The new line-up

From left to right in first photo:

Patriot (mama Iris)

Mae (mama April)

Iris

Brock

April

and:  

April and baby Mae

Iris and baby Patriot

First time outside together, grazing rather contentedly until.....Iris spotted the cows, and trotted very purposefully AWAY from the grass, stamped her hoof until the other sheep paid attention and came running, and all 5 of them escaped the big bad cows by disappearing back into the barn.  

 

Laura
http://dykstrasfarm.blogspot.com/

Our daring escape

It really wasn't a big deal.  We were able to drive to Michigan on Saturday, spend Saturday night, and come back on Sunday.  Just like normal people who can leave for a night without (almost without!) a second thought.

A friend's daughter came and stayed with the 2 dogs in the house, so we could go away for just one night, and.....

What WAS a big deal:

A fellow-farming family came to feed and water the 2 pigs, 2 piglets, 3 sheep, 2 lambs, 5 ducks, 5+9+14 ducklings (various ages, either hatched in the incubator or freshly hatched under the duck), 5 chickens, 12 chicks, 4 geese, 2 cows, 5 barn cats, 2 kittens, 4 rabbits, 6 turkeys.....and still carried on after the 4 crazy geese got it in their heads to chase these kind-hearted people out of the barn.  (In fairness to the geese, they were guarding the nest that one goose has decided to raise her babies in)  But still!  It shouldn't have happened on someone else's watch.  The geese know enough when I walk through that they'll get booted out of the way if they threaten me.  Not to hurt them, but just a "Hey!  Watch your manners!" reminder.

New lambs are doing fine.  The day before we left, April, the yearling ewe, needed the vet to visit.  She was lethargic, ignoring her lamb (who was trying to sneak a sip of milk while April was lying on her udder, not letting her hungry baby nurse!), calling in despair as the other 3 sheep trotted out of the barn to graze without her, letting her nose hang down to the ground if I roused her to let the little lambikin nurse.....  All of that for the vet to say "Well, I don't really want to suggest post-partum depression, but......"  And sure enough, I let her out of her little lambing pen, and she perked right up, baby at her side, like nothing was wrong and as if no vet fee had been paid to find out that she wasn't retaining a dead lamb after delivering a live one, she only needed to be reunited with her tiny flock.  Grrr.....

Because the vet came out, because I paid the house-call fee to find out that April was OK, I was able to leave her and know that she'd be fine for the weekend while we were gone.  I guess that's worth something!

Thank-you to our friends, the Gould family, who made it possible for us to get a much-needed break and attend our nephew's high school graduation party!  We knew that things were in good hands, and apologize for our disorderly geese!    :)

 

Laura

Dose of reality

Talking to the vet, I described April's delivery of that little ewe-lamb, almost the same as I described it yesterday in the story.

He switched suddenly from congratulating me on a successful birth to warning me for future births.

The nose presented itself, but no hooves.  The thing to do at that point is to reach back along the body of the lamb (yes, while it's in the birth canal), find the position of the legs, and decide how to proceed from there.

It was beginner's luck (more likely the providence of God!) that this was a small female lamb and not a large male.  That my ewe is larger framed than other Babydoll sheep.  That the sudden onset of hard labor widened the cervix considerably in the short time since I'd just done the internal check.

The little lamb slid out with not too much trouble, even though her legs were bent back.  A larger lamb could have become stuck in the birth canal, because the shoulders would have been bunched up and bulky.  

The same situation happened for another client last week in our vet's practice.  He told me the story in gruesome detail.  A large twin lamb presented itself, nose first, legs turned back.  It became wedged in the birth canal, with a twin trying to be born behind it.  The vet had to do a C-section, and as he told me this story, it was very evident that he considered it a small miracle that both lambs were delivered alive in that case.

It HAD occurred to me as I watched the sudden contractions that I'd be calling him for a C-section on my sheep.  It DID occur to me, with the lamb alive as the nose poked out, that it could be a lamb-or-mother type of delivery, and if that was the case, I needed to opt for the life of the mother.  

Whew.  I thought the stress was over, but as he was telling his worst-case-scenario of a week ago, which could have played itself out here just as easily, I felt wave after wave of stress, thinking about how April's first time giving birth could have been a disaster.

What can I say?  I was alone with a sheep in distress, thinking through what to do next as April's contractions ramped up to nearly unmanageable.  A little brown nose started pushing through, and whatever I did, right or wrong, turned out to be RIGHT for this particular little lamb.  

Thinking about it after hearing what Dr. Morrissey just told me, I believe that God was directing my actions, because (I have to tell you), having never delivered a lamb before, the clear directions that came to mind were NOT from my vast experience!

He IS an excellent vet.  He doesn't sugar-coat anything.  (It might be nice to have the worst-case stories tempered just a little bit.....but that wouldn't teach the owner of the livestock in question what to remember the next time around.)  He admonished me in a way that gave me the information that I need for future lambings, while still congratulating me on THIS successful birth.  The knowledge that things could have been so different yesterday will stick with me the next time, that's for sure.

