Day 7: Scott Jr. and Foals

It has been a very busy time at the barn. We are past the halfway point of the lambing season but it still feels like the peak. They seem to appear in bursts, usually, during "the lambing hour" which falls between 1-2am when we are supposed to be changing shifts but instead we usually stay little longer so Hallí doesn't have all the fun. During our day shift, we had a steady flow of ewes lambing, the weather was beautiful so plenty of group pens were processed and moved outside so they could enjoy the spring weather. I moved one ewe with a lot of resistance from her friend that threw herself in front of the gate that I was trying to exit. I was still able to take her friend to a lambing jug by moving a bit faster than the heavily pregnant ewe, but she had another trick up her sleeve. Once I secured her friend on the other side of the barn in a lambing jug, I did another sweep of the pregnant ewes to see she was putting a lot of energy into pushing a water sac out so she could ensure a place with her friend. Seeing this, I made sure she was in a neighboring jug so that they could stick together.

Panicking her lambing friend has left.

After Carly had such a whirlwind introduction, she continues to learn quickly and is a very much needed part of the group. She worked most of the day shift helping lambs that struggled to nurse and get the much-needed colostrum from mom. When we help a ewe lamb out, depending on who else is lambing, we can spend some time helping the lambs stand and nurse, but when it gets really busy we are lucky to watch the lambs stand for the first time. Once we iodine the umbilical cord, give them a preventative tab, strip and wipe down the mom's udder, we move on to the next ewe. Most lambs are quick to stand and nurse but we had some problem lambs that were just confused about the whole thing, or had a traumatic birth and were slow to rise. It takes a lot of patience to deal with a lamb that is struggling to figure out how to nurse. It gets very frustrating when you place the lamb at the udder, in most cases placing the teat in the mouth, and they 9 out of 10 times spit it out to cry for help.

We have two new orphans whose mother passed away very unexpectedly. In order to adopt them out, we needed to have two ewes expecting a single lamb to give birth at the same time so that we could adopt both to one mother and then giving the one single lamb to the other single giving her twins as well. It is complicated work to ensure we do not break up two very adorable siblings. 

Until that situation happens, we will feed them and provide a lot of love.
As the ewes move past their due dates we have been seeing very large lambs from many which is hard on the mom and on the lamb. I helped a 2-year-old, who would be a first-time mom with her lambing. I checked on her progression and just felt the feet, I had to go a little further in the birth canal to find the head was so large it could not easily fit in the birth canal. I was able to get the loop around the horn buds and while guiding the feet and keeping the chin up so the head would slide easily through the birth canal, the lamb's head got stuck at the pelvis. After some tense moments of pulling the lamb and maneuvering was out and standing within a few minutes which was a huge relief.

He learned to use his voice before his legs.

It seemed like one ewe after another there were many tense moments in which we did not know how the lamb would fare but they would prevail and we could exhale. After the tense day shift, we decided to go out to visit the broodmares and two foals residing in one of the fields. Before we could reach them we had to get past Scott Jr., the leadersheep ram, and his group. Scott Jr. is a very large, intimidating ram that is very flighty when it comes to any situation. Last year, what I saw of him was a blur of his hind end running from me. This year, he was stuck in the barn during the cold snap and I was able to get a glimpse of him with the promise of grain and a cheek scratch.

Krúna is Scott Jr.'s mother and also loves grain and a good cheek scratch. Do you see the resemblance?

However, we did not know there was a rift between him and Myla, who accompanied us out in the field. What transpired was an epic standoff caught on camera by Carly and ended as quickly as it started by Scott Jr. running away leaving everyone behind. 

Epic standoff captured by Carly

We reached the mares who proceeded to check out pockets for any treats then let us distribute scratches and take in the view.

Even though I have been out to that spot a handful of times now, it still puts me in awe. Out in that field, as the horses approach you and the light shines through the clouds on the mountainscape, it is unreal. Time seems to stop as you look out at the fields and mountains. I am sure Helgi and Snædis are very used to their front yard and view but if given some extra time, I go out and try to memorize the lines and colors of the land so that I can hold it in my memory for years to come. After spending most of our break out with the horses, we were able to take a quick rest before heading to the night shift. It was business as usual with a busy night shift of lambing, caring for special case lambs, our orphans, and ewes with udder issues.
While I was in the middle barn tending to a ewe with milk clots in her udder, Carly had a ewe that had just passed the lamb's head (with horn buds) and the legs were not along for the ride. For these cases, you have to quickly push the lamb back, past the pelvis so that you can retrieve the legs and pull them forward. With a polled lamb this is difficult, with a horned lamb it is the most difficult. The hornbuds point back for a more streamline birth, pushing them back in is like removing a fish hook. Carly was able to get the head back in and get the legs forward to bring a very lively and large ram lamb into the world. Melissa has become quite the lamb untangler. Carly had a ewe with twins that were not making any progress. It turns out the very longlegged babies were intertwined like a pretzel. Much like a sharp shooter in the west, Melissa stepped up to the challenge and with quick hands had the lambs untangled and one out in the jug in record time. After a very busy night we said goodbye to the sheep, especially our wildchild, Pip (who continues to thrive) and headed back for some much needed sleep.

Pip getting a taste of Melissa's coveralls