Last Lambs

Our last lambs of the season were born on Tuesday, March 21st! Cousin, the last ewe, was looking like she was in the early stages of labor all day on Monday, but she didn’t progress. I checked the barn camera every hour from midnight onward, and she was up and down a lot but not in really active labor. Melinda fed the bottle lambs at 6 am and at 7 I arrived and Melinda said “I think it’s almost time!” Cousin was actively contracting but nothing was showing so with Melinda holding Cousin, I did an exam. Thank goodness she was dilated, but there was a tangle of legs in the birth canal. I said to Melinda, “I have four feet.” She thought I said “I have forefeet,” and she thought all was well! I held up four fingers to indicate that it was a little more complicated. There was a head, and it took a while to figure out which feet went with the head. I tried to pull the feet, but that little lamb was very contented inside, and kept snatching its feet away from me. Lolo arrived and with his assistance, I got a lambing rope on the feet and pulled out a beautiful big boy. He was followed quickly by an equally beautiful and equally big girl. Both lambs were nearly 12 pounds. No time to take photos on Monday, but here are Cousin and her 2-day old lambs.