It's good to be humbled once in a while, I think, in order to remember Who truly is in charge of life and death, here and everywhere else in the world.  And it makes me so much more thankful to God, for the relatively uneventful births of two beautiful lambs!

 

Laura

Not one, but TWO doses of cuteness

Introducing....the new Babydoll lambs at the Dykstra farm

"Patriot", born to Iris on Memorial Day, 2014

"Brandy", born to April on May 28, 2014

Those are the names that came to mind as these little cuties were being born, not necessarily the names endorsed by the entire family......  

For the blog readers.....feel free to suggest any name that begins with a "B" for either of these sweet little lambs.  :)

 

Laura

I pretend to be a vet (again)

Today was quite....the....day.

After last night (not much sleep), the day before (watching April the ewe for the better part of the day), not much sleep the night before (to the point of feeling panicky about things because I was too tired) and watching Iris give birth the day before that.....today was QUITE the day.

Right after I typed out the last message, I went out to check on April.  She seemed to be having contractions, so I waited and watched....for an hour.  And then some more.  Every time she got up from her nest of straw, the contractions started again and she'd lay down looking miserable.

Finally I had to milk Bessie, so I took a break.  It was like a breath of fresh air to not be staring at the sides and back end of the sheep for a little while (yes, a "breath of fresh air" even in the cow area where the air smells like manure).

Then, I checked on April again.  Same thing.  She saw me, looked alert and bright eyed, hoisted herself off of her little nest, and started hunching and straining again.  Laid down, looked miserable, contractions for a while, then....nothing.

It occurred to me that, if she was a human Mom in the hospital, they would tell her to keep walking.  So I made April walk around her little pen a few more times before I left to shower and go to get Michael when his exams were done.

Once again (as in....once again after a WHOLE WEEK of expecting to walk in and see her with a new baby), everything was the same one hour later.  And again when I got back from driving to school and back.  She perked her ears towards me, got up, started hunching over and acting uncomfortable, and finally settled down in the straw again.

Not to be mean to my sweet ewe, but....when she settled into the straw, her sides bulged out like....a big fat toad in the middle of summer.  Mean, yes, but it was true.  Her sides were huge.

The same thing went on for another 2 hours before I called the vet.  I wasn't worried about her so much, but the other lamb was born 2 days ago, and he should have had a certain shot before he was 24 hours old, just as a precaution.  We were waiting to do both lambs together.  He wasn't too concerned that Iris' little guy didn't get the shot (selenium deficiency can cause some big problems), because the lamb is active, nursing, and seems to be thriving.

Then vet caught what I casually mentioned about April being in some sort of labor since 8 in the morning, and wanted me to "sleeve" her to see if the lamb (or lambs) were in a tangle inside of her and she couldn't "sort them out" to deliver them.

Well, that's not what I expected, but Michael and I sat through one more round of "jump up, hunch over, start contractions, sink down miserably" and Michael convinced me that I should do what the vet said.

Out came the clear plastic sanitized "sleeve", along with some clear lubricating goo.  I couldn't feel any noses or hooves inside of her, and honestly didn't get very far (she's a small breed).  She had a contraction while my fingers were inside of her, and I thought "I bet this gets her contractions started, like the doctors might do in a hospital".  I remembered how Bessie's labor started when she was overdue to deliver Ruby, and it was soon after the vet came out to do an internal check on her.  Maybe the same for cows and sheep?

Sure enough, April started straining in earnest, curling her lip, stretching her neck back, jiggling her skin (to shake off the discomfort?).....

My poor little ewe.  It was worse than watching Iris, because this was like April had been given a shot of Pitocin, and everything started full-force, all at once.

I had a moment to worry that she hadn't dilated far enough, when a little nose bulged through very stretched-tight pink tissue.  No hooves.  

Correct presentation is front hooves forward with the chin resting on them.  The hooves were nowhere to be seen.  Just a nose that was twitching, which I immediately interpreted as "It's still alive!!!"

April strained and stood and laid down and strained some more, all seeming to be in vain.  The nose was far enough out that I could clean the nostrils, so the baby could at least breathe.  

Then I had to rely on some things that had helped some of my own deliveries.  Some help in easing the tissues around that little head was needed, as gently as possible.  Some re-positioning of the sheep was necessary, for that little head to make any progress with the next contraction.  Some easing out was called for, as April strained with the next wave of pushing.

When the first hoof appeared, I hooked my finger behind the little elbow, still inside the mama.  The second hoof was just bent back a bit, but by then April had things under control.  A warm, slick little lamb slid out easily then, and April was instantly attentive to her new little one, making noises that can only be described as motherly.

I stood back and breathed a sigh of relief, then called the vet to let him know.  

