Another Rough Day

Lambing season is almost over here at the farm. We have had quite the week with not one, but two bottle lambs in the house. We lost one of our twins from Orchid; we think that she might have laid down on him. We have the vet on the way over today because one of Lady Slipper's lambs is sick and not eating. Poor M&M is weak and lethargic and his momma will not take care of him. We had noticed that he was not gaining weight as rapidly as his brother was, but he was eating. Unfortunately, we think that he has an infection on his tail where it was docked. He lost a considerable amount of blood when it was docked. This was because he was slightly older than he should have been when it was done. Sheep tails are docked as lambs to prevent feces from building up on the tail causing fly strike, infections, and other medical issues. Tail docking is done for medical reasons not for aesthetic reasons in sheep.

This year we have an amazing about of twins born, which has its challenges. Some of the twins were born to first time moms that only accepted one of the lambs. Others are seasoned moms that we did not have to coax into feeding or taking care of their lambs. We had one set of triples born to a first time mom that was so enamored with the first one that she did not realize the other two were born. When we came home, it was too late to save one and the other one she rejected. We tried to get her to accept that lamb, but it became obvious that was not going to happen. Luna became our first bottle lamb of the season. About two days later Emily had twins and she seemed to be accepting both of her lambs. Later that day, we found Emily ramming one of the lambs into the wall of the lambing jug (pen). Hedwig became our second bottle lamb.

Luna and Hedwig are currently in our basement in a pen. This is not the ideal situation; however, we do not have enough room outside to keep them safe. On a positive note, it does make it easier to give them a bottle at night. They will be in the pen until they are about 10 days old. At that time, we will bring them outside reintroducing them to the flock. We will still be bottle-feeding them, but they will be able to eat grain, hay, and drink water between bottles.