My, Oh My! Marmalade came in for the upset.
Yesterday afternoon Marmalade was giving me the ‘Zoinks, Scoob’ eyes. I tried not to read too much into her alarmed look. You know, the look when you can’t believe what so and so said. The tell tale sign that lambing night was going to happen was when she no longer wanted her favorite snack-SHELLED PEANUTS.
Trying not to jump to conclusions, I did start checking on her from a distance every 30 minutes. So it is safe to say, I jumped to conclusions…My helicoptering shepherding paid off. She was pacing back and forth in the barn and the next time I spied on her, the water bag had presented itself. I ran back in the house just like Tommy did on Friday night and hollered, “IT’S HAPPENING!”
Tommy and I started the timer. During the lambing process, we follow the 30 minute rule. We want the lambing to progress every 30 minutes-meaning: soon to be born lamb makes it way into the world not stuck in the birth canal after the 30 minute window.
One of the coolest things I witnessed was after the water bag hit the ground, Marmalade’s new personality as a mother kicked in. She would return to the spot the water bag broke and coo in a soft chatter looking for her newborn lamb.
Some sheep stand during the lambing process, some sheep lay on their side and some do a combination of both. Marmalade is a layer. In our straw bale front row seats, we witnessed the exhausting birth of her first born. She pushed and pushed for a healthy 10 lb. jet black boy. Did I mention we had front row seats? The whole ordeal made my insides cringe. All I could think was-there is no way her birth canal is ever going back. I suddenly had ‘Zoinks, Scoob’ eyes. I didn’t have nightmares last night however, my hat is off to all the mothers out there.
Practicing self restraint, I do not intervene and help the lamb as soon as it is born. What do you do when the longest minute goes by and Marmalade is still laying there and not cooing to her lamb? Aha! Light Bulb turns ON! I had prepared for such a moment. I knew to give her a squirt of a pudding like energy boost. What! It actually worked and she was up in the next minute. As she was pulling herself together, we began assisting her boy lamb with what I like to call sticking a turkey baster up his nose and cleaning the phlegm out. I was not aggressive enough with the phlegm removal so Tommy took over. Guess who will be in charge of basting a turkey in the future…
After we felt confident about the boy lamb’s state, Tommy went inside to make warm molasses water for our ‘Can someone throw me a life line’ new mom. During what might have been 5 minutes, Marmalade arcs her head back and goes right back to laying on her side. BAM! She spit out a 6 lb. white as snow girl. It happened so fast that I had not even finished making the call to tell Tommy to come right back out.
The molasses water came in the nick of time, Marmalade slurped half the bucket down and without skipping a beat-started cleaning up her new lambs. Once a lamb is born, we start another timer. A timer for how long it takes for the newborn lamb to nurse-Ideally in the first 30 minutes but no longer than an hour. Now you have to get to that teat while your momma is cleaning you up so it can definitely be a struggle. Just think trying to walk up to the top of a down escalator. The boy had no problem nursing and was so full of energy that I felt he was sipping on the molasses water. Where was his milk coma at?
However, the 6 lb. girl was trying her hardest to nurse but couldn’t make ends meet in an hour. So we milked a little bit of colostrum from Marmalade and bottle fed it to her-jumpstarting her battery. I was unsure if this was the right call but it was for this little girl. She went into her milk coma for maybe a minute and then turned into the Energizer Bunny. She bounced all around and began nursing all on her own. Whew! What a relief!
I am happy to report both lambs are healthy and have spent most of the day napping. Marmalade is a fantastic first time mother. Tommy and I even got to bed at a halfway decent hour on Sunday night.
The verdict is still out on when Puddin’ Pop and Banana Pop are going to pop. Tongue Twister! Time will tell.
Enjoy our adventure below!
TEN POUNDS
Donuts helping Marmalade with cleaning duties
Getting her hair styled by mom
Marmalade is a fantastic mom
Donuts standing watch over the vulnerable mother and lambs
Checking on her lambs before resting herself
Settling in nicely
Enjoying the lambing jug