One minor glitch could have become a big thing, but seems to be OK now.  April was so intent on cleaning that little sweetie, and the lamb was so intent on finding the udder for a drink of milk, that they were circling around and around each other, April keeping just far enough from the hungry mouth that the baby couldn't latch on, the baby continuing to seek out the source of the food it instinctively was searching for.  When she finally DID find it, April couldn't stand the feel of something down....there....and twitched away again.  

I finally brought in some freshly pulled clover, and April stood still long enough for both of them to get the idea.  The absolute last thing I need is a bottle-baby lamb to care for!  It sounds cute in theory, but there is just too much else to keep up with.

So, it is with great thanksgiving and relief that I sign off tonight, ready for what I hope is a sound night of sleep.

Lambing season (such as it was) is over, at least for us this year.  Two ewes giving birth was almost more than I could witness.  

Iris and her little boy lamb are doing wonderfully.  That little lamb was frolicking and jumping all over today, calling to the new baby soon after she was born, trying to get a chicken to play with him, scampering around inside his little pen as Brock trotted by outside the fence.....  Iris is a "no-nonsense" mama, pawing her little guy without mercy if she wants him to stop lazing around and get up to nurse.

April and her little lamb are doing great.  I'll keep watch to make sure that April is letting her nurse enough, and not twitching away.  That little sweetheart is alert, watching everything since the moment she could hold her head up, standing within the first half hour, vigorously seeking out that elusive sip of milk until her mama finally stood still long enough.....  (I want to call her "Brandi", with a little heart over the "i", because she is so spunky.....but that will be voted down, I'm sure.)  :)  

I feel like jet-lag is setting in for me.  One more trip to the barn, and then I can relax.....

 

Laura

A watched sheep never "lambs".....

April is SO ready to have that lamb.  I'm SOOOO ready for her to have that lamb.  

I've been watching her closely since a week ago.  She started showing signs, acting bewildered, kicking at her stomach, breathing heavily, pawing the ground, going into a kind of trance, seeming to have contractions.....

I put her in the little delivery pen (called a "lambing jug", for whatever reason), and all symptoms of impending birth disappeared as she forlornly called to Iris and Brock who were grazing without her.

She seemed to be having contractions while Iris gave birth.  Do sheep have sympathy labor?!!!  Iris had what seemed (to me) to be a miserable time giving birth.  It was painful for me to watch our little ewe Iris in such pain.....  But it was over and done with and a little lamb was born fairly quickly.   For first-time farmers who have to observe a birth, it wasn't complicated or frustrating, just.....normal (and fascinating!)  That was 2 days ago.  

April gazes curiously at Iris' little guy.  She acts as though she would like to have one of her own.  So what's stopping her?!!!

I have spent hours observing her, checking out the size of her growing udder, watching her sides heave to see if it's contractions, looking at the changes of her back end (yes, I've become a livestock butt-watcher...which you can't avoid if you want to be a good animal caretaker, I've come to realize!)

Last night, I had spent over an hour watching her in the afternoon (uncomfortable, looked like contractions).  Then again after dinner (harder contractions?)  She popped up and munched some alfalfa hay and chewed her cud, all bright-eyed and curious.  I checked her again at 10.  Again at midnight.  Set my alarm for 2 hours later.  

Finally, when her beautiful face peered back at me at 2 in the morning, alert and smiling, I decided to sleep the rest of the night in my own bed, and check on her after a few hours of sleep.

And still.....we're waiting.

April is a yearling, which means she was born just over a year ago and this will be her first lamb.  She has a large frame for a Babydoll sheep, and it wasn't too early to breed her in December/January.  Some breeders would call that irresponsible, but our breeder and the vet both agreed that she was mature enough to carry a baby to term.  We took a chance that our ewes wouldn't get pregnant at all, because the timing was later than typical sheep-breeding-season.  But Jethro came to stay, and it seems that both girls cycled and got pregnant right on schedule, about 17 days later.

It shouldn't be twins, the first time around.  But it might be a really big lamb, given the size of April's sides.  Some of my obsession is unwarranted, except that it's the first time for me as well as April.  But some of it is necessary, in case.....there are lots of worst case scenarios that could happen.  I have to keep reminding myself, though, there is a BEST case scenario that is much more likely to happen.

Like with Bessie when she is due to deliver a calf, this lamb will come when I'm tired of waiting, in a daze from sleep-loss, stumbling through my day and half-heartedly clinging to the knowledge that they can't stay pregnant forever.

A watched yearling sheep never "lambs".....at least not until you scale your expectations back and your obsessions have dulled!

Well, time to check on her again.  Every hour, on the hour today, because of the size of her udder and the changes to that back end....and (like every other day since a week ago) I'm hoping for a lamb by tonight!

 

Laura

Photos for this morning

Iris and baby Patriot, cheerful little Patriot grinning for the camera, and still-expectant April eating ravenously....

 

Laura