Little Miss Hopeful was born around 5am this morning to Rachel. I found her at 6am, mostly dried off and sprawled in the bedding unable to stand. White Muscle Disease for sure. Clancy came out to help me give her a BoSe shot and milk Rachel. She perked right up and sucked well on the bottle. But she was too wobbly to stand up. We brought her in and put her under some towels with some hot water bottles and within the hour she was trying to jump out of the tub. Hopeful also has a mighty set of lungs on her. She wanted her mama!
Rachel took her back like a good ewe and we witnessed Little Miss nursing on her own. She's still very unsteady on her legs. But she gets up and down like a lamb instead of a wet dishrag now. She pees and poops like a pro. And she doesn't want the bottle-she wants Mom. Only time will tell if this little black ewe lamb can make a full recovery. A shepherd friend that has brought thousands of lambs into this world said it could take up to a week for her to catch up. I hope she can. She is a lovey. Perfect tight crimp all the way down to her tiny tail. And Rachel's black lambs stay black-no iset. I would like to keep her in my flock if she can fully recover.
Rachel took her back like a good ewe and we witnessed Little Miss nursing on her own. She's still very unsteady on her legs. But she gets up and down like a lamb instead of a wet dishrag now. She pees and poops like a pro. And she doesn't want the bottle-she wants Mom. Only time will tell if this little black ewe lamb can make a full recovery. A shepherd friend that has brought thousands of lambs into this world said it could take up to a week for her to catch up. I hope she can. She is a lovey. Perfect tight crimp all the way down to her tiny tail. And Rachel's black lambs stay black-no iset. I would like to keep her in my flock if she can fully recover.
While Clancy and I rushed around this morning trying to take care of Rachel's daughter, I vaguely noticed that Delyth looked lackluster. I didn't have time to think about her-she wasn't due for a couple more days anyway. I ran to town to buy Vitamin E softgels and Delyth was missing when I got back at 12:30pm. Clancy had just come home for lunch at noon and found her out in the pasture, nervously trying to clean off her ram lamb and keep the rest of the ewe flock at bay. So he put her and the lamb in a jug. This little ram is all business. All he wants to do is eat, and he's very determined. We still treated him and his mom with BoSe and Vit E since they are likely to be very deficient too. But after all the worry of the morning it was lovely to see such vigor.
2 comments:
Looks like Hopeful is living up to her name. May she be the only one with obvious symptoms!
Congrats on your first lamb! Lovely name. I'm sorry you have to deal with such a deficiency and the aftermaths of it. BUT I'm very glad you know what the problem is and are able to sucessfully be prepared and to treat for it. Heres praying the rest of your lambing goes well, and Hopeful continues to improve.
Tammy
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