Lambing Journal 2011

 May 8-11th have been full days of lambs being born (15 ewes per day), feeder lambs being managed on fresh pasture, meat orders being filled for the Park and local resatuarants, and bidding farewell to our dear friends Gaylee and Doug as they make their way to their next destination to visit family.  We could hardly manage the transition from expentant mothers to nurseries pens full of new families without the added help of these two wonderful folks.  Doug not only was our computer technical advisor, cleaning up cookies and trojan horses, but kept the yearling shed mucked clean.  Ya can’t get more verstile help than that!  And my right arm woman in the yearling pen, Gaylee will be missed.  She thinks ahead of me, remembers details of the sheep that only I expect to remember. I miss her today. 

I tried to call Gaylee to tell her the story of Jughead ewe and her big white lamb.  We had force grafted her lamb for two days.  She accpet him by the morning of day 3.  We even moved her to a mix pen of another ewe and twins.  After Gay and Doug left I moved this pair to general “preschool” nursery setting (okay for group living but needing to be watched).  Jughead ewe (sorry for the lack of name) lost her mind and decided that no lamb was hers.  She did not want her lamb anymore.  I was frustrated and decided to take tha lamb to the bottlefed group.  Next morning, May 11, I saw the ewe frantic for her lamb.  Her udder very full, I decided to see if she finally could pay attention to sent.  Low and behold she took that lamb back!  They have not been apart all day!  I wished Gaylee could have been there to see this amazing thing!  We’re so thankful for their help and prayers!

We have had 122 ewe lamb since April 30th.  The teaser ram effect is proving true as the graph shows our count right in the average for previous teased lambings.  Our yearling are being stars, twinning and doing the best they can to keep both lambs tended to, unassisted by a jug (well, maybe a little taffic managment by moving pregnants to the alleyway and out of the way).  Our adults are lambing at 210%, 2 year olds at 173% and those dear innocent yearlings at 149%.  We have some dandy purebred lambs by our new ram Sargento LF 420x, Colby Jack  is putting on some flash and consistant lambs, and Serengeti is homozygous for grey pattern which has made for every spectrum of color.  He carries moorit too.  Moorit grey pattern badgerfaces, black grey mouflons, not to mention add spotting to that and its been a mosaic of the best in Icelandic sheep.  We will begin processing groups of families to haul to irrigated fields for the summer.  This is the time for pictures!

 

May 7th (day 144)

Today’s summary: 16 ewes lambed today. Another set of triplets, 8 sets of twins, and 5 yearlings lambed.

Purebred ewes:

Ewe WLF 6025, an Arial daughter (WKR 123L) had twins, awesome heavy twins by Sargento LF 420X. Both females, YEAH! Both black mouflons (so Sargento must not carry spotting). 10.5 lbs and 9.6 lbs. 6025’s lambing record is (2,2,2,4,2).

Yearling WLF 24X had tiny moorit ewe lamb. Did not even look at her as she showed no signs of lambing. Tough little thing, born as rain began to fall. By midnight I moved them into the shed for good measure. Little “doll size” lamb weighed 3.3 lbs. FULL belly of milk when we weighed her.

WLF 9023. We call her Ami (friendly). An exceptionally friendly ewe that was not a bottle lamb but acts like one, will walk up to total strangers. She had been getting out of the netted group of 2 year olds several times. She was in the middle pasture, had gotten thru the high tensile when the fence was off. She must have walked 500 yards to get back to us, hanging with us like a pet dog. We decided to put her in the horse/sheep corral to contain her. She was close to lambing. And boy howdy! Within 30 minutes she had nose and toes presented. Unobserved she had two nice ewe lambs, friendly as well. Both females, a black mouflon and a black mouflon spotted. (the frosted mouflon type). Each weighing 7 and 7.5 lbs. We likely need to sell WLF 9023 as she could be a problem this summer with our electric netted pastures. Her price is $600 alone, $1000 for her and one of her lambs as we will keep at least one of her babies who hopefully won’t be so clever with the electric fence.

Purebred yearlings who had lambs by crossbred X-man: WLF 186X, 145X, and 181X(twins). 145X is our first ewe to maybe have such a hard push (lamb 8.3 lbs), that before she got with it again, her lamb must have crawled away. She is force jugged right now and appears to maybe accept this lamb, but we are not releasing her yet.

May 6th (day 143 from ram turn out)

Today’s summary: 15 ewes lambed. 11 sets of twins and a set of triplets. Only 3 yearlings lambed today, which is a nice break to reorganize their mixing groups.

