Joy & Frustration all in one week, Life of a Shepherd

Joy; the first of our yearling ewes lambed. She had no difficulties with delivering, did it all on her own which is a very good thing. She had twins, a little bit of a shocker considering she wasn't very big and it was her first time. But one of the lambs was dead I am not sure if it died before birth or she accidently stepped on it during delivery. The surviving lamb a male is healthy and lively, weighing in at 9 pounds an average size for a lamb. Good Job, Baby Girl! 

Baby Girl & her male lamb

Baby Girl's little boy, aka "Philip" according to my son's girl friend. 

Now for the frustration; I discovered that #6 aka: Broomhilda, has developed Mastitis. Ewes can get Mastitis a couple of different ways and there are two different kinds of Mastitis. Luckily she has the kind that is treatable. But, I am not sure I can save her whole bag, one side is effected and further along then the other. I have been treating it aggressively and see results. But this also means I had to pull her lambs off her and start bottle feeding them. Though this seems very cute to non-farm people it is not what we want to happen. A baby does best when they are able to stay on Mamma. Plus it is a greater expense and takes more of our time to manage bottle lambs. Bottle lambs do not usually grow as well as those that stay on their mothers. Both lambs are doing well on the bottle though, one of them does not know how to suckle it appears. This can also explain why #6 has Mastitis. The lamb wants to bite at the nipple instead of suck. Their little teeth are sharp if it did this to #6 and she received cuts from the lamb then Bacteria could easily get into her bag causing the Mastitis. I did find abrasions on her teats and bag but was not sure if it was the cause or happened afterwards from the bag swelling so tight. The lambs have been placed in a pen insider her pen. This way they stay close to each other and do not get as upset as they would being placed in pens further away inside the barn. 

"Broomhilda"

The challenge has been for us to get to the lambs past her. She is not happy with us for handling her when she hurts, she is not happy with us for taking her lambs away, she is just down right not happy with us at all! She is a BIG sheep with horns. She is not and has never been a friendly sheep either. But she is a good mother and a good producer, I hope I can save at least one side of her bag. I do not want to have to cull her out of the herd.