Mud Ranch’s Real Dirt

If you’re coming in on this story and haven’t read the first installment, please go do so now and then come back.  And I’ll give the same warning I gave in the first, if you get queasy about a sheep’s nether regions, amniotic fluid and goo, then please go read something that won’t make you upset in the stomach.  This is the full blown chronicling of a sheep’s birth.

I woke up early this morning to finish this story as I knew that some of my readers were getting a little itchy.  You all don’t think she had a Belted Galloway?  Well… Maybe you’re right, but hername is “Beltie.”

And Beltie’s little entrance in the world had the biggest audience though Lilly was fine during the whole thing!  They had two people (kid included), two dogs – one being about 120lbs, the other a wannabe border collie; and two bottle lambs!  It was quite a scene, thankfully Lilly is so so calm.  I cannot tell you how even-keel she is.

What amazes me is the mothering instincts that these sheep have.  The lamb just came out and no sooner did the lamb’s hind end come out that Lilly started to stand and turn to wash.  And she made sure that she did a good job. 

At this moment of washing, Lilly is getting this lamb’s scent in to her mind so she can know who her child is amongst all the bouncing spotted babies in the field.  The bonding is quick and quite strong.  Meanwhile Beltie’s first attempt to stand is within minutes of being born.

And the drive for that babie to nurse is very strong as well.  She is programmed to get that colostrum in to her as quickly as possible.  It is essential to a newborn baby of any type as it is the powerhouse food that keeps the immune system strong and has everything that baby needs for the first few days of life.

Oh!  What’s that?  I think I see another little slipper trying to come out… We’ve got twins!

“Don’t worry mama, you go ahead and have your babies, I’ll stay right here in case somebody dangerous comes along.”

Abby does guard the newborn babies.  The neat thing about her is she keeps her distance, not wanting to worry the new mamas and get a bop from a horned ewe.  She’s very vigilant though, we’ve lucked out on a really good dog.

Meanwhile, Lilly has laid back down to push and look, is still cleaning her firstborn.

She gets back up to reposition and I see the little white slippers again… and a nose, and a tongue!

“Hi!  I’m your big sister!  Come on out, it’s not so bad.”

Lilly lies down one more time, talking all the while to Beltie while she pushes.

The head is almost all the way through.

She’s so zeroed in on the new lamb and feels the need to clean, that she starts to stand before the baby is all the way out.

We all gasp at the stand and turn maneuver but it assures that the umbellical chord has broken!  And here comes the beginning of the after-birth.

Can you imagine?  Labor pains, clean, nurse… all at the same time.  That’s a dedicated mom.

And thus, Beltie’s sister Rose enters the scene, a little sandy but mama will fix her right up.

I headed into the house to feed my child her lunch and knew that all was safe for the two new lambs.

I hope you enjoyed the live lambing!

Hubby and I stayed home all weekend, in the house… That’s a big deal.  We never stay in the house but we had a good reason being that Hubby was sick; and we’ll leave it at that.  So on Sunday I noticed that Lilly was out by herself up on our hill we have in the pasture.  I knew she was getting close to lambing so knew that “today’s the day.”  She would pace back and forth trying to find a comfortable position and eventually came back down to the base of the hill, in a slight depression in the ground where run-off flows if we have heavy rains.

It was raining, but was more the showers here and there, then sun, then slight sprinkles, then showers.  Not too bad to sit through, so I headed out with the camera and the kid to document Lilly’s birth for you all to witness right here on Mud Ranch’s Real Dirt.  So, before we get too involved here’s my Warning Label:

Should you continue to read this post, there will be graphic photographs of a ewe’s nether regions, amniotic fluid and goo… If you feel queasy with this subject I urge you to go look at something lovelier such as my photographs of Lupine Flowers last spring.  If you choose to follow along, you may find this post fairly educational -if not in words, in photos.

I’ve now said my peace and if you continue, you take your eyes in to your own hands.

I’ve always noticed that when a ewe gets ready to “lamb” (have babies) she will baaaa a lot as if to call her babies out or ask for help, I’m not sure which.  But they are certainly not without pain.

Before you start to see anything coming out the ewe’s backside, you will notice her pace, lay down, get up, pace, lay down, look at her belly, stretch her head back and point her upper lip.  This process was about 30 minutes long for Lilly.

Then all of a sudden, you’ll see a little bubble of a sack poke out and if everything is right in the world, two hooves one slightly behind the other and the tip of a nose.

The little hooves are bright white and look like tiny little stockings.

Lilly is pushing really hard here, with her upper lip curled and her eyes rolled in the back of her head.  I, of course, start rooting her on, “You can do it Lilly!  Good job, you’re almost there!”

She probably wants to reach over and slap me but she’s a patient and calm ewe so she tolerated her audience well.

Here’s the head now, with the feet below the chin.  The head is the largest part of the lamb and is therefore the hardest to push out.  Sometimes a ewe may need traction (steady pressure held while she’s pushing), on a lamb that has a larger head as she may need help.  This was, thankfully, not true in Lilly’s case.

Lilly then lies down once the head is through and pushes with all her might to get the rest of her lamb out.  Right about now, I was hoping for a ewe lamb.

Congratulations Lilly, you just had a… Belted Galloway.

To be continued…

I found him out in the pasture, just zonked from the great entrance in to the world the day before.  He’d found one of the horse trails that had a slight depression in to the ground, and was soaking up the sun, totally oblivious that I was there.

You could hear his heavy breathing and his sides heaved.  Every now and then a little lip would move up and down or a toe’d twitch.  Other than that it was complete silence and sweet dreams coming from little “Ford.”

So I decided to have a closer look at his little nose.  They’re so soft and small.  I’ve always loved noses on animals, nothing surpasses a foal’s whiskered muzzle but a lambs little button comes pretty close.

His hooves have hardened by now but they bring back the memory of a freshly born lamb’s hooves.  Soft as silk slippers and so fun to touch.

He just kept right on sleeping, hard as a rock.  Every now and then his mom would murmur to him hoping to rouse him up out of his slumber so I’d leave them all alone.  She was keeping her cool, though his little brother “Dodge” was wondering what was up.

“Hey man, mama says to get up!”

“Huh?  Humm? Wha…?  But why?”

A bunch of little mirror images they are.  I love how this mama, “Lou Ellen” (her friend’s call her Lou) passes on her cute blaze and nice face.  She also has some very striking eyes, marbled with vibrant blue.  She is Hubby’s favorite ewe.

Dodge says, “See ya later lady.  Thanks for the photoshoot.”

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