Saturday, March 31, 2012

Triplets Again!

This time, I admit, I am even more worried than usual - Ellie is a first time lamber and she had triplets.  She is a nervous gal, and I think, like Minnie, she can't count past one.  If only she could have done this during Spring Break!  At least it's Saturday, and I can keep an eye on them for two days.  Everyone's had a turn at nursing and I got a few sips of store-bought colustrum down everyone's throat so the bottle can be an option, if it needs to be (Oh, please, God, please not needed - I can't really bring even a tiny lamb to my office, as excited as the kids would be). 

It's two ewe lambs and a ram lamb again, which is nice.  That brings me up to 7 ewes, (will be 4) wethers, and two rams.  One ewe lamb and the ram lamb seem to be black with no white spots, and one of the ewes is patchy black and white.  I had a ram lamb born like that last year, but he was one of the dog victims.  It was dark when I went out to check on them hearing Ellie and her loud mouth.  After dipping all their umbilical cords with betadine and shoo-ing them to her udder and checking the udder was working, I decided to leave them alone.  Just fiddling around her had momma antsy and pacing. 

It's funny, because when Ellie was a lamb, she was the most pushy about getting close to me, getting her due share of affection, but as her time for lambing came closer, she has been reclusive and difficult to catch.  I guess nature kicks in. 

I will try to get some picture up later today, I am going to try to get a little more rest....working through that cold made me even more tired than usual. 

Although, I am so very tempted to drag my little one out of bed - a year ago, she would have been excited - now it's more like, "Oh, yeah, more lambs....Can I have the pretty one?  Okay, I am going back inside now...."  So far, she has laid claim to all the multi-colored lambs - those poor black sheep get a bad rap. 

2 comments:

Chai Chai said...

Triplets again? I guess that is the best way to get a huge flock going. Sheep that need no help in birthing are a true blessing.

Is there any "help" forthcoming from your daughters ownership or sheep she calls or is that the extent of it?

NancyDe said...

Yes, Chai Chai, my daughter is quite a good helper around the house and the yard -it may change as she heads into the teen years, but for her 7th birthday, her wish was for rubber boots and a child-sized manure fork, so she could help out - unfortunately, she does get woozy at the site of blood or needles - so feeding and cleaning are more her forte.