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LambMetrics – September 4th, 2019

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#LAMBMETRICS for the day

Drysdale & English Leicester Flocks

Born today: 3
Total Lambs Born: 45
Drysdale lambs (live total): [no purebreds in 2019]
DrysdaleX lambs (total): 26
English Leicester lambs (live total): 19
Total Sets of Twins born: 9
Total Sets of Triplets born: 0
Total ewe lambs: 20
Total ram lambs: 25
Ewes lambed /68: 36 (52.9 %)
Lamb % : 125 % [live]
Assisted/Dystocias: 6
Losses: 0

Notable Midwifery tales:

A teeny tiny

Only three lambs born today but it’s been a little rough – as opposed to plain sailing.

In good news – one of the sets of twins that started on the bottle yesterday because their mum was “deficient” in the colostrum department seem to now be getting enough and her milk seem to be coming through. Yay!

And the other lambs taking the bottle are very sweet – as you’d expect.

“Feeeeeed me. Again.”

The not-so-good aspect of the day involve a first-time mother that seems to have had a lamb which is perhaps a bit prem/dopey/NotQuiteRight and it won’t accept assistance from me and I’m not sure the mum is doing her thing properly. That may not end well. Nature sucks sometimes.

Then there was a lamb born this morning and seemed all okay but this evening has presented with possibly a damaged shoulder. ?! Argh. An attempt has been made to try and strap it but it’s all a bit shonky. Fingers crossed on that one.

But the worst thing was finding a week-old English Leicester lamb (male) who is sick. Seemed fine last night but it’s very sick and has a poor prognosis despite antibiotics. Nature sucks sometimes. 🙁  7-14 days old seems to be a fraught time – one reason I try watch them very carefully. Unfortunately, prey animals like sheep hide illness very well and lambs can be very fragile. (Sometimes they are as tough as nails too… it’s a weird thing.)

Hoping tomorrow brings some slightly better scenes!

Anyone for milk?

LambMetrics – September 1st, 2019

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#LAMBMETRICS for the day

Drysdale & English Leicester Flocks

Born 30/8 – today: 8
Total Lambs Born: 34
Drysdale lambs (live total): [no purebreds in 2019]
DrysdaleX lambs (total): 20
English Leicester lambs (live total): 14
Total Sets of Twins born: 7
Total Sets of Triplets born: 0
Total ewe lambs: 16
Total ram lambs: 18
Ewes lambed /68: 27 (39.7 %)
Lamb % : 126 % [live]
Assisted/Dystocias: 4
Losses: 0

Notable Midwifery tales:

Lamb-wise, things calmed for a couple of days but back to four ewes lambing today. Glad to be getting them whittled down.

Currently, there are two sets of twins (English Leicester) on the bottle due to their mums having insufficient milk. That’s making a bit of work (and taking up time) but they’ve responded well at this stage. This issue is one reason why we tend to pen overnight the new mums to make sure the lambs are getting sufficient milk. It also helps make them all very calm and relaxed about such behaviour.
One of the ewes is older than we realised, the other is the “wide load” ewe who featured on Instagram a few weeks ago. Will try get photos of those lambs tomorrow – forgot this afternoon as we raced to get new lambs in the shed as a thunderstorm hit! (The shed is a little full!)

One of the “newbies” this morning. This lamb shows the classic “half ‘n’ half” wool type when the Drysdale is crossed with a different wool type!
Another newborn White Suffolk X Drysdale lamb

Slightly sombre note: there was a newborn English Leicester lamb this afternoon as we rushed to get them in the shed. There’s something Not Quite Right with him, we fear. Have a horrible feeling his mother may have stood on him and damaged him internally.  🙁  If that has happened then there won’t be anything we can do. At least he is sheltered and he’s been given a dose of Lamboost, which is a special supplement to help newborn lambs.
Will be checking on him very shortly when the bottle-bubs get their late night feed. Fingers crossed?? Hopefully the stats above won’t have any “Losses” added tomorrow. We’ve done really well so far to have not lost anything. (There are always some losses but doesn’t make us feel any better to know that. Would prefer zero!)

LambMetrics – August 29, 2019

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#LAMBMETRICS for the day

Drysdale & English Leicester Flocks

Born today: 6
Total Lambs Born: 26
Drysdale lambs (live total): [no purebreds in 2019]
DrysdaleX lambs (total): 16
English Leicester lambs (live total): 10
Total Sets of Twins born: 6
Total Sets of Triplets born: 0
Total ewe lambs: 12
Total ram lambs: 14
Ewes lambed /68: 20 (29.4 %)
Lamb % : 130 % [live]
Assisted/Dystocias: 3
Losses: 0

Notable Midwifery tales:

Ex-bottle babies, Cindy and NotSquishy come for a chat and cuddle.

It’s starting to get to the Critical Mass stage now. (Also called “Chasing Your Tail”) Where the number of new lambs starts to blur slightly when you still have ewe/lambs in the shed due to issues that mean you want to keep an eye on them. The Shepherdess’s state of mind suffers slightly too when it’s realised a tag number has been recorded incorrectly or a ewe’s tag and so the subsequent tags are affected! Argh!

