So both Tom and I had to work yesterday so naturally this was the due date for the unplanned pregnancies of Shaun the Sheep with Sheila (his aged mother) and Monette. When Tom got home from work at 7 PM (after a long 12 hour shift) he found both the ewes with signs of early labor. He did the animal chores and then rechecked them. At this point Sheila’s bag had broke, but she wasn’t pushing. He called me at work, and we decided he should glove and goop up and check inside. What he found was a breech lamb that he pulled. The lamb did well, and his mother was taking good care of him. Tom wants to call him Squally (as he is vociferous), but I think Timmy is a cuter name. He is a shaela spotted ram lamb. We were only expecting one lamb from Sheila as she was not that big so Tom finally went into the house quite late to have dinner. When he went back out to the barn to check on them he found a very deformed red and black tiny lamb who very shortly died and a stillborn lamb twisted together, both rams. Still no placenta, and Monette was still not in labor.
So he did barn checks through the night and around 3 AM Monette produced 2 lambs without incident. There’s a light grey ram lamb Mak
and a shaela spotted ewe lamb Jill.
They are doing well. When Tom went back out to do a barn check and feeding before work at 7 this morning Sheila had produced yet another deformed tiny lamb and finally a placenta. Tom did not feel like looking at the sex of this one. So our old ewe made quads- although 2 malformed. I guess that’s what happens when a ram lamb escaped into the sheep flock partly because of government interference, and he impregnates his mother. I am really sorry that these little lambs had to suffer in the process, but I guess we have three healthy lambs too that are being well cared for and should thrive.
And lambing is now officially DONE!
PS: These and other lambs are for sale.
Email me about the ewe and ram pair Mak and Jill. I am going to do some begging. Maybe I can give you your check back:) and some…
Done! Let me know if you need more begging fodder (but the additional cute lamb photos might just do it).
Sorry to hear about Timmy’s siblings. At least she has the one boy left. And a good thing Tom was there to pull him!
It was good she waited until he got home from work. Unfortunately his hands are too big for him to check her to see if there were more lambs to pull. But at least they have each other.
If Krista doesn’t take Mak I’d love to buy him. I’ve never seen anything so cute!
Thanks- I will let you know.
It’s likely the deformities could be because of her advanced age almost more than the inbreeding. Mabel, one of my goats, has had “mummy” babies for the last two years. I would guess it is also because of age. With all the babies tangled in there, it could also be that he just couldn’t move around enough to develop muscles. I’ll bet he’s jumping around in just a couple of days! Glad Timmy is okay.
Thanks Teresa. So far his leg is the same, but hopefully it will improve. I would hate to see a lame lamb. I knew it wasn’t good when I saw she was pregnant. She had had one of these deformed lambs before which tangled with a seemingly health one who also died a few years back (and not from inbreeding then). I just wish I could have prevented this all from happening.
Pingback: Farm Plan « Schoonover Farm Blog
Pingback: Clean Samish Initiative | Schoonover Farm Blog
Pingback: Department of Ecology, Again | Schoonover Farm Blog