Finally,we have beautiful twins, that were born and on their feet about an hour and a half after the stringy goo. First came an almost carbon copy doeling of mom and then a beautiful buckling with coloring like I have never had, and I think he is so beautiful. Everything went well with the exception of the doeling presenting with only her face and ONE hoof. I kept hoping she would come on out but she just would NOT. So I began to check for the hoof close by and it was nowhere to be found. After I pushed her little leg and foot back I finally found folded in half back up in there a ways. after I got it straight and headed forward it wasn't so bad. A little tugging and finally it came forward with the other one. Then she came right on out. Mom spent several long minutes eyeballing her before she figured it all out but she is doing fine with them now. The buckling came real easy about 45 mins. to an hour later. The lighting is not so good for pics but we are trying here. I also spread the placental material out for a pic. I word it that way because of the great debate over how many placentas their should be. According to fiasco farms there is normally one for each kid. All I know is that in humans the only time one would be shared is with identical twins. Well I took a picture of what I got for my own records and these seem to be two complete placentas as far as I can tell they came out completely separate even though they came out at the same time. You can't tell in the pic of the boy which is the last pic but all that dark looking area around the middle body and the top of his head and all is BLACK with those little brown legs etc. He is so cute and I love how long there ears look. Well now that this part is behind us our next ones will be Nigerians. Now I know why my trip to pick up my pregnant doe fell through today because God knew I should be here and now I will go pick her up next Sat. instead. Well gotta run check on me babies! Best to the rest of you out there kiddin'!
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I just looked back through the PowerPoint from that presentation, and it says that if the weather is "bad," he moves the ewes so they have access to a hoop house if it's lambing season. But otherwise, nothing was mentioned about shelter. And the cornfield was used for breeding; a rye field is used for lambing season, which has even less of a wind break, especially in April. There wasn't a picture of the rye field, but we have rye in our pasture, and even it has been stockpiled, there isn't much in April. But anyway, I'd be worried sleepless if my sheep didn't have 24/7 access to shelter. Even with access, I always worry when we have a storm that someone is being mean and not letting one of them into the shelter.
I don't know understand why people would not want to see the births either. I haven't seen very many sheep births because they are so quiet, but if I happen to get lucky enough to see one in labor, I sure don't leave before I know what we have for babies!
You know Deborah, I so don't understand these kind of people either. I think sometimes about herds and flocks and what I think they would have been like in biblical times, based on what the bible says. And the shepherds stayed with there flocks and herds not just to protect them , actually mostly they were IN the fields during lambing and kidding season to look after them. I am sure that they were not so preoccupied with predators that they did not take time to sooth laboring moms. Can't any of you just imagine them walking among the moms in labor, talking gently to them and petting and loving on those who seemed to want that probably singing to them and I am sure many prayers for protection, not to mention prayers of thanksgiving for births ending well, went up to God. MY POINT? How could anyone not want to be there for the moms just in case...Why wouldn't someone want to see the births. Everyone is different,special, a blessing. I get aggravated if I miss births just about who was born in what order. I want to know every detail of every birth. And I mean each individual baby born, not just each mother that gives birth. The one thing I don't get about what you are saying about this man with the sheep(Sorry but I don't consider him a real shepherd if he isn't taking care of them- he is just a man with sheep)(like the difference between a daddy and a father) is are you telling us that these sheep have no shelter to the point that they have no roof to get under if it is pooring rain or out of the sun. That is ridiculous! Sorry, another one of those times when I would want to go off on someone.
I think you're probably right that there are more large flocks of sheep, but all of the small shepherds I know also are very hands off with lambing. I was at a workshop this spring where a man gave a presentation about not using hay for his sheep, and in the late winter, he puts them in a cornfield that was cut in the fall, so there is lots of stubble, and that's what the sheep eat AND where they lamb! That just floored me! They don't even have any shelter at all. He says the corn stubble is enough of a windbreak, but his slides didn't look very cozy to me.
Now and then I also have shepherds comment on blog posts that I write about my goats giving birth, and they make comments about how they could never have goats because they aren't hardy enough when it comes to kidding. They like their sheep because they don't have to do anything. I remember one woman commenting that one of her sheep was in labor as she was typing and she planned to stay inside and spin for a few hours because she knew the ewe could handle it on her own. I don't worry about my sheep either because they generally have one or two, and there is plenty of time between them -- they're about 6 pounds at birth, so take a bit more time to push out, even though the Shetland ewes are about the same size as the ND does -- so the ewes don't have any trouble cleaning them up as they're born because they don't shoot out seconds apart like some NDs do.
I often have to explain to sheep people that the reason I'm there for my goats giving birth isn't because they're incompetent, it's because they're too good! I've lost far too many kids (usually a triplet or quad) when I missed a birth because the kid either got hypothermia or suffocated in the sac.
Oh they are all great, thank you, and so BEAUTIFUL! I feel sure that we have very few sheep down here in the south because of the heat. I know they CAN BE kept here but certain breeds would do better and I believe one would need good flock management skills. I know when I get some I will be careful about what kind I get and study A LOT first. That is one reason I am leaning toward the Gulf Coast Native Sheep. That and the rare breeds conservancy issue.
It's very interesting how location changes what is around us so greatly!! I live in sheep country for SURE. lol The goats around here are often singles, or a very small herd mixed in with cows, but just down the HWY from me, goat herds are just as common as cow herds... and only an hour away! I'm not sure what differences in the areas cause this difference...
How are the babies today? How's mom doing?
Thanks Liz I think so too! I guess I am not looking at the big picture. I DO LIVE ON THE GULF COAST! I rarely see sheep around here. They are not so common around me anyway but I can find goats on most any road. Just not the right ones to suit me. I would have never thought we had so many sheep. But what I really wonder is how many sheep owners vs. goat owners. That would really be the point in question here because we are talking about the owners habits and actions. What I was mostly assuming was that more sheep are probably kept in large flocks by fewer people and the goats are more likely spread out among more people (percentage wise).
Congratulations on your new beautiful babies Margaret!
There used to be quite a few boar breeders/sellers in our area, but about two years ago, everyone started selling off their herds due to a price drop... Sheep are still going strong though. lol
Actually there are a lot more sheep in the US than goats -- 5.5 million sheep vs 3 million goats, according to the Minnesota Board of Animal Health: http://www.bah.state.mn.us/animals/sheep-goats/index.html
And from what I've heard before, the number of goats only started to increase in the 1990s when they started importing boer goats for meat. Prior to that, sheep outnumbered goats a LOT more! And the number of sheep has been dropping as the bottom fell out of the wool market in the US.
They are so sweet and soft and beautiful. The colors are so pretty! You know I know something else they have in common with people "kids". They are all beautiful!
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