Strawberry had another set of boy / girl twins this morning. A black boy and a white girl. Herbie saw them first when he fed the sheep this morning, and it took him a while to figure why the one lamb was so much smaller than the other - he saw one of Laceys' month olds against Strawberries' newly born. They were trying to nurse on all the other sheep, male and female, which is dangerous for them as I've seen Prince squash a lamb against the fence ! Strawberry was at the bottom of their yard, bellowing for them. But, she won't let them nurse. I collected them and took them down to the lower barn under the heat lamp, then went to fetch mama. Was a trial as she slipped the halter once, and like most animals, doesn't like the lead. Tried to have the babies nurse, but she didn't want to know, so tipped her onto her back, and pulled her teats, milk from one, so put the girl-lamb onto it to nurse. The boy-lamb is more stupid, when I caught him, he wouldn't, or couldn't suck. Put my finger into his mouth, coolish (not good) but sucking reflex was good. Try to re-attach him on the teat, no way. Let the girl nurse a little more until Strawberry kicked us both off and got up.
Went and got some 1st day Jersey colostrum from the freezer, popped it into the microwave to defrost and went to feed the lambs. The girl seems stronger than the boy, but then mum didn't push the gate onto her like she did to the boy-lamb either ! Herbie heard them calling, but when I got down there he was just lying quietly. Lifted the gate and helped him up - seemed fine. Took some sac from around her neck, mum didn't seem to have cleaned this set either.
Went and fed them a few more times during the day, mum doesn't seem aggressive towards them, she just moves away when they try to nurse. I filed their teeth down a little with an emery board, as mum might be hurting from their sharp teeth.
We did yard work today. Herbie used his chainsaw to cut the broken tree branches, and I went out to help pick them up and throw them onto the trailer. He's dumping them in a pile in the veggie garden, and we'll have a bonfire there soon. The cows kept eating all the "buds" on the tree branches. Who said they just graze grass :).
I made spaghetti bolognaise for dinner - deer from our property, canned tomatoes the I canned and dried swiss chard from our garden, served with a dollop or three of sour cream. Herbie pronounced it super yummy :).
Both of us were tired tonight. Showers and bed.