Purebred ewes:

WLF 503R had gorgeous twins in the early hours of dawn. A black mouflon ewe lamb weighing 10.4 lbs, and a white ram lamb (small horns) that weighed 9.7 lbs. Sire is Sargento, LF 420X who is white, and carries mouflon pattern. So glad to have a ewe out of this ewe!

WLF 9043W had twins. Two ram lambs weighing 7 and 7.4 lbs. A white horned, and a black mouflon, polled? Sire is Sargento!

WLF 9020W “Escapae” had twins too. A white ewe and a Moorit grey frosted variety mouflon. 5.6 lbs and 7.2 lbs. She is very attentive, lowers head to guide her lambs around the pasture. These lambs are sire but appears to be homozygous grey pattern, WLF 110X “Serengeti”

Purebred yearling WLF 77X had a set of twins 4.7 and 4.2 lbs. They are out of a crossbred ram lamb X-man. The only crossbred ram we have. The yearlings are at 160% lambing rate which is awesome, lambs are delivered easier, but the mothering is more of challenge in traffic. 77x twins wandered apart from each other long enough that although I saw her tending to both and left to check other ewes, at some point she decided one was enough. Force jugging her didn’t work after 2 days, so we pulled her twin for a bottle lamb. This led us to give up on Matilda (3 days). Also, there was a crossbred yearling 062 who had the same traffic problems with her twins and we pulled her rejected twin as well. All in all the yearlings are doing their best. Out of 15 yearlings so far there have been 2 assists on front leg back lambs, 2 twinners who rejected their twin and are raising singles, and the first ewe lamb whose first lamb died. All are acknowledging their babies are birth even on those assisted lambings!

Yearling ewe WLF 186X doing what yearling Icelandic moms to very well!

Happy Mother’s Day

 

May 5th (day 142 from ram turn out)

Today’s summary: 14 ewes lambed today on the first day of our typical earliest gestation. 4 sets of triplets were born out of the adult group, 4 yearlings lambed, and out of the 14 there were 4 purebred lambings.

Purebred ewes:

Ewe WLF 9146 had twins by ColbyJack 9106. A white female 5.6 lbs, and a spotted black female 6.1 lbs

<<Yearling ewe WLF 143X easily lambed out an 8 lb white ram lamb by Ace WLF 9042W. Very protective mother against the other ewes AND other lambs.

TCE 345T had a set of triplets for the 2nd year in a row. All white, a ewe lamb and two ram lambs. They weighed 7.7, 5.7, and a wee 3.4 lbs. respectively. We may need to pull the wee one if it gets bullied out. But so far all is good. She did this on her own, unobserved, and across the creek away from the flock.

Last to go this day was WLF 8092. I found her with one lamb out, but it was dead (born backward?). Her second lamb was normal presentation. A black mouflon ram lamb, weighed 7.3 lbs. She has been weak on production in the past and remains so. Not good for 8092.

Unnassisted &/or unobserved lambings on these crossbred ewes in this order:

Ewe 7046, triplets, all white ones, total weight = 25 lbs! (68.8% Icelandic)

Yearling 042, singled, black grey 6.3 lbs (93.8% Icelandic)

Yearling 084, twins, both white, total weight = 11.8 lbs (87.5% Icelandic)

Yearling 064, twins, a white and a black, total weight =14.3 lbs. (84.4% Icelandic) This ewe got interrupted during first feeding, started refusing a twin after other yearlings investigated it. We are force grafting to rebond them.

Ewe 9118, twins, a white and a black grey, total weight = 16.9 lbs (84.4% Icelandic)

Ewe 7014, triplets, a white and two blacks, total weight = 22.2 lbs (87.5% Icelandic)

Ewe 9141, twins, black grey spotted and a white, total weight = 16.2 lbs (90.6%)

Ewe 6052, twins, both black grey, total weight = 20.2 lbs (81.3% Icelandic)

Ewe 8049, twins, both white, total weight = 16.2 lbs (87.5% Icelandic)

The only assisted delivery today was Ewe 7041, who was having her third lamb while I was doing first morning checks. It was presenting hind feet first. It is easy to catch these ewes in the open when they have a lamb on the ground already. It was a very easy pull (did it quickly) and the lamb shook the fluids off its face with ease. She may have been able to do this delivery unassisted, but the lambs tend to inhale the fluids while their head is still in the birth canal. All three white lambs, total weight = 24.2 lbs (87.5% Icelandic)