“Ewe lookin’ at my lamb??!”
“Use your brother as a show jump”
Camouflage twins

One of the set of twins that was born yesterday (pictured above) is being supplemented due to their mum not appearing to have quite enough milk at this stage. Hopefully her milk will come in over the next few days!

“Ready to go outdoors, Mum!”

Other dramas including an English Leicester ewe who decided to turn on her lamb when the Shepherdess put a coat on it because it was shivering a bit! Unfortunately, the ewe head butted the lamb then fell on it in her haste to try and knock it over. Fingers crossed the lamb will be okay. Poor thing was a wee bit miserable after that (and yes, the coat was taken off and the pair put back in the shed.) Have never had a problem really before with the ewes not accepting the lambs wearing coats but this year have now had two ewes turn on their lambs. A real nuisance!

One maiden Drysdale ewe needed a little bit of a hand this afternoon. Being new to the midwifery unit she didn’t realise she was supposed to stay still while the lamb is assisted. This meant that a restraint needed to be employed to relieve her of the “obstruction”. Usually something more commonly used with the Merino ewes rather than the Drysdales. (Merino ewes being notoriously bad mothers)
Once the lamb had been delivered safely it was placed in front of the ewe so she could start the bonding process by licking it. It didn’t happen instantly – not uncommon with assisted births – so the restraints are important to stop the ewe running away and abandoning the lamb. As can be seen below, she loves her lamb now!

LambMetrics – August 28th, 2019

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#LAMBMETRICS for the day


Drysdale & English Leicester Flocks

Born today: 9
Total Lambs Born: 20
Drysdale lambs (live total): [no purebreds in 2019]
DrysdaleX lambs (total): 14
English Leicester lambs (live total): 6
Total Sets of Twins born: 5
Total Sets of Triplets born: 0
Total ewe lambs: 10
Total ram lambs: 10
Ewes lambed /68: 15 (22 %)
Lamb % : 133 % [live]
Assisted/Dystocias: 2
Losses: 0

Notable Midwifery tales:

Tell us how you feel…..

Well. It was on for young and old today! Finally got the “rush” of lambs that has been threatened for weeks. Seven ewes resulting in nine lambs.

First up in the morning we found that Paris and Minty (full sisters of Gilbert) had both lambed. Nawwww. 

Paris had a single ewe lamb
Minty had a boy and a girl

Two English Leicester ewes had also lambed a single lamb each. One ended up in the shed immediately as her teats were a bit blocked and her lamb needed assistance to get a drink of the all-vital colostrum.

Snuggled beside mummy (over not under!)

The other young ewe had her first lamb and he’s a sturdy lad.

There was a another DrysdaleX ewe who has lost a few demerit points today after not being “easy going”. Protective is one thing – trying to kneecap the Shepherdess is another!!

Later in the afternoon it was noticed that the “wide-load” English Leicester ewe looked like finally getting the show on the road. Another young ewe also looked likely. The old ewe lambed first and the young ewe wanted it. Said lamb was used to get both ewes into the shed. Eyebrows were raised that old wide-load ewe only had one but the second came along nearly an hour later. He was looking a bit stressed but he’s coming good.

The young ewe however was…. tight. Very tight. Lamb in the right position but just a little bit squeezy. Twenty minutes later a strapping lass was relieved from her uncomfortable situation. Mother and daughter (and Shepherdess!) took a few deep breaths!
Lamb is now drinking well. 🙂 🙂

After all that excitement for the day it’s about time to go to sleep ….

Wonder what tomorrow will bring?

LambMetrics – August 27th, 2019

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#LAMBMETRICS for the day


Drysdale & English Leicester Flocks

Born today: 3
Total Lambs Born: 11
Drysdale lambs (live total): [no purebreds in 2019]
DrysdaleX lambs (total): 10
English Leicester lambs (live total): 1
Total Sets of Twins born: 3
Total Sets of Triplets born: 0
Total ewe lambs: 5
Total ram lambs: 6
Ewes lambed /68: 8  (11.7 %)
Lamb % : 137 % [live]
Assisted/Dystocias: 1
Losses: 0

 

Notable Midwifery tales:

The run of sunny weather continues but at least 2 ewes decided to get their act together this morning!

“Stand still, Mum!” Mum freezes in position…..!

A lovely set of twin ewe lambs and a single. We won’t be getting through them really fast at this rate but at least they are coming.

In other news – the babes born last week are coming along nicely. A couple posed prettily for your #lambspam delight.

Little Charly says hi. She wants to be a Showgirl like her Mum and sister….
After his rough start in the world, this lamb has decided he knows how to pose for photos – like his mother!

LambMetrics – August 25th 2019

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No lambs born today!

Beautiful sunny day and all the girls had their legs crossed…!

But that didn’t stop me having a bit of a walk and finding other things to look at.

First up: A hard-working, termite-eating echidna

And then one of the natural springs was inspected. Really pleased to see them overflowing!

A lot of marshy-type area around them so that means some different plant species. Flowering at the moment are some Sundews. 🙂

Hopefully, the ewes will not all wait until the expected rain on Wednesday!
Lamb pictures tomorrow??