Where did the past week go? Aside from Dr. appointments (more annoying than important) and "selling solo" at the yarn shop for a couple days (the Yarn Goddess is up north visiting her son/grandson/granddaughter and another yet unborn grandchild), I found myself yet again confronted with four-legged death.
A friend gave me Corriedale ewes. They arrived in late November or early December and went straight in with one of my rams, to have lambs in April/May. Nobody mentioned that they could have been bred to lamb in February, nor was I enlightened to the fact that these particular ladies don't see themselves as devoted mums. With all the fleece on them, I was totally unaware that their udders were becoming full (a few of mine, two months from lambing, show a little bit already...more than these did!).
During a temperature dip, two of the ewes lambed in close proximity both physically and time-wise overnight in single digit weather. Not good. Yesterday morning I found three dead frozen lambs right where they'd been born (the mother didn't even clean them off), and three others looking forlorn. I put the two ewes who'd obviously lambed in a large pen and fed colostrum to the three live lambs, who all looked premature. I continued to check on them every 3-4 hours and feed them via bottle (although all were nursing from the one ewe I believed to "belong" to these three, they obviously weren't getting their bellies full, so I was helping). I continued my vigil until about 2:30, when I checked and all had full bellies and didn't really want to eat much. They were SO small though. I'd put wool felt "coats" on them to help them out. I thought all was OK and I could sleep for a few hours. At 7:30 this morning, the dogs asked to go out and I jumped up and went out to the barn with bottle in hand. No need. Two of the three lambs had died: I think one was just too tiny and the ewe might have laid on the other. The remaining lamb had a full tummy and looks well. Maybe "mom" will only have enough milk for one lamb anyway: With luck, she'll continue to care for this one and he'll do fine. He wasn't at all hungry and doesn't want the bottle at all.
As if that weren't bad enough, my original moorit Romeldale ram was dead, smack dab in the middle of the barn, when I got out there this morning. He was fine at 2 AM! Ron only gave them about 35 lbs of grain (for 36 sheep), less than I usually give them, while I was at the shop, so it couldn't be grain bloat. When I got home, they were all bright eyed and begging for more hay. He was my oldest ram, but was "fat and sassy" and showed no signs of illness or any of the usual things that can descend quickly on a sheep: bloat, head injury from another ram, etc.
Needless to say, the fact that we're having an ice/snow/wind storm today through tomorrow just caps my marvelous mood. The power has been going on and off (quickly, coming back on within seconds luckily). I checked the sump pump (the house was built on an underground stream, I kid you not), and luckily the pressure of the water coming IN is countered by the standing water that just comes up to the pipe feeding in, so the level doesn't change if the sump pump stops. No flooding. Sigh of relief.
If I weren't so tired, I'd be knitting. I'm hoping tomorrow, a much needed day off, will find me finishing Xylia's little lace socks (one's done, one's started). Also OTN: a cabled heavy weight Bluefaced Leicester/kid mohair/silk sock at the point where I have to decide whether to make it for me or somebody else (how long a foot?); a pair of Wensleydale fair isle socks, both of which are at the same decision-time length.
Still trying to find a camera so I can post knitting pics....
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment