Exactly two weeks later Dolley decided to lamb... on the worst day possible. I had won an award at our local county museum with one of my felted art paintings. I was supposed to be there to receive the award and to participate in the ceremony. I walk out the door to leave when I decide to peek in on the sheep one last time. To my horror Dolley is on her side straining... hard.
I quickly called by best friends and sheep go to people Kathryn and Yvonne of www.stillwaterfarm.weebly.com and asked them to come out and and help me with her. They arrived right as Dolley's water broke. Kathryn and I sat and watched as she continued to strain and strain but still no lamb. We decided it was time to intervene. We were able to find the lamb's nose and feet so we knew it was in the correct position. The lamb was however so big Dolley was unable to push it out.
With both of us grabbing a leg and holding the head we began to gently pull. Still though the lamb wouldn't budge! Realizing we were running out of time, we realized we would have to give it all we got. We believed by this point the lamb was probably not alive so we pulled fairly hard. Slowly the lamb's head began to emerge. Once the head was free the lamb slid out quite easily.
She was a white ewe who miraculously was still alive... but unable to breathe. She would take a shuddering breath and then have a seizure. Her gums and skin were turning blue from lack of oxygen and we were certain that she wouldn't make it. Kathryn however, continued to sit with her and pat her side while blowing into her mouth trying to encourage the little girl to take a few deep breaths. This continued for probably about ten minutes although it felt like hours.
Finally the lamb took a huge breath and suddenly was breathing just fine. About ten minutes later she was up and nursing like any other normal lamb. I breathed a prayer of thanks and stepped out of the barn sighing with relief. Kathryn stepped out and looked at me and said. "I have birthed hundreds of sheep and I have never had one as difficult as this!" and then I replied "At least that one was so big she won't have another!" Oh, why do I have to say something like that? It always comes back to haunt me!
We went back to check on Dolley and her lamb again and to our horror she was standing over another lamb. A little black ewe... who also wasn't breathing well. Once more Kathryn repeated the patting and blowing until the little baby was breathing normally. She was so tiny! One of the smallest lambs I had ever seen. Luckily though she was able to pull through and Dolley has become an amazing mother to these miracle twins! here she is showing off one of her new babies the day after they were born. Below that picture are the two lambs Betsy and Corrie. I love the markings on Corrie's face. It looks like she's smirking which fits perfectly with her personality.
Dolley and Corrie
Corrie and Betsy
A few weeks after that Emmie went into labor. A little uneasy about Dolley's stressful delivery, I was so nervous about it happening all over again. It also didn't help that I was alone and help wouldn't be on the way for another 20min. I sat with Emmie and watched. I waited as she strained but her water still hadn't broken. It looked as though her water bag was coming but she was straining so hard. I looked closely and freaked out. The lamb was actually being born inside the water bag. Frantically I pulled it apart allowing the lamb to get oxygen. the little lamb coughed and sputtered but was, to my relief, entirely ok. She was a little white ewe lamb who was surprisingly small in size since she was a single lamb. We affectionally call her Tiny.
During all this crazy lamb stress our farm was also blessed with a litter of English Angoras. My Lilac Tort Doe Maple Sugar gave birth to ten healthy babies. The father was Bumblebee Acres' Cupid a Harlequin Marked angora so I was super excited about harlequin babies! To my excitement there were four Harlequin babies in the litter! below is a picture of the litter the day after they were born. Can you spot the Harlequin marked one on the bottom right?
One Day old English Angoras
Harlequin English Angora at ten days old
Six week old English Angoras
This is Hawthorn. He is the harlequin bunny in the first picture. I love his color and he has excellent wool that is super dense. I can't wait until I can begin working with his fiber!
So I hoped you enjoyed this super cute and stressful post about the chaotic life on our farm! Hoping to post again soon with another farm update!
