Wendy Beer

LambMetrics – 21st August 2022

August 21, 2022 by Wendy Beer

LambMetrics is our lambing blog which tells some of the tales of farm life at lambing time.
Also contains pretty lamb pictures – and maybe a few confronting ones too.

#LAMBMETRICS for the day
Drysdale & English Leicester Flocks (incl. Black flock)

Born today: 9
Total Lambs Born: 14
Drysdale lambs (live total): 1
Drysdale X lambs (live total): 1
English Leicester lambs (live total): 10
English Leicester X lambs (live total): 0
Total Sets of Twins born: 4
Total Sets of Triplets born: 0
Total ewe lambs: 9
Total ram lambs: 5
Ewes lambed /86: 10 (11.63 %)
Lamb % : 120 % [live]
Assisted/Dystocias: 2
Losses: 2 [lamb]; 0 [ewe]

Castledale & Merino Flocks

Born today: 3
Total Lambs Born: 7
MerinoX lambs (live total): 4
Castledale lambs (live total): 2
Total Sets of Twins born: 3
Total Sets of Triplets born: 0
Ewes lambed /98: 4 (4.08 %)
Lamb % : 150% [live]
Assisted/Dystocias: 0
Losses: 1 [lamb]; 0 [ewe]

NOTABLE MIDWIFERY TALES:

Lambs everywhere today!

Another 4 sets of twins as well as a bunch of singles meant for a busy day. No-one needed assistance in the delivery which was good but am supplementing a handful of lambs until their mothers’ milk “comes in” (hopefully!!!!)

Discovered that Pebbles, who lambed yesterday, appears to have damage from previous mastitis experience which hadn’t been noticed. One of her lambs is being supplemented as a result.

An English Leicester ewe had twins but really doesn’t care for the ram lamb, only wants the ewe lamb. She is currently in the Sin Bin to try and persuade her to accept both…. She lets him drink if I stand there and stop her dashing about.

An unfortunate mishap this morning when we found a maiden Merino ewe had delivered her lamb, sat on its head and then ended up on her back unable to get up. She’s okay now but she’s a sad mama because her lamb didn’t survive the experience. 🙁

In better news…. there were quite a few English Leicesters born today with very capable mothers.

And dear old Minty, Drysdale Queen calmly presented her newest.

Not bad for an old girl who just turned 10.

It will be interesting to see how this strapping lad grows out. He’s very quiet – like his mum and all her siblings.

Just on dusk there were a couple of new lambs in the Singles mob but it was too late to grab their details – that will be on tomorrow’s numbers!

LambMetrics – 20th August 2022

August 20, 2022 by Wendy Beer

LambMetrics is our lambing blog which tells some of the tales of farm life at lambing time.
Also contains pretty lamb pictures – and maybe a few confronting ones too.

#LAMBMETRICS for the day
Drysdale & English Leicester Flocks (incl. Black flock)

Born today: 2
Total Lambs Born: 6
Drysdale lambs (live total): 0
Drysdale X lambs (live total): 1
English Leicester lambs (live total): 3
English Leicester X lambs (live total): 0
Total Sets of Twins born: 1
Total Sets of Triplets born: 0
Total ewe lambs: 3
Total ram lambs: 3
Ewes lambed /86: 5 (5.81 %)
Lamb % : 80 % [live]
Assisted/Dystocias: 2
Losses: 2 [lamb]; 0 [ewe]

Castledale & Merino Flocks

Born today: 4
Total Lambs Born: 4
MerinoX lambs (live total): 4
Castledale lambs (live total): 0
Total Sets of Twins born: 2
Total Sets of Triplets born: 0
Ewes lambed /98: 2 (2.04 %)
Lamb % : 200% [live]
Assisted/Dystocias: 0
Losses: 0 [lamb]; 0 [ewe]

NOTABLE MIDWIFERY TALES:

Quiet for a couple of days and then BOOM.

3 sets of twins today. 5 ewes and 1 ram lamb.

A maiden Merino ewe had her twins in the early hours but could only count to one. So at daybreak I got her into a pen in the shed to allow some “quiet, mothering time”. A little bit of LamBoost for the lamb feeling left out and then she let me help the lamb drink. Happy to report that she can now count to TWO. Will leave her indoors overnight to make sure she is fully settled with them.

Another, slightly older, Merino ewe had also lambed over night with twins and she could count to two. So that was great. This evening though I was suspicious that the lambs weren’t getting enough colostrum – they kept sucking on the teats and were still crying – so I’ve given them supplemental colostrum and put them in the shed for the night also.

Pebbles, one of the English Leicesters, decided she probably should lamb…. she was a bit too posh to push though (like last year) so thankfully I realised in time. She had a white ram lamb (he’s stained yellow in the first pic due to the meconium in his birthing fluids) and a black ewe lamb who looks like she will have the English Blue “wings” pattern like her Dad, Stirling, and Pebbles’ mum, Mopsy. She was up on her feet very fast. 🙂

That pretty much wraps up today! Hopefully more #lambspam tomorrow!