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May 4th:  We had 4 sets of twins and a yearling single overnght while we rested from yesterday. Total ewes that lambed on the 4th is 15.  At this point crossbreds may not be listed with details, unless something important is needed to be said.  But follow along as this day was NOT without excitement:

Overnight WLF 8131 had her twins.  This is what I’d like to see all our Icelandic lambs look and feel like.  Thick, heavier than they look, full of muscle as newborns.  These lambs are out of Colby Jack WLF B5SP 9105.  Both females, 8.3 and 7.9 lbs, a black badgerface and a moorit badgerface, polled. Mom very protective, hard to move to the nursery area.  She had them on the otherside of the creek away from the flock, and stayed there for over 12 hours. 

 

Unregistered purebred ewe 8010, an Ariel granddaughter, had twins by unregistered ram Cas II. A black male, 7.6 lbs. and a white female 7 lbs.>

Yearling 255X (registration pending) had a single black and white lamb (5.8 lbs) by Rockstar, WLF 69X. All on her own, no one watching.  GOOD mom!

<WLF 9080 had her twins too, by our new ram Sargento LF 420X.  He carries mouflon!  Lambs are white male with horns, 7.7 lbs, and a black mouflon female, 7.8 lbs. 

Says Me meets his successor, little Chum, May 4th, 2011

 

Per and I left for town to get our new pyrenees pup from the breeder. Awesome littel dude.  His name will be Chum.

 

 

 

 

 

Crossbred ewe 8056 with seconds-old twin

Other crossbreds that lambed unobserved and unassisted: Ewe 7061 (twins, 87.5% Icelandic),  9176 (twins, 75% Icelandic), Ewe 7052 (twins, 87.5% Icelandic), yearling 072 (twins, 81.3% Icelandic), Ewe 8056 (twins, 93.8% Icelandic), yearling 265 (twins, 93.8), yearling 058(twins, 93.8%Icelandic)yearling ewe 232 (twins, 87.5% Icelandic)

 

 

 

 

Assisted lambings include Ewe 538, triplets, first one pulled alive the other 2 stillborn. This ewe was captured up out of the field by using two of our dogs, Bindi and Thistle, and a few extra ewes who also came thru the gate.  We corraled her in the pen outside the horse stall, and then was able to catch her up. Same dogs helped bring the helper ewes back to the creek pen.  This was start of the afternoon when 5 of 6 yearlings lambed in daylight hours on the 4th.   AND….

As we continued to watch the yearling ensemble of motherhood commence, word got back to us that ewe 9133 in the TwoYearOld pen was having a lamb with a head out and only one leg presented.  This group is contained in electric netting by three sides.  To catch a ewe like this we do what is not recommended by the net company and funneled 9133 and a few girlfriends into a corner with a spare net.  This extremely fragile corral system works long enough for me to grab her leg in the crowd of ewes.  Doug, Per, Vi and I moved in on the group of girls like netting up a school of fish against the stronger, perimeter fence. In a gentle yet quick and deliberate move I grabbed her hind leg.  Quickly we dispersed the group, Vi picked up our “fish” net, Per went back to get dad and the Gator for hauling the ewe.  9133 was not happy but I used her momentum to wheelbarrel her over to the meet dad.  HELLO, BULLDOG!!  Bulldog the oldest yak is guardian of the 2 year old group.  She saw the ewe “dragging” me behind her and came running over to greet us.  I expected as much, as this type of behavior happens when you handle her ewes like this in the field.  She was fired up about it, snorted, ran around me in a big circle and then she charged at me like a bucking bull.  I raised up my free arm and one of my legs, maintianing grip on the ewe.  I called out for Doug and he came running over to me because she was even more bothered and running at me a 2nd time.  This second charge was met by Doug who almost got to touch her hide.  Defeated, she stormed after her other girls and huddled around them, tail still up over her back.  We loaded ewe into Gator.  The lamb pulling was easy, but it did come out with that other front leg back.  I am convinced that Bulldog will guard. No doubt about that!!  9133 had her twin on her own, both black grey mouflons, 87.5% Icelandic.

