Yesterday, when I was on the phone with my mom I noticed Madeleine pulling all of the sandwich sized baggies out of their box. I quickly interrupted my phone conversation to say, "Madeleine, what are you doing?!"
Looking a bit annoyed, she calmly replied, "I'm looking for a smaller size." I couldn't help but laugh. Apparently she was looking for a snack size baggie and just figured all of the sizes were in one box!
Monday, April 13, 2009
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Lambs!
We currently have 15 lambs from this spring! I love watching them climb upon the back of our llama, Oscar when he is laying down for a nap and then jumping off again. Oscar gets a bit annoyed by this game, at times, and will stand up with his ears back making all of the lambs tumble off of him.
We've had two complicated deliveries, which isn't bad for how many ewe's have delivered lambs so far. I noticed the first complication as I was feeding the animals (before Brad returned home). She was in labor and came to the pushing point. I watched her push a few times and realized there was something not quite right. I climbed over into her pen, chased her down (yeah, she was running from me even though she was in labor), dragged her back into the sheep shed and held her with my legs as I checked out the situation more thoroughly. The lamb was coming out with both front hooves and its head at one time (see illustration below)! First I tried pushing the feet back in, but there was no way I would have had enough strength to get the legs in the right position when her body was fighting me with contractions. So, I started pulling. I didn't have enough hands to do it alone, so I had Ethan pull on the legs a bit as I eased the head out. The hardest part was getting the shoulders out. That poor ewe let out a loud, "Baaahhh!" when the shoulders pulled through. The lamb was a big one for having a Shetland mother and Black Welsh/Jacob father! I'm guessing he was overdue, which happens a lot when the lamb/kid/baby is in the wrong position. Here's an illustration of how he came out:
The lamb was having a difficult time breathing, so I rubbed its back down to help gets things circulating well and cleared out its mouth and nose. It was fighting hard for life, so with a little help from me he began to breathe better and let out his first little, "Bah". I left him then with his mother. The ewe healed quickly and the lamb is doing great. There is a picture of him below. His interesting coloring is due to his father being part Jacob.
The second complication came after Brad was home. He was out watering the animals and noticed a Shetland ewe was in labor. He had me come out to inspect her. Sure enough, shortly after I got out there she began pushing. After watching a short time I could tell something was wrong. I climbed in and took a look at it. This time the lamb was coming out backwards (breech) - rear first! So, I had Brad help me. It took a lot of pulling. Not only was it coming out backwards, but he was a big lamb, so it took a lot of muscle to pull him out. Here's an illustration of the birth position:
I had to work with the lamb for quite awhile to get him breathing right. He took in more liquid in his lungs than the one I mentioned above since he came out backwards. I had to pull stuff out of his mouth and nose, and then do a lot of rubbing him down. Here are a couple of pictures of the little guy with Ethan:
Ethan and the little ram lamb.
Madeleine probably was saying something about the lamb's tail here.
Ethan and Madeleine climbing over a fence.
Another new lamb with its mother.
The big, brown ewes are Rambouillets and most of those black lambs are Rambouillet/Black Welsh mixes from this spring. Oscar the llama is there in the background. The extra wooly looking small ewes are Shetlands.
The Jacob ewe in the background is the mother of these little twin lambs - they're 2-3 weeks old now.
