Newest Member of the Flock My favorite ewe, Bear, gave birth to little Ashley today. Ashley makes 47 lambs this season, with at least 2 more ewes to lamb.
Mud Season Levi was playing outside while I was doing chores. Suddenly I heard: "AUNT KEEN!" "AUNT KEEN! HELP!" I look out the window to see this.
Good Bye My Little Buddy Little Buddy showed up today. I don't know where she has been for the last two days, but she came home to die.
One of my kitties, Little Buddy, has been ready to pop for a couple of weeks now. She showed up at feeding time yesterday with a kitten half-way out of her vagina. The kitten was breech and the portion of its body outside its mama was already dry. Little Buddy acted as if she wasn’t even aware she was in labor. She just wanted her food. I extracted the kitten. Not surprisingly, it was dead. Little Buddy seemed so surprised to see the kitten. She started cleaning it off, even though it was dead. She picked it up and carried it to the communal cat bed, where she seemed to be progressing with her labor. I left for work, assuming there would be no further issues.
When I got to the barn this morning Little Buddy was MIA. This little guy was in the cat bed, chilled, with its dead litter-mate. There was also a small puddle of cloudy, greyish-pink amniotic fluid. I have a feeling something has gone badly wrong with Little Buddy. First things first, I put the kitten in my shirt pocket to warm it. Started looking for Little Buddy. I did not find her. I think she probably went somewhere to die.
I kept the kitten in my pocket while I did chores, hoping its mama would turn up. She did not. I have another mama cat, Trouble, with 6 week old kittens. Tried, unsuccessfully, to convince Trouble to adopt the newborn.
Many years ago I raised a batch of kittens whose mother was hit by a car. Fed them with an eye dropper, kept them in a box with a heating pad next to my bed, wiped their little butts with tissues so they could defecate and urinate. They were a week old when they were orphaned. Three of six of the litter survived to adulthood. And they were never healthy their whole lives. Kittens that young need their mothers.
I considered trying to raise this little guy. I thought about it long and hard. He just didn’t stand a chance. Less than 24 hours old, not even sure if her got any colostrum from his mama before she disappeared. Every time he moved inside my pocket, I could feel his little warmth against my breast, I thought I should at least try. Then I remembered the three kittens who didn’t make it. How long it took for their little lives to ebb away and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do to help. I remembered the 3 who lived and how they were always sick with one thing after another.
He just wouldn’t make it. Hard as it is, there was just no chance for him. I could just put him back in the cat bed and “let nature take its course”, meaning let him die of starvation and hypothermia. I could try keeping him alive with milk replacer until he died a lingering death. Or the third option, which I chose. I filled a bucket with warm water and drowned him. He went quickly and peacefully. No lingering, no suffering. Like going back to the womb. Still, I cried while I did it. It was the best thing, the right thing, but still not an easy thing. I named him Morsel because he was such a tiny little morsel in my pocket all day.
Morsel One of my kitties, Little Buddy, has been ready to pop for a couple of weeks now.
We Aren’t Walking Away — Praying for Eyebrowz America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.
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On Tuesday Boop added another member to the flock. Boppit weighed in at 12 lb, bringing our lamb count to 41. We still have 7 ewes who haven’t lambed, but none of them are showing signs that they are bred. I’m thinking we are done for the year. That’s OK with me. I need a break. 41 is a count I can live with. It’s twice as many lambs as we’ve had in a at least 2 years. We had one still-birth and a couple close calls. And 41 strong, healthy lambs, growing fast.
Boppit On Tuesday Boop added another member to the flock. Boppit weighed in at 12 lb, bringing our lamb count to 41.
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Monday afternoon Sissy was sheering some of the girls after I finished chores. It was fortunate she was in the barn when Brandy went into labor. Little Brittani was a breech. Sissy had to give Brandy a hand to deliver backwards Brittani. Not only did she come out arse-first, she also had an umbilical hernia. Sissy had to call the vet out to put Brittani’s guts back where they belong and put in a suture to keep them there. Brittani sailed through with with flying colors. She is doing great and Brandy is a great mama.
