SheepGirl's 2012 Lambing Thread

[SheepGirl]

She should be alright once she's treated. They heal amazingly fast. This is one of the bummers of having a late lambing, isn't it? The temps are so nice but the stupid flies ruin it. I think I'd rather deal with heat lamps and freezing temps. Two years ago one of my ewes lambed in June, because she was supposed to have been bred when I bought her, but she wasn't. I swore no more late lambings!

You may want to give her some antibiotics if her wounds are that bad. Good luck with her!

Yep, I'm gonna stick with March and April lambings! That's what we normally do, but that daggone ram....

But my last day of school was yesterday, so I have all day today to be home with her. Tomorrow I have graduation practice, so unless she's looking good enough to go back outside, she's gonna be staying home alone (albeit she has the dogs that seem to adore her) for a couple hours. Sheep are supposed to be sheared tomorrow, too, but I can't help because of graduation practice (if we miss it, we can't walk ).

But I gave her some Pen G last night and I will probably give her another shot tonight. But her wound is scabby this morning, which is good, and I haven't seen any maggots, either. Yesterday, when she peed, she had maggots coming out with her urine but today, I didn't see any when she peed. So that's good, too. She's also a lot more active and playful this morning than she was last night. But she was bleating all. last. night. and so I finally got out of bed at 3 am to see if she wanted a bottle, but nope! So I went back to sleep and woke up at 7:30 and my mom had tried to get her to eat but when she started sucking on my finger I quickly replaced my finger with the nipple and got her to eat a couple oz. My goal is to get her to eat at least 25 oz over the course of the day, so we'll see if she gets hungry enough to eat off the bottle.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Are you planning on putting her back with your ewe? Congrats for being out of school, and even bigger congrats for GRADUATING!!!

 

[SheepGirl]

Thanks, I'm excited! :bun

But eventually I will put her back out with my ewe...I may keep her overnight again, though. But the bleating is getting a bit ridiculous lol Right now she's sleeping so it's pretty quiet

I've never dealt with flystrike before so all what I'm doing now is pretty much experimental. But so far it's working. I just don't want her back outside with the flies until her wound is completely healed over. But at the rate it's going now, it should be pretty soon when she goes back out. My only concern right now is her ability to poop--her tail (or what's left of it) is sitting right on top of her anus and blocking it a bit, so that may be an issue. She did poop last night after we were done spraying her with iodine and the screwworm spray, but there is no poop in her kennel, so I'm not sure if she's defecating or not. But I'm keeping an eye on her.

 

[Southdown]

What is screwworm spray? Is it something that prevents flystrike?

Hopefully your lamb will be ok. I would think if there's any improvement, then it should only get better.

Are you graduating from high school? You sound very educated about sheep for such a youngin'.

I had two lambs in the house for one day and they were so loud, I don't think I could keep them in overnight, lol.

 

[SheepGirl]

Prozap Screw Worm Aerosol Wound Spray is used for both prevention and treatment since it does kill maggots and eggs (as well as a bunch of other bugs). I never knew we had it in the barn--if I did know, I would've sprayed it on them when I first docked them. But the darn little lamb licked off the iodine and the spray, so instead of having a green butt, it's now almost back to normal. I will spray her butt again with the screwworm spray before I put her back outside permanently.

And yep, I'm graduating from high school And thanks for the compliment

Jeez--I couldn't imagine having two of them in the house! But my cousin and I did take her outside and we sat under a tree in my front yard for a good 4 hours and she was nibbling on grass (and our noses)...but most importantly, she was QUIET! Unfortunately though I was wearing a spaghetti-strap tank top and I was laying on my belly and so now my back is sunburned. It's going to be exciting when I take a shower. But my cousin named her Lady Gaga lol. So now we need a name for the other one because right now she just goes by #0017.

Oh, and I saw her poop So now I don't need to worry about that.

But here are pictures from earlier today:

Next picture is of her wound (after she pooped), so it is pretty graphic....

 

[Southdown]

Her face is adorable. She almost looks like a purebred babydoll to me. What a cutie. Gosh, I just don't understand how the tail could fall off so soon. It takes sooo long for my lambs to drop their tails. At least 2+ weeks. Could flies actually chew it off to make if fall off? That just seems crazy. It looks so raw, but at least it looks clean. Maybe you should call your vet and get advice over the phone as to what to do. Poor thing. At least she looks spirited and not lethargic.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

She is pretty darn adorable!

Her poor hiney. Make sure you take pics to update us as she heals. There are some anti-fly ointments you can get. Maybe you can use that so she can go back out w/ mom? It looks pretty swollen (but may just be the pic). Perhaps soaking in warm epsom salt water would really help it heal quicker. If you can sit her rear in the water you can soak a rag and hold on there.


Hmm...a name for the other one....maybe something to match Lady Gaga? Another singer?

 

[SheepGirl]

Her face is adorable. She almost looks like a purebred babydoll to me. What a cutie. Gosh, I just don't understand how the tail could fall off so soon. It takes sooo long for my lambs to drop their tails. At least 2+ weeks. Could flies actually chew it off to make if fall off? That just seems crazy. It looks so raw, but at least it looks clean. Maybe you should call your vet and get advice over the phone as to what to do. Poor thing. At least she looks spirited and not lethargic.

