Margali
Herd Master
I would file a fraud case with the PD local to mechanic before your tractor “disappears”.
Ridgetop - our place and how we muddle along
- Thread starter Ridgetop
- Start date
- Thread starter
- #4,462
Ridgetop
Herd Master
Today was warmer and all the jugs are FULL so we decided we needed to make the mama pasture and creeo PRONTO. DS1 said to turn the side barn into a giant mama barn and creep. DS1 said since the barn is emptying, we can move the jugs into that side. He also wanted to finish the lights in the barn. He decided that if he hung the lights crosswise they would provde better light. DS1 is a planner but is flexible and adjusts as he goes. Lucky to have him. Left him and DH discussing their electrical plans for the day.
Another ewe had lambed. So sweet, she had her lamb outside. No, she had both lambs outside. Wait that was another ewe that had lambed. Both OR9 and GR38 had ewe lambs. Inside the barn 332 had newborn twins and a dead triplet. The triplet had not broken through the sac. Triplet ram lambs. 332 is the ewe that tripled last year and lost the first 2 lambs due to mastitis. We pulled the ewe amb and bottle fed her until a tragic accident took her. No sign of mastitis this year, mothering and feeding the remaining twins perfectly. I found my can of marking spray and marked GR38's ewe lamb so I would know which ewe lamb belonged to which mama. Ram lambs were no problem. Fed all the jugs. No need to feed the 3 new moms, theywere already gobbling hay off the stack in the pen with their lambs sleeping in the sun. We decided not to turn the sheep out since it would be hard to keep the new mamas in while the rest of the flock stampeded out. Avoiding trouble was better. After all, we could change the fences, tag and vaccinate, etc. and move the sheep before dinner.
Soooo optimistic!
DS1 and DH arrived while I was feeding and decided that we should change around the fences so we could turn out the mamas and lambs. First we had to dock the ewe lambs, tag and vaccinate. We also had to vaccinate the ewes and worm them. Natal hormones wake up any sleeping worm eggs and cause them to bloom big. Before we can do that we have to have somewhere to turn them out into as we go pen to pen with the docking, tagging, etc. First job, move the rams forward into the front garden pen. They were currently occupying all 3 pens - the garden, the middle and the rear pens on the house side. DH moved them forward and shut them in while DS1 started taking apart the Red River panels. They are 7 bar rodeo arena panels and have wire on the bottom 2' so the babies cannot walk out. He moved them over and reassembled them to close off the hay rolls from the barn yard. This now made a larger area for the ewes to graze and the lambs to run and play. DH helped him pin them together. Then they brought over a 12' panel and a 10' walk through gate panel to use on the new creep.
My heroes pinning 2 panels together. These panels have seen a lot of wear so the pin holders don't always line up right thus the hammer in DH's right hand. 
Once that was finished we came inside to decide how to layout the new jugs. DS1 said we would tag, etc. tonight ready for moving sheep tomorrow. He also decided that any more electrical work would be easier after the jugs were removed. I pulled up 28 syringes of CDT, 5 of Tetanus (for the ewe lambs to be docked), and got out the drench gun. I had ordered it after our worming adventure last summer which left us covered with sheep slobber and drench.
DS1 said he had not tried to use it since he coudn't figure out how to attach it to the smaller bottle of wormer. I put it all together and tested it on the sink. It worked fine so we were set. Back to the barn we went then we had to decide who to do first. Since we needed 3 jugs for the new mamas, we decided to do the ewes with older lambs in jugs in the big barn first. Just as we finished with BL14, BL16 and their lambs, Payton showed up to move the hay bales. He still wasn't feeling very well. I tried to call DH who had stayed in the house but no response, so I went to open the gates and let him in. While I told him where to put the bales, DS1 moved the 12' panel into the barn to make an extra pen for the 3 new moms. Finally I got hold of DH who came out to take care of the gates, etc. Payton finished and left WITHOUT HIS BROWNIES!
