Consolidated Kansas

[Trish44]

Well I had quite a 24 hours. I haven't been on because day before yesterday I went out in the afternoon to do my daily walk around & check on birds & animals since I'm still not doing the feeding yet. When I got to the sheep pen I found out my other ewe was in labor & thought oh boy what a day she chose to lamb, here we go. It was about 18 degrees when I first went out. I set my alarm to go back out in an hour & when I did I saw she was getting close to delivering. The ram was bugging the heck out of the poor nervous first time momma so I had to get him out of there. I managed to get the ram & the other ewe out to the field but baby with that ewe got left behind so he yelled for mama the whole time & she yelled back. I couldn't mess with that at the moment. By the time it was starting to get dark I knew I needed to get momma back up with her baby & got her in & turned around only to find the ram right behind me at the gate. He had decided there was no way he was staying out there because Jas my lead GP was going nuts about something in the field so I ended up having to let the ram back in too. The baby was born & he was soaking wet & I was really worried because momma ewe was not paying attention & seemed to be still nervous, pacing, & pawing the ground. I made the decision quickly to get the lamb dried off or he would get hypothermia in that kind of temp. He got up & started looking for momma but she was having none of it & the other ewe was pushing him forcefully away every time he got close to her. The poor thing just didn't have a chance & I went back out in a short time to find him curled up in a corner of the shelter alone, not good. I managed to get him out of there & brought him in. I started right away giving him colostrum I mixed up. Fortunately I had some good lamb people to advise me on what to keep on hand & had that ready along with nipples that fit on a pop bottle. I went back out & momma had another lamb, a twin girl that was stillborn, that's why she was still pacing. I had no idea she had twins in there. The little girl lamb was very small & just hadn't developed. I tried to confine momma but when I did that all of the sheep went into the small area, they were all riled up over me being out there & the events of the night so I just gave up & kept the baby in my utility room for the night feeding him every 3-4 hours. I tried again the next afternoon to get momma to accept baby but no dice so he is now a bottle lamb. He's doing well so far, he has really taken to the bottle & I'm momma to him. He recognizes my voice & "talks" to me when I talk. It would have been much better if momma would take care of him but I guess just the combination of such horrible cold weather, a new momma, & her not liking me being around caused her to reject him. I'm hoping she does better next time, I will give her one more chance to prove herself & that will be it. The other ewe has turned out to be an excellent mother & her little lamb is growing like a weed. Sometimes you just have to do difficult things to save an animal.



My little lap lamb

 

[sharol]

Well I had quite a 24 hours. I haven't been on because day before yesterday I went out in the afternoon to do my daily walk around & check on birds & animals since I'm still not doing the feeding yet. When I got to the sheep pen I found out my other ewe was in labor & thought oh boy what a day she chose to lamb, here we go. It was about 18 degrees when I first went out. I set my alarm to go back out in an hour & when I did I saw she was getting close to delivering. The ram was bugging the heck out of the poor nervous first time momma so I had to get him out of there. I managed to get the ram & the other ewe out to the field but baby with that ewe got left behind so he yelled for mama the whole time & she yelled back. I couldn't mess with that at the moment. By the time it was starting to get dark I knew I needed to get momma back up with her baby & got her in & turned around only to find the ram right behind me at the gate. He had decided there was no way he was staying out there because Jas my lead GP was going nuts about something in the field so I ended up having to let the ram back in too. The baby was born & he was soaking wet & I was really worried because momma ewe was not paying attention & seemed to be still nervous, pacing, & pawing the ground. I made the decision quickly to get the lamb dried off or he would get hypothermia in that kind of temp. He got up & started looking for momma but she was having none of it & the other ewe was pushing him forcefully away every time he got close to her. The poor thing just didn't have a chance & I went back out in a short time to find him curled up in a corner of the shelter alone, not good. I managed to get him out of there & brought him in. I started right away giving him colostrum I mixed up. Fortunately I had some good lamb people to advise me on what to keep on hand & had that ready along with nipples that fit on a pop bottle. I went back out & momma had another lamb, a twin girl that was stillborn, that's why she was still pacing. I had no idea she had twins in there. The little girl lamb was very small & just hadn't developed. I tried to confine momma but when I did that all of the sheep went into the small area, they were all riled up over me being out there & the events of the night so I just gave up & kept the baby in my utility room for the night feeding him every 3-4 hours. I tried again the next afternoon to get momma to accept baby but no dice so he is now a bottle lamb. He's doing well so far, he has really taken to the bottle & I'm momma to him. He recognizes my voice & "talks" to me when I talk. It would have been much better if momma would take care of him but I guess just the combination of such horrible cold weather, a new momma, & her not liking me being around caused her to reject him. I'm hoping she does better next time, I will give her one more chance to prove herself & that will be it. The other ewe has turned out to be an excellent mother & her little lamb is growing like a weed. Sometimes you just have to do difficult things to save an animal.



