First, the good news. Brava has a brown, bouncing baby boy, born back feet first. He was up fast and nursing, has crimpy, consistent fleece and no discernible horn buds.Now the bad news. She delivered two more brown babies, a ewe and ram, both stillborn and not as developed. Rick is baffled, and plans to do some investigating into possible causes.
I've done what I can and am ready to drop. Hope to find everyone doing well in the morning.
One down and two more to go soon at . . .
23 comments:
oh no how sad....take good care of the little lamb you have been given
I'm sorry Michelle -
I hope the little guy is doing fine as well as Brava in the a.m.
Aww that's so hard when that happens :( At least you've got one very nice boy :)
What a shame. It sounds as though she released an egg and was mated again after one was already fertilised. The second fertilised egg developed into twins but they were premature when she gave birth to the first one who was presumably full term. Just my take on it anyway, I'd be interested in what your husband thinks.
So does this mean that win then, or don't still borns count? I can't find my entry to your competition but I guessed that Brava would have twins: both moorit, one polled tup and one ewe :o)
Hope you got some rest and will have been more healthy babies in your near future!
Sandy
I'm so sorry Michelle. As sheperds I know how much love and work and anticipation goes into these blessed events. I hope you find a plausible cause. Sometimes, it just happens. What a handsome buck though and more little treasures on the way. Have a good rest
I'm happy Brava has at least one live lamb to mother. So very sorry about the two stillborn lambs. I hope this was an isolated event and that the rest of your lambing is spectacular.
Hi Michelle,
Sorry to hear about your rough time. Very odd indeed. I wondered the same as what Jenny stated above--that perhaps she did cycle after being bred and the others weren't due until two weeks. I've heard that can happen, although have never seen so for myself (fortunately). That said, I know you were concerned that Brava was carrying the lambs longer than normal, and that ram lamb is a good size fellow. Congrats on your first lamb and I hope the rest of the birthings are uneventful.
Take care,
Tammy
Also was curious what her ultra sound showed her carrying....
Tammy
What a heartbreaking way to kick off lambing. I'm so sorry Michelle.
I know this has nothing to do with any lambing problems but I have to say I feel sorry for those girls having to lamb in their coats! They look so tight like it must be really difficult to labor in and turn to check the lamb, etc. I know a lot of people use them and I know that you change yours to make sure that the fit is accurate but just looking at these photos of Brava tending her lamb it looks like it's pulling at her neck/chest and very tight across here rear. It's hard to imagine that it could be comfortable.
I hope that the rest of your girls lamb without any problems and you have lots of beautiful, healthy ewe lambs!
I'm so sorry! That is never fun, and I hope the rest of your lambing goes ok.
Thanks, everyone, for your comments! I got a good night's sleep; didn't wake up to use the restroom for a change.
Jenny, I hadn't even thought of the contest until I read your comment; too wiped out I guess. I'll look up everyone's entries and figure out the closest guess.
Your idea of two cycles occurred to me, too, but we saw two embryos of comparable and appropriate size for her observed breeding date, both with beating hearts, when we ultrasounded her, which just doesn't fit the end result. Rick is suspicious of an infectious agent.
Nancy, I did remove Brava's coat right after those photos (my batteries died). I imagine it might be like nudists who complain that clothes are too restrictive; my girls are used to "clothes" (like I am!) so they probably don't even notice them! She was shivering last night even under the heat lamp, so I'm a little worried that taking off that extra bit of insulation didn't help.... Hope all is well down there this morning. Off to check now.
So sorry for your loss. I hope the others lamb easily with healthy babies. There has been some discussion on the Icelandic yahoo group about this very thing. Sad but very interesting.
Marie
Michelle, I'm so sorry that two of the lambs didn't make it. The baby that did looks to be a handsome fellow, and at least there is some joy to mitigate the sorrow. I hope everything else goes beautifully this season.
I'm so sorry about your lambs. Not the way you want to start, but hopefully have all the bad luck out of the way now.
WOW TRIPLETS! I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of the 2nd and 3rd lambs. That is the pits and no easy way to comfort it either.
hang in there! you'll have more cute babies soon!
Sorry for your losses, Michelle. Especially when they cause confusion. But I hope your remaining ramling is just as perfect as can be. Take care and get some rest. :)
Sorry to hear about your loss Michelle. Baffling is right, I wonder what happened? Sometimes nature does not have the same plans that we do. I am glad you (and Brava) have one healthy and content lamb though. Congratulations on him.
Wow, what a puzzle. Sad, but interesting. My two shetlands are the last to lamb here. I've never lambed anything so small!
The little ram lamb looks to be a great size. I think you are on your way now.
Congratulations on the little ram lamb. Sorry you lost the other 2 though. How disappointing. I pray the other ewes will deliver healthy lambs!
Jackie
So sorry to hear about your bad start to lambing. I am keeping my fingers crossed that it is an isolated incident and that everyone else lambs without problems.
So sorry to hear about the stillborns. :( Your ram lamb is certainly a looker though! Chin up!
Oh, Michelle...
I am so very sorry to read about your losses. Please let me know what you find out. I'm glad one made it. I'll be keeping you and your flock in my thoughts today...and wish I was there to just give you a hug and a shoulder.
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