It was now too late to finish any more we and we had to get the new mamas into jugs. DS1 and I moved all 3 ewes and 4 lambs into the new pen where 332 proceeded to beat up any lamb except her own. Now we needed to divide the 18' of pen into 3 pens. I found some 4' and 5' pieces of stock panel which we could use. DS1 had used two of the black panels to close off the pen. They were a little low and Iwas worried about the ee jumping out but since her lambs were brand new we decided it would be ok for the night. Then we had to feed and water. We had hoped to ove everyone out to new locations so the buckets were low. DS1 brought over buckets of water for the 3 new pens, and we added some water to the almost empty buckets. We decided since we would be moving BL14 and BL16 out the next day to put them in one of the new pens. I played Ring-around-the-rosy with OR9 and BL16 and their lambs to transfer them. Same thing wth BL16. Finally we finished with the new pen, held together by hay rope. The jugs were stacked 2 deep. Sheep were fed, now for the other barn. No grain for anyone tonight - too much confusion and too difficult to try to fight my way through the loose sheep still inside the barn.
Tomorrow we will begin with tagging, vaccinations, docking ewe lambs, etc. As we finish with each ewe and her lambs she can go out into the brand new barnyard pasture. Then we will move the existing jugs into the big barn, and convert the side barn into a mama and lamb creep. We will move the feeders from California over and use them to grain the ewes since they have a grain tray on the bottom. No need to carry hay since they have 2 new bales in the field. (We will have to carry hay to any new lambing mamas in the jugs.) DS1 will take one of the 12' Priefert gates we are using for a side panel and install it on the side barn so we can lock them up at night. That way I can grain in the morning before I let them out to escape being trampled by dainty sheep hooves. 11 ewes in the side barn jugs, and another 9 in the jugs in the big barn. Lost count of the number of lambs.
I wonder how many ewes will take a look at the jugs and figure that not only is there no room at the inn (side barn), but we are also running out of room in the stable! Still a lot of ewes walking around with huge bellies and udders.
Another ewe had lambed. So sweet, she had her lamb outside. No, she had both lambs outside. Wait that was another ewe that had lambed. Both OR9 and GR38 had ewe lambs. Inside the barn 332 had newborn twins and a dead triplet. The triplet had not broken through the sac. Triplet ram lambs. 332 is the ewe that tripled last year and lost the first 2 lambs due to mastitis. We pulled the ewe amb and bottle fed her until a tragic accident took her. No sign of mastitis this year, mothering and feeding the remaining twins perfectly. I found my can of marking spray and marked GR38's ewe lamb so I would know which ewe lamb belonged to which mama. Ram lambs were no problem. Fed all the jugs. No need to feed the 3 new moms, theywere already gobbling hay off the stack in the pen with their lambs sleeping in the sun. We decided not to turn the sheep out since it would be hard to keep the new mamas in while the rest of the flock stampeded out. Avoiding trouble was better. After all, we could change the fences, tag and vaccinate, etc. and move the sheep before dinner.
Soooo optimistic! DS1 and DH arrived while I was feeding and decided that we should change around the fences so we could turn out the mamas and lambs. First we had to dock the ewe lambs, tag and vaccinate. We also had to vaccinate the ewes and worm them. Natal hormones wake up any sleeping worm eggs and cause them to bloom big. Before we can do that we have to have somewhere to turn them out into as we go pen to pen with the docking, tagging, etc. First job, move the rams forward into the front garden pen. They were currently occupying all 3 pens - the garden, the middle and the rear pens on the house side. DH moved them forward and shut them in while DS1 started taking apart the Red River panels. They are 7 bar rodeo arena panels and have wire on the bottom 2' so the babies cannot walk out. He moved them over and reassembled them to close off the hay rolls from the barn yard. This now made a larger area for the ewes to graze and the lambs to run and play. DH helped him pin them together. Then they brought over a 12' panel and a 10' walk through gate panel to use on the new creep.
