Lambing season is upon us and first up was Sasha who managed a straightforward birth of her male lamb Iggy without any intervention on Tuesday. A couple of days later Truffle had another boy overnight who we named Bonbon. But the following morning he'd vanished. We searched everywhere but probably a fox had jumped the electric fence and taken him...heartbreaking.
Yesterday Inkling had her first baby, another boy whowe named Nattie. This time we locked mother and baby in the bergerie overnight and will do the same again tonight.
Today at about 12.30 Trudy's waters broke, but two hours later she still couldn't push the baby out. We called the vet but they had no one available to help. The lamb was normally presented (nose and front feet first) but Trudy was too small - this is her first baby. I called my friend Paul in the Mendips who also has sheep and he suggested sticking a couple up fingers up her bum, feeling for the back of the head and exerting a little downward pressure to pop the lambs head out. It worked a treat and once the head was out in a few minutes she managed to give birth to a little ewe. Mother and baby are safely in the barn.