LambMetrics – 17th August 2022

August 17, 2022 by Wendy Beer

LambMetrics is our lambing blog which tells some of the tales of farm life at lambing time.
Also contains pretty lamb pictures – and maybe a few confronting ones too.

#LAMBMETRICS for the day
Drysdale & English Leicester Flocks (incl. Black flock)

Born today: 2
Total Lambs Born: 4
Drysdale lambs (live total): 0
Drysdale X lambs (live total): 1
English Leicester lambs (live total): 1
English Leicester X lambs (live total): 0
Total Sets of Twins born: 0
Total Sets of Triplets born: 0
Total ewe lambs: 2
Total ram lambs: 2
Ewes lambed /86: 4 (4.65 %)
Lamb % : 50 % [live]
Assisted/Dystocias: 1
Losses: 2 [lamb]; 0 [ewe]

Castledale & Merino Flocks

Born today: 0
Total Lambs Born: 0
MerinoX lambs (live total): 0
Castledale lambs (live total): 0
Total Sets of Twins born: 0
Total Sets of Triplets born: 0
Ewes lambed /98: 0 (0 %)
Lamb % : 0% [live]
Assisted/Dystocias: 0
Losses: 0 [lamb]; 0 [ewe]

NOTABLE MIDWIFERY TALES:

A little voice this morning…..

A first-time Drysdale mother but she is doing well, despite being a little wary of The Shepherdess’ involvement. By the end of the day she was relaxing a bit (assisted by Aunty Paris’ calm demeanour).

This lamb is sired by a White Suffolk ram and so the lamb is not purebred Drysdale.

The morning soured a little when I discovered that one of the silver English Leicester young ewes had lambed and a *#%$%* fox had killed it. 🙁

This year may have some challenges.

LambMetrics – 15th August 2022

August 2, 2022 by Wendy Beer

LambMetrics is our lambing blog which tells some of the tales of farm life at lambing time.
Also contains pretty lamb pictures – and maybe a few confronting ones too.

#LAMBMETRICS for the day
Drysdale & English Leicester Flocks (incl. Black flock)

Born today: 1
Total Lambs Born: 2
Drysdale lambs (live total): 0
English Leicester lambs (live total): 1
English Leicester X lambs (live total): 0
Total Sets of Twins born: 0
Total Sets of Triplets born: 0
Total ewe lambs: 1
Total ram lambs: 1
Ewes lambed 2/86: 2 (2.3 %)
Lamb % : 50 % [live]
Assisted/Dystocias: 1
Losses: 1 [lamb]; 0 [ewe]

Castledale & Merino Flocks

NOTABLE MIDWIFERY TALES:

Today was a double espresso day. Before lunch.

But before we get into that – let’s mention a few days ago.

The ewes’ official due date is the 21st August. Drysdales, however, tend to take the “official” date and get in early so the pregnant ewes – divided into a “Twins” mob and a “Singles” mob – were moved into their Lambing Paddocks on Saturday.

The “Twins” mob (scanned pregnant with a twin pregnancy) definitely seemed to approve of their new Night Paddock.

Of course, if you were following the Facebook page nearly two weeks ago you would have seen there was an “early surprise” English Leicester lamb. His mother was running with the ram before the official joining so she was always a chance of being first. The ewe was pretty savage which made getting them from the far paddock to near the sheds was tricky but we succeeded. He’s doing well.

And then there was this morning. On Saturday there was an English Leicester ewe – scanned with twins – who couldn’t seem to walk. The old Fergie Lambulance was employed to ferry her to the safety of the shed which she could receive various treatments.

**Graphic ovine midwifery description to follow….**

She’s been quite bright and vigorous, just not able to work her front legs properly. But this morning there was a great gush of fluids which seemed quite bloody which is never good and my heart sank. The fact she wasn’t overly dilated in the vulva and cervix department confirmed to me that this was probably a dead lamb in utero situation.

Sure enough, there wasn’t any response – from the lamb – as I tried to manipulate the lamb whose head wanted to drift off in a different direction to where the feet were lined up. The legs would have come out correctly but with the head not wanting to stay positioned this just confirmed the lamb was already dead. And there wasn’t enough room for my hand to be in there to guide the head with the legs sticking out (often there is enough room. They can be very “roomy”.) Sometimes you just need to do anything possible. If I can’t get a lamb out then euthanasing the ewe becomes the only option – and I want to avoid that. (The pros/cons of an ovine C-sec are for another day)

I had my super duper noose gadget that I got last year for pulling lambs so decided to give that a go. That didn’t last long…….

So I made a decision. Manipulated the head out successfully but couldn’t reach back in to get the legs. Which meant it was time for me to put on the Big Girl Panties (unfortunately I had forgotten to put on my wet weather trousers this morning so my jeans were icky by this point!) and do something I actually haven’t done before, although I have read/heard plenty about it, in desperation to save the ewe. I carefully decapitated the lamb which enabled me to push the lamb back “in”, find the legs and pull them out and then pull the rest of the lamb out without having the head twist back and jamming on the other side of the cervix. Definitely kind of gross but the lamb was deceased, there was no blood and, more importantly, it worked.