My heroes pinning 2 panels together. These panels have seen a lot of wear so the pin holders don't always line up right thus the hammer in DH's right hand. Once that was finished we came inside to decide how to layout the new jugs. DS1 said we would tag, etc. tonight ready for moving sheep tomorrow. He also decided that any more electrical work would be easier after the jugs were removed. I pulled up 28 syringes of CDT, 5 of Tetanus (for the ewe lambs to be docked), and got out the drench gun. I had ordered it after our worming adventure last summer which left us covered with sheep slobber and drench.
DS1 said he had not tried to use it since he coudn't figure out how to attach it to the smaller bottle of wormer. I put it all together and tested it on the sink. It worked fine so we were set. Back to the barn we went then we had to decide who to do first. Since we needed 3 jugs for the new mamas, we decided to do the ewes with older lambs in jugs in the big barn first. Just as we finished with BL14, BL16 and their lambs, Payton showed up to move the hay bales. He still wasn't feeling very well. I tried to call DH who had stayed in the house but no response, so I went to open the gates and let him in. While I told him where to put the bales, DS1 moved the 12' panel into the barn to make an extra pen for the 3 new moms. Finally I got hold of DH who came out to take care of the gates, etc. Payton finished and left WITHOUT HIS BROWNIES! It was now too late to finish any more we and we had to get the new mamas into jugs. DS1 and I moved all 3 ewes and 4 lambs into the new pen where 332 proceeded to beat up any lamb except her own.
Now we needed to divide the 18' of pen into 3 pens. I found some 4' and 5' pieces of stock panel which we could use. DS1 had used two of the black panels to close off the pen. They were a little low and Iwas worried about the ee jumping out but since her lambs were brand new we decided it would be ok for the night. Then we had to feed and water. We had hoped to ove everyone out to new locations so the buckets were low. DS1 brought over buckets of water for the 3 new pens, and we added some water to the almost empty buckets. We decided since we would be moving BL14 and BL16 out the next day to put them in one of the new pens. I played Ring-around-the-rosy with OR9 and BL16 and their lambs to transfer them. Same thing wth BL16. Finally we finished with the new pen, held together by hay rope. The jugs were stacked 2 deep. Sheep were fed, now for the other barn. No grain for anyone tonight - too much confusion and too difficult to try to fight my way through the loose sheep still inside the barn. Tomorrow we will begin with tagging, vaccinations, docking ewe lambs, etc. As we finish with each ewe and her lambs she can go out into the brand new barnyard pasture. Then we will move the existing jugs into the big barn, and convert the side barn into a mama and lamb creep. We will move the feeders from California over and use them to grain the ewes since they have a grain tray on the bottom. No need to carry hay since they have 2 new bales in the field. (We will have to carry hay to any new lambing mamas in the jugs.) DS1 will take one of the 12' Priefert gates we are using for a side panel and install it on the side barn so we can lock them up at night. That way I can grain in the morning before I let them out to escape being trampled by dainty sheep hooves. 11 ewes in the side barn jugs, and another 9 in the jugs in the big barn. Lost count of the number of lambs. I wonder how many ewes will take a look at the jugs and figure that not only is there no room at the inn (side barn), but we are also running out of room in the stable! Still a lot of ewes walking around with huge bellies and udders.
- Thread starter
- #4,463
Ridgetop
Herd Master
Two days ago I got fed up with trying to keep the water buckets attached to the pens with bits of hay rope. In California I used the leads from showing the boer goats to attach them to avoid active lamb from overturning them. I used to have about a dozen of the leads (also sold for ridiculous amounts as "traffic leads"). I gave a lot of them away to a friend when the children graduated from 4-H. I found 4 of them and used them for bucket ties, and made another. Traffic leads are about $20-30 and I was not goig to pay that. I looked bucket straps up on line and found them for $5 to 10 each. Instead I had a lot of 1" webbing so DS1 ordered the strap clips (also known as bridle clips) an I made my own. The snaps came in a pack of 10 for $12 with free shipping. For $1.20 each and half an hour of my time I made my own.
I started with a simple loop design, then tried it another way with a twist which seems to hang better.
