   | It has been a month since the last lambs arrived; I've had time to catch my breath. It was a very hectic 3 weeks as I had a larger than usual share of complications. First, sadly, we lost one of Jasmine's triplets after the lamb was sick for about a week - always a hard thing for everyone on the farm when a lamb dies. Then Janey had a breech birth; I was worried the lamb had aspirated as it was very weak and not breathing well. Once I got colostrum in it, and some extra nutrients with some TLC , I was happily surprised when it got up after about an hour, trying to nurse. Holly then had twins one night and the little ram lamb must have gotten separated from her as his twin was born. By the time I reunited the lamb with his dam & sister, Holly wouldn't accept him as hers. I don't think there is anything harder or more frustrating than trying to get a ewe to accept a rejected lamb. We held her, then had to tie her to let him nurse, as she |
tried to butt him. I tried the old method of putting a coat on the accepted lamb, then switching it to the rejected one after a couple of days. And I tried many other remedies! After almost 2 weeks, I was going to give up though at that point it would have been very hard to get him to accept a bottle. The lamb got smarter, though, and rushed in to nurse when his sister nursed. Finally Holly accepted him and now gets upset if both her twins aren't right with her. So happily we now have 9 healthy lambs running through the pasture.
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