A rough entrance to the world Monday afternoon Sissy was sheering some of the girls after I finished chores. It was fortunate she was in the barn when Brandy went into labor.
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Maya became a mama for the first time Monday, when she gave birth to 8 lb Mandy.
And I need you today, oh Mandy Maya became a mama for the first time Monday, when she gave birth to 8 lb Mandy.
Little Leonard, our mutton-chopped lamb, has finally got it figured out!
Leonard was born Thursday. He would not eat. We tried latching him onto his mama, Bear. He would not suckle. We tried bottle feeding him, he would neither suck nor swallow. He could stand and walk and follow his mama, but seemed to have no suckling instinct. One of the weirdest lamb problems Sissy and I have encountered.
We have been tube feeding him 5 times a day since he was born so he would not starve to death. Some time during the night last night he finally figured it out. When Sissy did the morning feeding today she noticed that his little lamb belly was not hollow. When I did chores he was still not hollow. I watched Bear and Leonard every chance I got until I finally saw him nursing.
What a sweet, sweet sight! I don’t know why it took him three days to figure out how to eat when most lambs figure it our within 15 minutes after they are born. But our tube feedings kept him alive long enough to get there.
I am so glad. Not only is Leonard one of the cutest lambs I’ve seen, his mama, Bear is one of my favorites. It would have broken her heart to lose him. She hasn’t lambed these past two years and Sissy was considering culling her. And Bear was being such a good mama to Leonard. She has been so attentive and fiercely protective. Patient with us as we have hand-milked her to tube her good milk into Leonard’s tummy. She was continually urging him to nurse, using her front leg to nudge him toward her udder. This is a move I have never seen a ewe have to use before, as most lambs automatically head toward their mama’s udder as soon as they can stand. Bear knew he needed to nurse and tried every way she could to get him to do it.
Sissy and I had decided we would keep tubing Leonard through the weekend and if he hadn’t figured it out by then we would put him to sleep. I am feeling all warm and fuzzy right now, knowing we won’t have to do that.
I think this is my favorite sight this lambing season! Little Leonard, our mutton-chopped lamb, has finally got it figured out! Leonard was born Thursday. He would not eat.
38 snoozing lambs make quite an obstacle course! And we still have 10 ewes that haven’t lambed yet!
It’s getting hard to walk through the barn 38 snoozing lambs make quite an obstacle course! And we still have 10 ewes that haven't lambed yet!
Help with chores Levi has 1/2 days at schools all this week, so when he gets off the bus he heads down to the barn to help me do chores.
So while I was doing chores I had three new mamas in the barn with me. Next thing I knew there was a 4th ewe in the barn. Tinkerbell had let herself in. I have no idea how she got in. Maybe she jumped the gate or crawled under it. But one way or another she was inside and she was in labor. She wanted to have her baby inside! She had a nice big 10 lb girl, Wendy. Four births in 24 hours. Another busy day for Spaulding 5 months ago!
It has been a busy 24 hours (Part 4) So while I was doing chores I had three new mamas in the barn with me. Next thing I knew there was a 4th ewe in the barn.
When I got to the barn to do chores I found Bear cleaning off her newborn boy, Leonard.
Leonard is the first lamb I have ever seen sporting Mutton Chop facial hair. So friggin’ cute! We are not sure if he is going to make it, though. Bear is doing a Great Job taking care of him. The problem is, he doesn’t seem to know how to eat. For some reason he does not seem to have an instinct to suckle or swallow. Sissy milked a few ounces of colostrum from bear and tubed it into his stomach. I really hope he figures it out.
It has been a busy 24 hours (Part 3) or A Lamb With Mutton Chops? When I got to the barn to do chores I found Bear cleaning off her newborn boy, Leonard.
Sissy found another new baby when she did the early morning check/bottle feeding. Yearling, Nova, had given birth to a 10 lb girl, Noni. Nova got a little confused and ran out with the rest of the herd when I opened the door. But she came back for Noni after a few minutes.
It has been a busy 24 hours (Part 2) Sissy found another new baby when she did the early morning check/bottle feeding. Yearling, Nova, had given birth to a 10 lb girl, Noni.