So much easier to unclip the bucket handle to wash out buckets or dump them. With activ ambs and small jugs, sooner or later the buckets get dumped over and the jug is saturated. I don't like wet pens, so this keeps the bucket in an upright position. Since they are made of nylon webbing they last a long time and can be washed if they get nasty. Once lambing is over and the jugs are collapsed and put away, the strap can be collected and stored with the grain or water buckets. They can be made longer for different size pens by using longer lengths of webbing. I have enough webbing for another 4.
Now Ijust have to figure out how to keep the 8 quart grain buckets from being dislodged from the rails when they are empty. The larger 12 quart buckets have longer hangers which seems to keep thm in position better. They are more than twice as much $$$ though. I will think about how to keep them secure. I could attach them permanently but I need to remove them to fill them in the feed room and bring them back to the jugs.
I started with a simple loop design, then tried it another way with a twist which seems to hang better. So much easier to unclip the bucket handle to wash out buckets or dump them. With activ ambs and small jugs, sooner or later the buckets get dumped over and the jug is saturated. I don't like wet pens, so this keeps the bucket in an upright position. Since they are made of nylon webbing they last a long time and can be washed if they get nasty. Once lambing is over and the jugs are collapsed and put away, the strap can be collected and stored with the grain or water buckets. They can be made longer for different size pens by using longer lengths of webbing. I have enough webbing for another 4. Now Ijust have to figure out how to keep the 8 quart grain buckets from being dislodged from the rails when they are empty. The larger 12 quart buckets have longer hangers which seems to keep thm in position better. They are more than twice as much $$$ though. I will think about how to keep them secure. I could attach them permanently but I need to remove them to fill them in the feed room and bring them back to the jugs.
Baymule
Herd Master
All I can think about while reading this is… that big beautiful BARN! What a blessing. All your activities are made possible by that big old barn. She is an old lady in her PRIME, brought back to life and useful again, sheltering sheep, the core of the farm.
There is the main part of the barn, the added on wings, the feed room, all combined to make life easier for you.
The Barn Lady is not only being brought back to life again, but is being spruced up with electricity and water. Lights! Water spigots! Lambs playing and running! And repairs! Loose tin being nailed down, rusty pieces replaced, leaks plugged, pens built.
The Barn Lady is happy. The Barn Lady is smiling. The heart of the farm is alive again.
There is the main part of the barn, the added on wings, the feed room, all combined to make life easier for you.
The Barn Lady is not only being brought back to life again, but is being spruced up with electricity and water. Lights! Water spigots! Lambs playing and running! And repairs! Loose tin being nailed down, rusty pieces replaced, leaks plugged, pens built.
The Barn Lady is happy. The Barn Lady is smiling. The heart of the farm is alive again.
- Thread starter
- #4,465
Ridgetop
Herd Master
I do love our barn. It was the main thing that encouraged me to buy here on this highway. Since thwn I have sartd to really enjoy this house. I hope to add on a mudrooom off the back though. And enlarge the patio. Miss Joyce (former owner) told me that she wanted a larger one also. When they built this house (the old one burned down) she told her husband she wanted a larger back patio and he wouldn't give it to her. I feel it is my duty to her spirit to see it done. LOL
This morning several black buzzards were flying around and a whole bunch of gunshots were heard from the south neighbor. Obviously they had found the sheep carcasses. I hoped the neighbor had taken out most of them. A ewe had lambed with twin ewe lambs!
Unfortunately I wrote her number down and left it in the barn in the pail of vaccinations, used needles, etc. I left the paper on which I had written the tag numbers of the lambs as well. My bad.
Today DS1 announced he was going to take down all the jugs and put them back up in the big barn. Properly.
He has not been a fan of my jug plan. Another ewe lambed this morning with twins. Nowhere to put her so she stayed in the barn while DS1 ran the other sheep out onto the pasture. (So much easier with fewer ewes.)
Before we could implement DS1's Master Plan we had to remove all the lambs and ewes from the current jugs in the side barn. We had fenced off the trailer yesterday. The dog X-pens worked perfectly. That 5th wheel can't escape now!
