Yawwwwn ...... Baa

Posted by Rosie

Droopy Drawers, our magnificently fat sheep has finally given birth to twin female lambs and not triplets as I was rather expecting by the size of her. It was, however, not without incident and when I went to check on her at 10pm last night it was fairly obvious that she was in difficulty. The lamb's nose was showing but no feet and it tongue was lolling out of it's mouth. Not good. Oh well - what better way to learn about the finer art of lambing than with a quick tutorial over the phone from my friend, Jane, and then a hands-on practical, all alone and in the middle of the night. Somehow I managed to get the front feet forward and pulled out the lamb. For what seemed like an eternity it lay there, not moving and I thought it was stillborn. I cleared round it's airways and rubbed it vigorously with straw until it finally coughed and spluttered it's way to life. I remember a James Herriot story where he swung a lamb through the air to get it to breathe but if you have ever held a just-born lamb you will understand how slippery they are and I worried I would lose it in mid air so stuck to straw rubbing. After this drama, Number two arrived about an hour later, this time unaided.

I do, however have to say that I am little concerned about the first lamb. I have seen her suckle but she seems more listless than her sister and I worry that her protracted birth may have affected her. She also has an eye infection. In her favour though, is the fact that Mum has readily accepted her, she has plenty of milk and the exceptionally cold weather seems to have gone for now. I'll go and check on her shortly (and the other ewe who is yet yo lamb) but we will have to see what the future holds for her.

And much as I want Black Face to lamb soon, I would prefer she doesn't chose tonight. I finally crawled into bed at 3am last night/this morning and I don't fancy doing that again so soon. Yawwwwwwn.