The ewe wanted to be a good mum so it’s a bit sad. The lamb was a ewe, of course.

There should have been another lamb but I haven’t been able to find one in there…. So I am wondering if the other one scanned was actually lost a while ago. Or the scanner was wrong.

A bit of a downer really. And all before 10am.

To finish on a brighter note: please enjoy the rounded tums of Panda and her chums.

And a little smooch from Polly (who has scanned for twins). Not her best angle though.

Here’s hoping tomorrow has less drama…!

LambMetrics – 31st August 2021

August 31, 2021 by Wendy Beer

#LAMBMETRICS for the last few days

Drysdale & English Leicester Flocks

Born today: 0
Total Lambs Born: 107
Drysdale lambs (live total): 48
English Leicester lambs (live total): 37
English Leicester X lambs (live total): 13
Total Sets of Twins born: 35
Total Sets of Triplets born: 0
Total ewe lambs: 53
Total ram lambs: 54
Ewes lambed /70: 70 (100 %)
Lamb % : 140 % [live]
Assisted/Dystocias: 11
Losses: 9 [lamb]; 0 [ewe]

Castledale & Merino Flocks

Born today: 1
Total Lambs Born: 100
MerinoX lambs (live total): 25
Castledale lambs (live total): 67
Total Sets of Twins born: 38
Total Sets of Triplets born: 0
Ewes lambed /62: 62 (100 %)
Lamb % : 148% [live]
Assisted/Dystocias: 3
Losses: 10 [lamb]; 1 [ewe]

NOTABLE MIDWIFERY TALES:

All done and dusted!

The last Merino ewe lambed a day or so ago. Unfortunately, as is wont with the last handful (why, I do not know) it was slightly overcooked and the ewe had herself in a bad position (legs uphill is *bad*) and lamb got stuck and had died before I arrived. The ewe took a while to get herself walking again (took the tractor taxi to the hospital but then she broke out…. lol)

The number of lambs on the bottle this year (saved!) is a bit overwhelming but they had adjusted very nicely to the new “Lambars” and are going through milk at a rate of knots! LOL

I will try get a further Stat Breakdown done in the next few days.

Now there is a mad scramble for last minute preparations for The Big Wool Show! A wonderful online woolly event – based in Australia but accessible everywhere. 🙂 🙂

So, our online shop will close for “refurbishment” later tonight and then open up for The Big Wool Show on Saturday morning! 😀

LambMetrics – 28th August 2021

August 28, 2021 by Wendy Beer

#LAMBMETRICS for the last few days

Drysdale & English Leicester Flocks

Castledale & Merino Flocks

Born today: 4
Total Lambs Born: 99
MerinoX lambs (live total): 25
Castledale lambs (live total): 67
Total Sets of Twins born: 38
Total Sets of Triplets born: 0
Ewes lambed /62: 61 (98.3 %)
Lamb % : 150% [live]
Assisted/Dystocias: 2
Losses: 9 [lamb]; 1 [ewe]

NOTABLE MIDWIFERY TALES:

Down to only 1 ewe still pregnant. I think. (I don’t have the hi-viz tags on the Merino and Castledale ewes and it’s got confusing with a paddock full of lambs. lol)

Beautiful day today but the other night – straight after the blog – was drama-filled when I went back to feed lambs and went to try get 2 lambs back with their mother and then discovered a ewe “down” and her (new) lamb missing.

Found it under a fallen tree. Couldn’t tell if a fox had tried to grab it or if it had bled a bit due to getting itself into a tight spot.

The Merino ewe is okay now but wasn’t interested in her lamb whatsoever. And at 9pm I wasn’t going to muck about – a jacket, a bottle and a warm shed were in its future. (The ICU Small Animal rugs are awesome – I can put a heat pack in the jacket to keep the lamb snug all night.) Lamby is now doing well.

And then there was another lamb whose mother didn’t want it.

Those of you keeping track will realise this means that now I have WAY TOO MANY lambs on the bottle.

I caved. I got the special “Lambar” feeder to make like easier for Mum and I.

The poddy lambs may need a blog post all their own. There are a variety of reasons the lambs are on the bottle – ranging from fox attack injuries to orphans. They are quite the “gang” now!

One set of twins is on the bottle because their mum had been ill and subsequently didn’t have quite enough milk when they were born.

This ewe had a partial vaginal prolapse. The “retainer” normally ties to the wool but short wool necessitates a harness to “hold it all in”!

There was a request for a Floss update.

You will be pleased to know that Floss appears to have made a full recovery! Thank you all for the love, prayers and good wishes for her.

The other day was International Dog Day or some such thing. So here are some pics of the other dogs here. 🙂

Bramble and Brighid are slowing down now. Maggie isn’t an awesome sheepdog generally but she’s been very useful on the night rounds during lambing. She’s been taking “guard dog” duties very seriously!