We worked our way down the line of jugs tagging, vaccinating, worming and docking. There are a couple ram lambs that are really nice so we docked them too. As we finished with the ewe and lambs in each jug DS1 disassembled them. Easy to do with the pin together Sydel and Shaul panels. Pandemonium reigned in the yard as the lambs experienced the big world outside for the first time! Mamas called to lambs, lambs shrieked back. Anyone wanting to raise sheep should really learn American sign language because all you can see is mouths moving - you can't hear anything over the cacophony of sheep and lambs.
This little lamb was actually trying out the grass! Only a week old.
We worked all day after the ewes were out of the side barn. We had to move BL14 and BL16 out of the barn first. Their lambs are large and about a week old so they went out to join the restof the mamas and lambs. Then we had a double line of ewes and lambs to go through in the big barn and transfer into the new pens as they were built. DS1 did most of the work, I cleaned out the feed pans in the side barn and toted out the water buckets. DH rinsed them out and filled them for the new line of jugs. DH and I brought panels, held panels, pinned and tied up panels where DS1 told us. We hoped to beat the rain. Ewes escaped and had to be IDed to their lambs using my records. A couple of mamas, freed from the demands of motherhood as they escaped into the pasture, refused to come back to the pleadings of their lambs left in the jugs. Much loud "discussions" were heard, blame was assigned and denied, it was a typical Ridgetop work party. A good time was had by all.
In the afternoon I noticed that a small ewe OR27 was in labor at the back of the barn. I opened the gate into the jugs and partitioned off a section for her. She came in and this evening when we finished for the day I checked her. No lamb, and she was all hunched up. Obviously in discomfort with a small bubble of blood. DS1 held her while I checked her. The only part presenting was a tail.
This is one of the worst positions for lambing. The butt is stuck in the opening like a cork in a bottle. The ewe was small, the lamb was large. On this position the birth canal does not widen naturally. I would need to turn this lamb round - too big not happening. Or - and this was the route I took - find the rear feet and deliver her backwards. I could hardly get my hand inside her. When I did I was very worried since the rear legs were drawn up in front of the lamb and the back was pushing on the cervix. I pushed the lamb as hard as I could back into the ewe who pushed it as hard as she could back at me. Stop that! I fished around until I found a rear leg. Now to pull it up, bend it and p
ull the hoof out. No room! This lamb's leg was so long that I couldn't get the hoof over the pelvic bones. At one point I told DS1 that maybe we should just shoot her. It would be a last resort if I couldn't deliver the lamb. Finally I got one hoof up and out. That was a large hoof and a long leg. This lamb was BIG! With one leg sharing the small pelvic opening I had even less room to work. And I couldn't find the other rear leg. Unlike pulling a lamb with the head and one leg out, this lamb HAD TO HAVE both rear feet out to pull it out. Taking a chance I shoved the leg back in up to the hoof and switched hands to feel for the other leg. Finally found it and again it was drawn up with the hoof trapped under the pelvic bone. I tried and tried to get it folded up enough to move it past the bony girdle trapping it. The lamb was obviously dead and I debated if I had the strength to break the leg in order to get it out. Finally, I shoved the lamb back in again and this time i felt the hoof shift just a smidge. Another shove and the hoof was able to be pulled up and out. However it wasn't over yet. In spite of constant applications of soap the lamb was no longer slippery enough to slide through. It was stuck at the ribcage. I worked the vagina over the body until finally with DS1 pulling forward and me pulling backward the lamb slid out. Along with a lot of really nasty liquid and some poop from the ewe. The lamb, a huge ewe lamb, was definitely dead. Probably drowned in placental fluid during the long and unsuccessful labor process. OR27 survived though. Time will tell if she can deliver another lamb next year. Tomorrow she will get a big dose of antibiotics.
Tomorrow we have to finish the barn. Luckily if it rains we will be under cover. DS1 said he is not satisfied with the layout and plans to redo it tomorrow.
ull the hoof out. No room! This lamb's leg was so long that I couldn't get the hoof over the pelvic bones. At one point I told DS1 that maybe we should just shoot her. It would be a last resort if I couldn't deliver the lamb. Finally I got one hoof up and out. That was a large hoof and a long leg. This lamb was BIG! With one leg sharing the small pelvic opening I had even less room to work. And I couldn't find the other rear leg. Unlike pulling a lamb with the head and one leg out, this lamb HAD TO HAVE both rear feet out to pull it out. Taking a chance I shoved the leg back in up to the hoof and switched hands to feel for the other leg. Finally found it and again it was drawn up with the hoof trapped under the pelvic bone. I tried and tried to get it folded up enough to move it past the bony girdle trapping it. The lamb was obviously dead and I debated if I had the strength to break the leg in order to get it out. Finally, I shoved the lamb back in again and this time i felt the hoof shift just a smidge. Another shove and the hoof was able to be pulled up and out. However it wasn't over yet. In spite of constant applications of soap the lamb was no longer slippery enough to slide through. It was stuck at the ribcage. I worked the vagina over the body until finally with DS1 pulling forward and me pulling backward the lamb slid out. Along with a lot of really nasty liquid and some poop from the ewe. The lamb, a huge ewe lamb, was definitely dead. Probably drowned in placental fluid during the long and unsuccessful labor process. OR27 survived though. Time will tell if she can deliver another lamb next year. Tomorrow she will get a big dose of antibiotics.
Tomorrow we have to finish the barn. Luckily if it rains we will be under cover. DS1 said he is not satisfied with the layout and plans to redo it tomorrow.
This morning several black buzzards were flying around and a whole bunch of gunshots were heard from the south neighbor. Obviously they had found the sheep carcasses. I hoped the neighbor had taken out most of them. A ewe had lambed with twin ewe lambs!
Unfortunately I wrote her number down and left it in the barn in the pail of vaccinations, used needles, etc. I left the paper on which I had written the tag numbers of the lambs as well. My bad. Today DS1 announced he was going to take down all the jugs and put them back up in the big barn. Properly.
He has not been a fan of my jug plan.
Another ewe lambed this morning with twins. Nowhere to put her so she stayed in the barn while DS1 ran the other sheep out onto the pasture. (So much easier with fewer ewes.) Before we could implement DS1's Master Plan we had to remove all the lambs and ewes from the current jugs in the side barn. We had fenced off the trailer yesterday. The dog X-pens worked perfectly. That 5th wheel can't escape now!
We worked our way down the line of jugs tagging, vaccinating, worming and docking. There are a couple ram lambs that are really nice so we docked them too. As we finished with the ewe and lambs in each jug DS1 disassembled them. Easy to do with the pin together Sydel and Shaul panels. Pandemonium reigned in the yard as the lambs experienced the big world outside for the first time! Mamas called to lambs, lambs shrieked back. Anyone wanting to raise sheep should really learn American sign language because all you can see is mouths moving - you can't hear anything over the cacophony of sheep and lambs.
This little lamb was actually trying out the grass! Only a week old.We worked all day after the ewes were out of the side barn. We had to move BL14 and BL16 out of the barn first. Their lambs are large and about a week old so they went out to join the restof the mamas and lambs. Then we had a double line of ewes and lambs to go through in the big barn and transfer into the new pens as they were built. DS1 did most of the work, I cleaned out the feed pans in the side barn and toted out the water buckets. DH rinsed them out and filled them for the new line of jugs. DH and I brought panels, held panels, pinned and tied up panels where DS1 told us. We hoped to beat the rain. Ewes escaped and had to be IDed to their lambs using my records. A couple of mamas, freed from the demands of motherhood as they escaped into the pasture, refused to come back to the pleadings of their lambs left in the jugs. Much loud "discussions" were heard, blame was assigned and denied, it was a typical Ridgetop work party. A good time was had by all.
In the afternoon I noticed that a small ewe OR27 was in labor at the back of the barn. I opened the gate into the jugs and partitioned off a section for her. She came in and this evening when we finished for the day I checked her. No lamb, and she was all hunched up. Obviously in discomfort with a small bubble of blood. DS1 held her while I checked her. The only part presenting was a tail.
