Lost one today

frazzlehead · #1 03/11/09, 05:32 PM

We only have 10 ewes, so losing one lamb is a big deal for us.

We had a first time mama deliver a single, and she and the lamb were put in the barn (it's very cold here, even for sheep, and mama was a bit skittish about this baby-thing). They were doing okay, but the lamb didn't seem really strong. We'd keep checking on them, and he was often lying down, kinda shivery looking ... but he'd get up and nurse and wag his tail and seem fine when we checked.

Mama was upset at being separated from the other sheep, and although she'd let baby nurse, she was still seeming a bit less mothery than some.

Anyway, last evening we let her and baby out with the others. Baby was able to find her in the crowd and nurse (we watched to be sure) and everyone huddled together in the shelter out of the cold overnight. With everyone packed in there it's fairly warm, one big pile o' wooly sheep.

This morning, the baby was found frozen and still, poor thing.

Not sure what happened, but I am thinking he wasn't really getting enough to eat. In hindsight, we probably should've pulled him for bottle feeding ... we checked every few hours to see that he was warm and had a warm mouth (signs he was eating enough) but he was occasionally chilled seeming. After a couple of days, a cold mouth *at all* should've clued me into the fact that he was NOT getting enough to eat. It will next time. it's one thing right at birth, but after 3 days a lamb that can get up and eat (which he could) who is still cold is NOT getting enough for one reason or another (in this case, his mama wasn't real welcoming, and I think that was it - she tolerated him but didn't really let him get a good drink often enough).

If I have this situation again I will check the lamb's body temperature as well as the mouth, and probaby risk intervening with bottles when-in-doubt rather than risk losing one (as at the moment, I have a 13 year old who would do the bottle feeding, and stockpiled milk and a dairy cow due to freshen soon, so it won't cost a fortune in replacer for us). After two or three days, if the lamb doesn't seem to be doing well, it's probably better to feed him ourselves than risk losing him (in our situation with so few lambs).

It's always hard to lose them, but it's how we learn, sad to say. I still feel bad, but we're doing what we can to learn.

Figured I'd share our experience since I've learned so much from the others here, maybe the conversation this triggers will help someone else (and me, I'm all ears for ideas for next time).

desertshi · #2 03/11/09, 06:03 PM

So sorry about your loss. I think it is hard to lose an animal if you have 10 or you have 100! Hopefully this does help someone else...but the most important thing is that now YOU know. We can only take a bad experience and be willing to learn from it. That is the way to get through it...just think that it was a lesson.

So sorry! Hope the rest of your babies are okay!

wooly1s · #3 03/12/09, 12:37 AM

I am so sorry Frazzlehead...
Have you tried to milk mama out? Is she an adequate producer? We had one doe that didn't freshen when her kids were prematurely born...I missed it for 12 hours!!! Could have been lack of vigor on the lamb, dispassionate mama...or inadequate supply. Still hurts.

sheepish · #4 03/12/09, 08:30 AM

Make sure that the cause was not the ewe's ability to produce. If so, you don't want her pregnant again. If it is her mothering, mark her for especially close watching next year. You might want to weigh the babe at birth and again in a few hours, as well as before releasing the pair from a claiming pen. Usually first time jitters disappear with the second lambing.

Did you make sure that the waxy plug was released from her teats? Sometimes it takes more than normal working by the lamb to get those teats open.

Make sure she doesn't develop mastitis, You may want to milk her out a few times, but avoid overhandling, bruising or introducing bacteria into the teats.

frazzlehead · #5 03/12/09, 10:38 AM

Yup, I checked her for milk and was getting beautiful colostrum quite easily when I tried, so I think she had enough and was just super jittery. Good idea to pop her back in the barn and milk her out a little - might as well save that liquid gold for next time.

I'll message The Boy and see how he feels about milking! I suspect he'll suggest it can wait until I get home.

Thanks for your support, guys, it helps.

houndlover · #6 03/12/09, 07:46 PM

More likely, with all those sheep scrunched together for warmth, your lamb suffocated.

flannelberry · #7 03/12/09, 08:04 PM

We're thinking of you Frazzle....

