Lambing 2023

We didn't retain any of the 2021 gimmers to join the flock, so this year saw us lambing the same 22 ewes as last year. As lambing outside had gone well last year we opted to do the same again. Once born, we then brought them in to a mothering up pen for a couple of days.

As per usual, we had synchronised the ewes using CIDRs back in November and kept a record of the dates each of them should have come into season and been tupped. So by the time the first were due we were all ready and waiting.

And nothing happened!

Unlike previous years, where there always seems to be one who is very early, this time around they kept us waiting. Perhaps it was the very wet and stormy weather in the few days leading up that had put them off, opting to hold onto their lambs for a little longer to be sure the conditions were going to be good?

Still nothing on Friday. Then just a single ewe - Index - lambed on the Saturday and one more - Andromeda - on the Sunday. This was a really slow start!

The floodgates open!

Five ewes lambed on the Monday - the first at 0130 and the last at 1820 - and all of them had twins, so that was 7 ewes with 14 lambs so far. All seemed well during the day but at the 2300 check it was apparent that Hildegard's lambs were hungry. Checking her udder we discovered her milk hadn't started to come through fully, so the night was spent topping her lambs up with a bottle.

To add to the overnight demands, three ewes lambed around 0300 in and around the polytunnel. I opted to lamb one of these as she wasn't making a lot of progress and I didn't want to risk leaving her. With all of this going on it was a sleepless night! Normally this wouldn't be a major issue - we have a good system where whichever of us has done the overnight checks (and hopefully had a few dozes in between) goes to bed around 0600 for a few solid hours, and the other, who will be doing the next night, gets an afternoon nap to prepare. But 2023 had other plans for us!

Best laid plans ...

Lunch on Tuesday had to pause halfway through cooking as we could see Celestial with a water bag out but not making much progress. While I kept an eye on her Helen found Baroness, one of our very pregnant nanny goats also in labour. For the full story of a really difficult kidding season have a look in the goat section of the site, but suffice it to say just helping her deliver quintuplets kept Helen busy all afternoon!

We kept in touch by walkie-talkie - Helen in the polytunnel and me sat up near the top of Well Meadow - and I could feel the excitement with each message about another kid!

Eventually, with Celestial now very restless and moving around the field, I decided to get her in for a check. With Helen having her hands quite literally full with goat kids I was on my own for this one, but she was straightforward to guide into a pen. Examining Celestial I could feel that the lamb had a leg back, which was why she was struggling to deliver it. I managed to correct things and pulled out a little tup lamb. Leaving her to bond with it for a while I returned to find she'd delivered a twin gimmer as well.

By late afternoon another ewe - Christie - had lambed and we were out of pens! At least Hildegard's milk had returned and she was feeding her twins well.

The following days passed in a blur of trying to keep goat kids alive and dealing with several more abnormal kiddings. It was a good job that, aside from one ewe running around the field with a hung lamb (just the head hanging out) - which we managed to get hold of and deliver alive - the sheep were no problem at all. By the end of the week all but the three we thought had run into their second cycle at tupping time had delivered and were doing well. Many were already out into the fields making the best of the sunshine and lush grazing.

By pure luck I went to do an extra check in the few minutes before some pizzas came out of the oven one evening. Integer had just had a lamb so I went to get a pen ready for her. Returning I saw she had a second lamb on the way, but immediately recognised that it was a single back leg I could see. Breech lambs need rapid intervention or the umbilical cord will tear while their head is still inside, triggering them to breathe, whereupon they will drown in the bag. The experience we have gained since we started the farm kicked in and I could catch her, manoeuvre the other back leg into position and quickly whip out the lamb. Safely delivered and breathing they could be left in a pen to bond and I could get my tea!

Hildegard's tup lamb managed to chew a wound into one of her teats which developed into mastitis. Although she responded to treatment well we had to remove him and try our best to bottle feed instead, which proved difficult as he didn't have a good sucking reflex. But with some company from the three late lambers and their offspring he progressed and could eventually go back out to the field with the flock. Amazingly, despite over three weeks apart, Hildegard accepted him back and did allow him to suckle occasionally.

The last three ewes lambed themselves, although we did have a little drama with the last one trying to steal lambs from the next to last ewe - she was so desperate to have hers she couldn't wait another few hours until she finally delivered!

All told our 22 ewes had 40 lambs - 21 gimmers and 19 tups. We had no losses, so got 182% out to the field, which is a really great result and our best year lambing to date.

With the ewes done it was time to turn our thoughts to calving and the other sheep tasks, like vaccination and shearing, to come.