This is one of the worst positions for lambing. The butt is stuck in the opening like a cork in a bottle. The ewe was small, the lamb was large. On this position the birth canal does not widen naturally. I would need to turn this lamb round - too big not happening. Or - and this was the route I took - find the rear feet and deliver her backwards. I could hardly get my hand inside her. When I did I was very worried since the rear legs were drawn up in front of the lamb and the back was pushing on the cervix. I pushed the lamb as hard as I could back into the ewe who pushed it as hard as she could back at me. Stop that! I fished around until I found a rear leg. Now to pull it up, bend it and pull the hoof out. No room! This lamb's leg was so long that I couldn't get the hoof over the pelvic bones. At one point I told DS1 that maybe we should just shoot her. It would be a last resort if I couldn't deliver the lamb. Finally I got one hoof up and out. That was a large hoof and a long leg. This lamb was BIG! With one leg sharing the small pelvic opening I had even less room to work. And I couldn't find the other rear leg. Unlike pulling a lamb with the head and one leg out, this lamb HAD TO HAVE both rear feet out to pull it out. Taking a chance I shoved the leg back in up to the hoof and switched hands to feel for the other leg. Finally found it and again it was drawn up with the hoof trapped under the pelvic bone. I tried and tried to get it folded up enough to move it past the bony girdle trapping it. The lamb was obviously dead and I debated if I had the strength to break the leg in order to get it out. Finally, I shoved the lamb back in again and this time i felt the hoof shift just a smidge. Another shove and the hoof was able to be pulled up and out. However it wasn't over yet. In spite of constant applications of soap the lamb was no longer slippery enough to slide through. It was stuck at the ribcage. I worked the vagina over the body until finally with DS1 pulling forward and me pulling backward the lamb slid out. Along with a lot of really nasty liquid and some poop from the ewe. The lamb, a huge ewe lamb, was definitely dead. Probably drowned in placental fluid during the long and unsuccessful labor process. OR27 survived though. Time will tell if she can deliver another lamb next year. Tomorrow she will get a big dose of antibiotics.
Tomorrow we have to finish the barn. Luckily if it rains we will be under cover. DS1 said he is not satisfied with the layout and plans to redo it tomorrow.
ull the hoof out. No room! This lamb's leg was so long that I couldn't get the hoof over the pelvic bones. At one point I told DS1 that maybe we should just shoot her. It would be a last resort if I couldn't deliver the lamb. Finally I got one hoof up and out. That was a large hoof and a long leg. This lamb was BIG! With one leg sharing the small pelvic opening I had even less room to work. And I couldn't find the other rear leg. Unlike pulling a lamb with the head and one leg out, this lamb HAD TO HAVE both rear feet out to pull it out. Taking a chance I shoved the leg back in up to the hoof and switched hands to feel for the other leg. Finally found it and again it was drawn up with the hoof trapped under the pelvic bone. I tried and tried to get it folded up enough to move it past the bony girdle trapping it. The lamb was obviously dead and I debated if I had the strength to break the leg in order to get it out. Finally, I shoved the lamb back in again and this time i felt the hoof shift just a smidge. Another shove and the hoof was able to be pulled up and out. However it wasn't over yet. In spite of constant applications of soap the lamb was no longer slippery enough to slide through. It was stuck at the ribcage. I worked the vagina over the body until finally with DS1 pulling forward and me pulling backward the lamb slid out. Along with a lot of really nasty liquid and some poop from the ewe. The lamb, a huge ewe lamb, was definitely dead. Probably drowned in placental fluid during the long and unsuccessful labor process. OR27 survived though. Time will tell if she can deliver another lamb next year. Tomorrow she will get a big dose of antibiotics.
Tomorrow we have to finish the barn. Luckily if it rains we will be under cover. DS1 said he is not satisfied with the layout and plans to redo it tomorrow.
Attachments
Baymule
Herd Master
Sorry you lost the lamb, but you saved the ewe.
Moving jugs and sheep around is great work for your HEROES! And having that big barn to work in is even better!
Moving jugs and sheep around is great work for your HEROES! And having that big barn to work in is even better!