**Ross** · #8 03/12/09, 09:50 PM

A loss shared and learned from is no loss at all. But it still sux. I had a suffolk that dropped twins consistently, and held up her milk maddenly. She got oxytocin 5X a day to feed her lambs for weeks!! She was history eventually. Or maybe she was pepperettes I forget. One of my early lessons on culling problems for sure because I didn't cull her untill she'd dropped 8 lambs! Her lambs never gave me an once of trouble though. Poor compensation if you consider her lambs were a risk..... and they were. Not the way a ewe should buy next years hay at any rate!

Hawkfamily · #9 03/12/09, 11:08 PM

So sorry about your loss, Frazzle! It's never easy, but, you're right, Ross, if it's a lesson learned and shared then it's a valuable one!
I wouldn't have thought of suffocation, but I guess that sounds likely. It sucks when you're still doing everything you think you need to be doing right and this happens. It sounds like you covered your bases. So sorry.
jodi

Hawkfamily · #10 03/12/09, 11:11 PM

Was it your boy's 4-H lamb? I just read your blog.

kabri · #11 03/12/09, 11:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by houndlover

More likely, with all those sheep scrunched together for warmth, your lamb suffocated.

That was my first thought when reading your post. I had a 1st time mother lay on her lamb overnight in the barn once. So sorry you lost the lamb, really sux no matter what the reason

frazzlehead · #12 03/13/09, 10:02 AM

I think they all had enough room - they all sit next to one another, but the shed is open on the front so they just kinda 'spill out' if it's too full.

I suppose it's possible he got squished, but he was looking kinda weak and wobbly and it was COLD COLD COLD that night - so the usual combination of mismothering, lack of adequate nutrition and exposure probably sent him over the edge, poor thing.

The Boy's 4-H lamb from last year was this one's mother, so he was really excited about the baby - but his market lamb for this year is huge and growing well, his mature ewe should lamb soon, and his propsect ewe from last year ... hmmm actually I can't recall which was his prospect, but his flock so far is doing well.

I did see one of the Hamps has bagged up this morning ... so maybe soon we'll have another baby to take our minds off things. AND it's above zero (!!!) so it'd be a good day to get a new lamb!

WA_sheepgal · #13 03/13/09, 01:01 PM

Sorry about the lamb. Sometimes when I see one who is a bit "off" even if it's a single, I'll make sure it gets adequate colostrum by milking out the ewe and bottle feeding or tubing it for a first meal and then make sure it can get on the teat by itself too. Then I can go to bed with peace of mind knowing how much colostrum it got. If it's going to die after that, it's going to die no matter what pretty much unless you want to bring it in the house or live in the barn with it. It's tough lambing when it's so cold too...kind of puts one strike against one that isn't vigorous to start with.
Jami

Hawkfamily · #14 03/13/09, 05:26 PM

I totally do this, too, Jami. After discovering the ease of tubing, I have way more peace of mind this way.

Frazzle, I'm glad to hear that your son's flock is doing well and that this wasn't one of his.

I have had a beautiful success story immediately following every tragedy we had this year, so I'm fully confident that you'll have a couple of sweet babies to gush about in no time at all. Good luck!

veme · #15 03/14/09, 07:30 AM

Sorry to hear it Frazzel.
Seems like every lambing season brings a loss of one kind or another.

Shannonmcmom · #16 03/19/09, 08:30 PM

So sorry to hear that you lost a lamb. Hopefully no more -40 for us here..... How many do you have left to lamb?

Hawkfamily · #17 03/20/09, 12:00 AM

-40, Shannon??? Where are you? yikes, that's cold. You must be in northern Alberta, yes?

Shannonmcmom · #18 03/20/09, 10:53 AM

Yes. We have been having lots of cold spells around here. I am really glad we changed our lambing season to spring and not winter. When ours would typically have had theirs it was below -40 here. That is cooooold. At the beginning of the week we still had a -25. I hope spring comes soon.

frazzlehead · #19 03/21/09, 12:33 AM

Yep, Shannonmcmom is right - minus forty celsius. Really. Then it warms up to plus three within a week - the weather has been really weird. :S

The forecast is for warm weather this coming week, and it is all starting to look like spring might ACTUALLY arrive ... so I've been speaking to the sheep and the dairy cow, and informed them all that they are welcome to deliver their babies ANY TIME NOW THANK YOU.

So far, nobody is listening, but hey, I keep trying.

Thanks for all the good thoughts ... it helps.