Before bed last night I noticed Miss Manchego, one of our younger ewes, wouldn’t eat. She was acting off so I took a closer look. I’ll spare you the details about her vulva, anyways, by the looks of her I knew she was close to lambing. I set an alarm to go back out and check on her in a couple hours. Shortly after midnight I went out to check her and she had twin ewe lambs. She was mothering and caring for both so I decided to give her a little more time to bond before intervening.

This is my sixth lambing season! Until this year we’ve had more ram lambs than ewe lambs, including two years where we ended up having all ram lambs. So when I went out to find two more ewe lambs this year I was ecstatic. I don’t know what I am going to do with all the ewe lambs. It’s a blessing.

Anyways, when I went back outside to check on the newest twin ewe lambs I did a handful of things to ease my mind before going back to sleep.

“Jugged” Ewe and Lambs

I separated the ewe and her lambs from the rest of the flock. I don’t always do this however it does have its benefits. In this situation she had more than one lamb and it is her first time lambing. I have an easier time keeping an eye on them when them when they are on their own. In a couple days after the little girls have gained a bit and recovered from being born I’ll integrate them back into the flock.

Snip, Dip, and Strip

The vet says to snip, dip, and strip. Snip the umbilical cord if its long, dip the umbilical cord in iodine, and strip each teat of the ewe to make sure she has colostrum coming from each teat. I am going to be honest, I was half asleep last night/ this morning and I did not snip or dip. Miss Manchego’s udders and teats are much smaller than what I am used to so I did “strip” her. I double checked to make sure she had colostrum flowing from each teat.

Looked for Placenta

I am uneasy until I see a placenta. I do not get ultrasounds done on my ewes so I don’t know how many lambs to expect. My girls often have twins and triplets. This year I even had one who was pregnant with 6 lambs. In the past, I have been mistaken by thinking an ewe was done lambing only to find out that she still had another lamb to go.

Fortunately she birthed the placenta shortly after being separated from the rest of the flock. That’s another reason I like to separate new moms and their lambs. It is a lot easier to find a placenta when you don’t have a flock of hungry sheep bombarding you for treats.

Observed

I observed the ewe and her lambs from a distance to make sure all appeared to be going well. She accepted both lambs without a problem and the lambs appeared to be nursing well. Miss Manchego was doing a good job for her first time around. I enjoy this part of lambing when all goes well.