She's 5/8 Babydoll, so not quite pure, but a little over half

But her tail falling off so fast was my cue that something was wrong. The band was only on there for like 3 days or so. But my guess is that the maggots did chew it off, or at least chew enough of it off that it ended up breaking off like if another sheep stepped on her while laying down or something. It's weird because the day before she was looking good. But then again these thunderstorms we've been having make it really humid and that really brings out the flies. I did call the vet as soon as I brought her up to my house but she said just to keep it clean and spray it with fly spray. So I did that (minus the fly spray) and I sprayed her with iodine and screwworm spray, and it seems to be looking good.

But she's not lethargic at all! lol she was bouncing around my kitchen, did a couple face plants, too...I didn't mind because her hooves sounded cool on the hardwood floors.

She is pretty darn adorable!

Her poor hiney. Make sure you take pics to update us as she heals. There are some anti-fly ointments you can get. Maybe you can use that so she can go back out w/ mom? It looks pretty swollen (but may just be the pic). Perhaps soaking in warm epsom salt water would really help it heal quicker. If you can sit her rear in the water you can soak a rag and hold on there.


Hmm...a name for the other one....maybe something to match Lady Gaga? Another singer?

Yep, I will be taking pics everyday I just put her back out with her moms about an hour ago because I don't want a full-time bottle baby, but I did spray her butt with screwworm spray. But yesterday it did look swollen but last night it didn't look swollen (or at least not as much). I was going to go to Tractor Supply or Southern States tomorrow to see what I could find...so I will look for the anti-fly ointments. I will also see if I can get some epsom salt and see what it does for her booteh.

But my cousin was thinking of calling the other one Beyonce because Lady Gaga and Beyonce sung 'Telephone' together. So I don't know

-----

Today the sheep were sheared and they are looking good! But they are getting dirty because they lie down in the mud

Also...Ali is producing milk? And she's feeding the babies whereas Ciqala is taking the backseat to raising them. I feel so bad for Ciqala because her udder is engorged and her teats are filled up. I will probably have to milk her out--that will be fun! She hates it anytime I touch the lower back half of her. I know for a fact that Ali is not bred/is not the mother to these lambs, because my neighbor watched Ciqala give birth to them.

Has anyone ever heard of an open ewe start producing milk even when she's not pregnant/last lambed in 2010? They were born a week ago and now she's bagging up. And she also stole the lambs from Ciqala. Ciqala still watches them and everything but she can't nurse them because her teats are too big, because they are filled with so much milk. Ughh my sheep are so bizarre

 

[aggieterpkatie]

I was thinking Katy Perry. Not because I like her, but because it seems her songs and Lady Gaga's songs are always played in succession on the radio.

Is there a chance Ali is also bred? And did your neighbor see Ciquala give birth to all 4 lambs? Didn't you say you came back to find 2 more lambs? Is there a chance Ali could have had 2 of them? It's possible for her to be producing milk again even if she didn't freshen, especially if the lambs have been trying to nurse on her. I sold a ewe lamb to people and later the ewe (as a yearling) bagged up a bit. She did have mastitis, but she also produced a bit of milk. One of my doe kids also had a precocious udder, and produced a small amount of milk for a while but it eventually dried up. Could be that Ali just really is a great mom and wants these babies for her own, and is letting them try to nurse on her.

If you don't see the fly ointment in the livestock section, check the dog section. We used to sell some stuff called Flys Off or something, and it was kept in the dog section.

 

[SheepGirl]

I was thinking Katy Perry. Not because I like her, but because it seems her songs and Lady Gaga's songs are always played in succession on the radio.

Is there a chance Ali is also bred? And did your neighbor see Ciquala give birth to all 4 lambs? Didn't you say you came back to find 2 more lambs? Is there a chance Ali could have had 2 of them? It's possible for her to be producing milk again even if she didn't freshen, especially if the lambs have been trying to nurse on her. I sold a ewe lamb to people and later the ewe (as a yearling) bagged up a bit. She did have mastitis, but she also produced a bit of milk. One of my doe kids also had a precocious udder, and produced a small amount of milk for a while but it eventually dried up. Could be that Ali just really is a great mom and wants these babies for her own, and is letting them try to nurse on her.

If you don't see the fly ointment in the livestock section, check the dog section. We used to sell some stuff called Flys Off or something, and it was kept in the dog section.

I like the name Katy Perry for the other one!

I mean there could be a chance Ali is bred, because the ram did escape into the ewe pasture, but she's not looking bred at all...she looks like all the other open ewes. I did find two more lambs but I had put Ciqala in a pen in the barn so I know those were hers as well. (And the delay between the lambs would make sense because one was stillborn and the other one had always breathed funny (in addition to her underdeveloped lungs) and eventually didn't make it, as though they had been in the birth canal too long.)

But I mean that would be cool if Ali is coming into milk just because there's babies around. That will make it real nice if I ever have bottle babies in the future...I could just stick them right on her lol. But we'll see if she will surprise us with a baby or two. If not then I have a magic sheep

I googled the Fly Off ointment and it looks like what I would need so I will go and pick it up Thanks!