skin grafting a lamb

So the crossbred yearlings 072, 0265, 058, all laid down to lamb starting at about 2 that afternoon.  They ALL twinned.  AND they were all star mothers, even in all the traffic of their girlfriends.  Yearling 0265 was disrupted on her second lamb, however,  and our friend ViAnn who was helping was close enough and felt the lamb needed help to remove the sack.  This caused the ewe to move off.  Since she hadn’t licked it yet I told Vi to grab that twin so we could graft it to poor DL 700W whom we’ve been milking to keep her ready for a graft.  She had lambed on May 3rd, so I felt our window was still open.  I skinned her dead lamb she had been mothering, a jacket with tail included.  We thawed her colostrum from the 3rd and fed it to the new lamb.  I warmed up the cold skin, cut holes for its legs, and placed it on the lamb.  Her now revived lamb was ready to go.  She liked it, the butt end.  But the head of the lamb was another story.  So, we locked up her head, ewe 700 , Matilda (her new name) to restrain her and commenced with a force graft.  I believe it will work.  We have done it 4 or 5 times with success. It will take a few days with her restained though, and no cleaning of her pen while we do this. Stay tuned as we will see what happens.

 

 During the lambings of 072 and 265 we felt it best to move off the curious girlfriends to the alleyway. 

While we messed with the yak, Matilda and doing some pasture check followups, two yearlings began lambing unbeknownst to the rest of us.  Yearlings 058 and 232 plopped out twins like pros.  What a day in the yearling pen and day for guard yaks!  Little Chum’s job will be to guard the property.  Cute little man has not alcue yet to his future responsibility!

 For the final performance of May 4th, yearling WLF 36X had a tiny set of twins and was diligent about it.  They only weigh 3.2 and 2.6 lbs, but she has a good milk supply.  They are both girls by Rockstar 69X.

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May 3rd, day 141 from ram turn out. Today we are shearing the feeder hogget lambs. 

Lambing reports: 

Yearling ewe WLF 183X had a single ewe lamb overnight in heavy traffic of ALL the yearling moms-to-be.  She was being helped by two girlfriends, so I shuffled them off to the other pen.  A great first time mom!  Her lamb is a crossbred lamb by X-man.

Ewe DL 700W : She was not so fortunate.  Her first time lambing as a 2 year old didn’t go well, as a had to pull a breech (butt first) dead lamb with its hocks folded.  Had to come out that way.  We penned her up and miled out pver 2 cups of colostrum, hoping to beable to graft a lamb to her.  She loved on her lifeless lamb, so maybe we can get her one.

Crossbred ewe 7034 (Icelandic x Katahdin) was a dramea queen on her 1st of two lambs, so much so she did not acknowledge her second lamb right away.  We got them caught up and things came around.  All this ewe wrangling while hubby Per and shearer Ryan worked on the hoggets.  Friends from Michigan, Gaylee and Doug, and Mom were Roussies (aide to the shearers, thanks to a call from Lainey providing technical terminology from Marlborough Sound, New Zealand.)  What a crew we have!

Ewe TCE 366T had her lamb somewhere during the morning.  A moorit grey out of ram WLF 110X, his first lamb. 

 

 Other ewes that lambed today: ewe 8073, “Buttons”, had a malformed lamb, followed by a underdeveloped fetus. Bizarre.  She is too flighty to deal with to make a future graft, so we’ll let her dry up.

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 May 2nd (am): Overnight BLW 01P 122T had her purebred lambs by ColbyJack WLF B5SP 9106W.  Both are ram lambs, white, and no sign of scurs!  7 lbs, 7.5 lbs.

Also while we slept, in the 2 year old group, crossbred ewe 9179 had a dandy set of twins, a white ewe and a black grey ram by a white unregistered Icelandic ram we called Cas II.  5.7 and 6.4 lbs respectively.  Lambs are 93.8% Icelandic.         

 

 

 

May 1st: (Day 139 from 1st day of breeding) Crossbred ewe 9027.  twin boys. 7 lbs each.  A homozygous grey?  and a spotted black grey. Perfect on her own! Sired by Ace WLF 01H 9042W.  Lambs are 87.5% Icelandic

 

 

 

April 30 (day 138!)  Day 138 from 1st day of breeding.  Yearling ewe crossbred 132 had a set of twins (5 lbs ea.).  Lambs are 93.8% Icelandic. Natural first time mother, had them while we were eating supper.   Unfortunately there was trouble with one of them, unable to stand, domey head (water on the brain?) He died that night.  But she had mothered him, had both twins all cleaned off. Earliest gestation for our flock. 

April 28: Ewes sorted and set into lambing groups.  Lambing madness just days away!

Shearing has been done and now we wait!  Lambs due as early as May 2nd!

Staying Dry (before)