We've had two complicated deliveries, which isn't bad for how many ewe's have delivered lambs so far. I noticed the first complication as I was feeding the animals (before Brad returned home). She was in labor and came to the pushing point. I watched her push a few times and realized there was something not quite right. I climbed over into her pen, chased her down (yeah, she was running from me even though she was in labor), dragged her back into the sheep shed and held her with my legs as I checked out the situation more thoroughly. The lamb was coming out with both front hooves and its head at one time (see illustration below)! First I tried pushing the feet back in, but there was no way I would have had enough strength to get the legs in the right position when her body was fighting me with contractions. So, I started pulling. I didn't have enough hands to do it alone, so I had Ethan pull on the legs a bit as I eased the head out. The hardest part was getting the shoulders out. That poor ewe let out a loud, "Baaahhh!" when the shoulders pulled through. The lamb was a big one for having a Shetland mother and Black Welsh/Jacob father! I'm guessing he was overdue, which happens a lot when the lamb/kid/baby is in the wrong position. Here's an illustration of how he came out:
The lamb was having a difficult time breathing, so I rubbed its back down to help gets things circulating well and cleared out its mouth and nose. It was fighting hard for life, so with a little help from me he began to breathe better and let out his first little, "Bah". I left him then with his mother. The ewe healed quickly and the lamb is doing great. There is a picture of him below. His interesting coloring is due to his father being part Jacob.
The second complication came after Brad was home. He was out watering the animals and noticed a Shetland ewe was in labor. He had me come out to inspect her. Sure enough, shortly after I got out there she began pushing. After watching a short time I could tell something was wrong. I climbed in and took a look at it. This time the lamb was coming out backwards (breech) - rear first! So, I had Brad help me. It took a lot of pulling. Not only was it coming out backwards, but he was a big lamb, so it took a lot of muscle to pull him out. Here's an illustration of the birth position:
Ethan and the little ram lamb.
Madeleine probably was saying something about the lamb's tail here.
Ethan and Madeleine climbing over a fence.
Another new lamb with its mother.
The big, brown ewes are Rambouillets and most of those black lambs are Rambouillet/Black Welsh mixes from this spring. Oscar the llama is there in the background. The extra wooly looking small ewes are Shetlands.
The Jacob ewe in the background is the mother of these little twin lambs - they're 2-3 weeks old now.Saturday, April 4, 2009
Spring
Spring is definitely here. Spring brings with it many ups and downs; snow and mud, gray skies and blue, warm and cold, bicycle rides and sledding. We've gotten more snow this spring than we did during the whole winter, I think. We had one snowfall of 18 inches, then another of about 6 or 7 inches. Most of the other snowfalls have only left an inch here and there. The wind keeps blowing it into drifts making some of them deep enough for me to sink up to my knees in and other areas bare. I must admit, this part of spring is bothersome. I look forward to the end part of spring where we mainly get sunshine, blue skies, and blossoms. It's just around the corner... I can almost smell it and definitely hear it - the birds are returning!
Here are a few pictures I've taken this month that I thought I would share with all of you:
A picture of spring; bicycling and snow.
Little man, Ethan shoveling paths through the snow.
Robbie interrupting school time.
My baby belly at 6 months along. I accidentally didn't get my head in this photo, but it was the best angle of the belly out of all of the photos I took recently.
Brad has returned and will be working from home, hopefully for a long while. I'm very happy to have him home, as are the children. Even the oxen seem glad to have him home! They get more attention from him than they do from me. :) I just don't tend to find the extra time and energy it takes to stand around scratching their chins, necks, and backs.
Well, that's it for now. I'll try to get an updated photo of Madeleine on here soon. I have a harder time getting a good one of her since she is always on the move! :) Have a great weekend!
Here are a few pictures I've taken this month that I thought I would share with all of you:
A picture of spring; bicycling and snow.
Little man, Ethan shoveling paths through the snow.
Robbie interrupting school time.
My baby belly at 6 months along. I accidentally didn't get my head in this photo, but it was the best angle of the belly out of all of the photos I took recently.Brad has returned and will be working from home, hopefully for a long while. I'm very happy to have him home, as are the children. Even the oxen seem glad to have him home! They get more attention from him than they do from me. :) I just don't tend to find the extra time and energy it takes to stand around scratching their chins, necks, and backs.
Well, that's it for now. I'll try to get an updated photo of Madeleine on here soon. I have a harder time getting a good one of her since she is always on the move! :) Have a great weekend!
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