Tales from Swallow Farm

Apologies for the radio silence blog-wise, but things have been rather complicated with Ewe 0004. It has been a very worrying time and it is not over, but I just thought I would check in and let you know what's been going on.

By the end of last week Ewe 0004 seemed to be on the mend. We still had her in the stables but I was considering letting her back out into the paddock at the weekend when we could keep an eye on her.
There were no signs of impending labour.

But at about 8pm on Friday Sue checked over the stable door and there was a new-born lamb, already cleaned! It had only been a couple of hours since I had last checked on the sheep. Moreover there were two hooves just poking out of Ewe 0004's rear end.
We left her in peace for about 20 minutes, by which time there were two lambs. I was amazed that they were both alive after the previous week's dramas and I was just praying there was not another inside.

Lambs need to take on colostrum, the mother's first milk, soon after birth as it contains the antibodies they need to survive in life. Thereafter they need to continue to feed successfully. It can be hard to see if they are doing this, even if they are performing the right actions.

After the birth the ewe needs to pass the placenta, but again this is not always seen as they usually consume it soon after it passes (a wild instinct to deter predators and not to waste precious nutrients, disgusting as it sounds).
Shetland sheep are pretty good at doing everything themselves but obviously this ewe had been extremely ill so the likelihood of complications was higher than usual.
We went to bed hoping that everything would be ok. And in the morning all did indeed seem to be going to plan, except for the minor complication of hanging membrane from the ewe's rear end, but this happened last year too and sorted itself out in the end.

By the evening both lambs were looking ok, though we still hadn't positively seen them take milk. We felt confident enough though to keep a prior evening appointment.

So it was a complete shock when we got home to find one of the lambs on the brink of death. We tried to warm it but sadly we were too late. Mum was not looking wonderful either.
We dashed back to the friends we had been visiting to pick up an emergency supply of goat milk, which is just about the best substitute for a range of animals, and fed the remaining lamb.
Saturday night was a long night. I did till 3.30am and Sue did from 4.30.

Today has been unpleasant. We have been bottle feeding the lamb to make sure it gets enough milk and to take the pressure off mum who is very weak and showing no inclination to feed. I am syringing energy boosters onto her mouth and she picks up for a while, but that can't go on forever.
Losing lambs is something you have to get used to. It is very sad but it is inevitable. At least they go quickly and probably just effectively fall to sleep.
But watching a ewe struggle so is heart-breaking. I just have my fingers crossed that she will ride it out and gradually improve.

We won't make any decisions right now, but this whole event is seriously making Sue and I rethink our flock plans. It might be easier just to buy in lambs each year for fattening up and to keep some of the Shetlands for grass cutting and for their wool.
We don't need to make a decision yet, though I fear a difficult decision over Ewe 0004 will become necessary in the next few days.