My little lap lamb

 

[chicken danz]

Well I'm glad I'm not bottle feeding a lamb right now. Heaven knows I have enough on my plate. More reminders not to get more critters!!
My turkey knocked a cup of coffee over and of course it poured right on top of my phone. Grrrr! I sure hope it didn't ruin it. I'm trying to dry it out.
It's been snowing all day after starting yesterday afternoon. We had a break during the night but this morning it's been constant. At least it isn't real windy so maybe the drifts won't be as bad this time. I've got to get out soon and haul back a couple 50# bags of chick starter. What a crummy time to run out!!! I really need my storage closer.

 

[thndrdancr]

Oh phooey! What weather! Only one enjoying it is Bandit, my Pyr and even he had to come in and take a 10 minute warmup up and cuddles.
Me and the showgirl have been arguing over the easy chair, she has learned it's right cozy! Last night when watching tv we finally agreed to share!

Trisha, lovely little baby! He is adorable.

Kskingbee, good decision on not going to that auction. Ha. Do they actually ever cancel them when it's like this? Stay warm and dry everyone! And be careful on the snow.

 

[chicken danz]

My youngest pyr is out running around. The two older ones are tucked in their dog houses sleeping. The birds are all staying in today. I am however enjoying all the cardinals and a woodpecker who have found my peanut butter seed cakes and are feasting!!! The little snow birds are sitting on the ground cleaning up whatever falls.
My oil heater got unplugged again!!! This time I only lost one baby. I taped the plug in to the outlet. I have outlets on the ceiling in there and although they work great to keep them dry they can be a pain if plug doesn't fit real tight. I guess I should bring the thermostat in and work on it. They have a back up battery to operate and it may have bit the dust.

 

[CHIKENROOKIE]

Auction coming up in Gardner in couple of weeks.

Who all is planning on going and tell me what you are bringing!

Wanting to add some to my little flock.

 

[Trish44]

Well I'm glad I'm not bottle feeding a lamb right now. Heaven knows I have enough on my plate. More reminders not to get more critters!!
My turkey knocked a cup of coffee over and of course it poured right on top of my phone. Grrrr! I sure hope it didn't ruin it. I'm trying to dry it out.
It's been snowing all day after starting yesterday afternoon. We had a break during the night but this morning it's been constant. At least it isn't real windy so maybe the drifts won't be as bad this time. I've got to get out soon and haul back a couple 50# bags of chick starter. What a crummy time to run out!!! I really need my storage closer.

Yeah it wasn't on my agenda either, but I guess it's better to do it right now when I'm not doing the other chores as well. He's going to keep me busy for awhile though. We were supposed to be going to Fort Worth today for a marathon my DH was running in tomorrow but we looked at the weather all the way there & opted to cancel. My DH was upset that he lost his registration money & did all of the training for months for it & then couldn't go but he will probably do another one when it gets a bit warmer. It's just not a safe bet to try to travel in February anyway.

I think all of the stuff with lambing is bringing in the coyotes closer because my GPs have been busy out there even today during the day. Normally they are busy all night but I have been hearing them today as well.

 

[chicken danz]

Auction coming up in Gardner in couple of weeks.

Who all is planning on going and tell me what you are bringing!

Wanting to add some to my little flock.

I'll be there. That is my two days of fun each year. I'm actually probably not going to bring anything this spring because I don't have time to make cages and I don't have enough to make it worth while to make two trips up there. I guess I could bring some babies to be auctioned off but I'm afraid I'd loose money on those. I've never taken young birds before.
Trish I'm glad you opted to stay home. This weather is something else. I don't know what it is doing down there but we've had snow all day today.
I need to jump in the car and go pick up some fresh milk. I really have no desire to get out on those roads though.

 

[Ralph Moyer]

I had to cancel a large sale of my Muscovy and quail today due to this weather. Maybe next weekend will be better. I do need to move the ducks as they are starting to lay. I do not want to end up with 200 Muscovy next winter. I kept 30 Muscovy hens last season and had over 500 hatch by August.

 

[MsDebD]

Yay for all the great info I've gotten here! David and I slipped and slid into town today to get alfalfa pellets at Tractor Supply and what do we find? Fuzzy, adorable baby chicks. David looked at them and said " Well you cant even tell what kind these are. Where are the .....?" and went on to list the breeds we've been talking about buying. We found the special order poster and he said "Well I'd rather get them from the people you've been telling me about than order them from here. No telling where these would come from." Danz, on the way home we talked about there probably being a good reason you probably won't have the chicks we want for another month, because they are more attuned to local conditions. (The people we are getting Australorps from said it would be about a month until.she has them too.) So, no offence intended toward anyone buying from TSC...I'm just tickled that David has been paying attention and that we are making the same choices on our first chicken purchases!
Trish...your lamb is adorable! And the weather sounds much worse farther south from what I see posted from my OK and TX people.
Stay safe and stay warm!