There’s a first time for everything.

[Ayla_noemi]

Hello,

Just wanted to share my experience with my ewe today.

This is Onyx we bought her back in August. According to seller she is 75% Kathadin what the other 25% is we already forgot. We got her for $50 because we were purchasing the remainder of his flock wich was 100% Kathadin and he didn’t want her to be alone. Well she birthed this beautiful beast who I named Cupid because he was born on Valentine’s Day.

Well this past Friday we sold Cupid to the same center for special needs children we previously sold our orphaned twin Kathadin males Ying and Yang. This morning I noticed her looking exceptionally miserable so I decided she could use some TLC. Although we do not have sheep shearers we do have a dog trimmer and some scissors. Now I have no experience shearing livestock and as far as my dog was concerened he looked diseased when I trimmed his hair. Yes, it was that bad. Well we figured it’s hot out so what the heck. This is what we got.

This is my brother in the picture and he’s even more lost than me. So after we were done we decided to wash her down with mane and tail. There’s no picture of this because my brother had to calm her while I washed her. Then we decided she could use a milking. We did not intend to milk our ewes and honestly I did not think of the discomfort she must have been feeling since we sold Cupid until this morning. This is what we got.

Afterwards we trimmed her hooves. Which was the biggest adventure hence no pictures. I wish I did have one though because they looked rough to me. It looked like they had cracked in places that would hurt even though there was not that much overgrown. She is a stomper though. I wonder if that affects her. Well although it’s not the best shearing job I think she looks gorgeous and I need to figure out how to help her hooves.

 

[Ayla_noemi]

Did you try tickling the baby's butt/hip (top of butt between hip and tail) when you were trying to get her to latch on? That seems to stimulate baby goats to root. Don't know if it works for sheep.

You are amazing!

I washed off all of the Vick’s scent from my hands and Onyx’s udder. I tried to get the baby to latch with no success. I just so happened to check this thread and saw your post. I was lost for a second but figured I had to try everything. So I got a bunch of attempts at nursing. They were brief but she did latch multiple times. I let her rest a bit in between because she still seemed stressed. She even latched on on her own during the breaks TWICE!!! I don’t know if I was tickling the right spot I was all over the place with my tickling. A little over here and a little over there. Nothing a good hand wash won’t fix. I counted and the longest latches lasted about 20 Mississippi’s each. There were other shorter latches. We were even able to let go of Onyx’s head while baby nursed. I know that not enough for great nutrition but I think it’s a start. I think I’ll get her weight now so I can get a better idea of how things are going as the days pass. What do you think.

 

[Ayla_noemi]

Yay! That's so cool! I've just lived through a goat who tries to kill everyone else's babies, so nice to see this can be done in friendlier animals (she goes to her new home tomorrow BTW).

And also, she's gorgeous. I think I love katahdins.

You know I seem to have the best luck picking my animals. My little Kathadin heard, my Nigerian dwarf heard and my mini donkeys all hang out together. My Jack does no want human interaction but he is great with the other animals. The Kathadins tend to be a bit shy but I have not had an issue with handling them or their babies. The goats are supper nosy but so sweet. My four girls delivered between the 1 and 2nd of January and they were all happy letting any of the babies nurse off of them except for the heard queen she would not let the others nurse of of her. Onyx likes to stop her foot at you when you approach but it’s all for show she’s a sweet girl. I love my little heard.

 

[Ayla_noemi]

So glad to see the little one figured things out Don't worry about posting "too many" pics, we love pics here!

So I have to admit that I forgot to weigh baby last night but this morning Onyx’s udder was very relaxed to they must of worked it out throughout the night. When we went in to feed they were laying down together. We tied Ony’s back legs again so we could try and witness a feed. All I had to do was but baby next to the udder and she had a good long feeding. I’m so happy things turned out good. I know this was all unnecessary but I wanted to try my hand at it with these two so I could be better prepared should it be necessary in the future. Here are some pictures of this mornings feed. Baby was super relaxed and comfortable.

 

[Ayla_noemi]

I took the plunge!

I let Onyx and the lamb out. They seem like any other lamb and her baby. Even better Onyx’s udder looks like it’s been getting a lot more attention then it was these past few days. Maybe she was just to stressed? Hopefully things go well because one of my pure katahdins is showing signs of impending lambing!

 

[milkmansdaughter]

Beautiful pictures, and Oh. So. Sweet. Go baby go, and what a wonderful momma Onyx seems to be!

 

[Ayla_noemi]

That lamb is looking very good

So I checked this morning at Onyx’s feeding time and baby still looks pleasantly plump. Not as much as the pictures above but no bones in sight and a nice full belly you can see and feel the fullness. I noticed when I picked up baby Onyx continued to stomp even though she had space to retreat she stood close by I think she was making sure her new baby would not be harmed. I will watch them for the rest of this week and if all looks good by Saturday I will set them loose on a separate pasture where baby’s original mom can not access. I will probably give them another week or so there with the goats and if everything still looks good I will move the rest of my lambs over to that pasture and see what happens. Wish us luck! Thank you all for all your advice and support I will update you guys on how it goes.

 

[Ayla_noemi]

I think that would likely vary. I always left them to it when I saw them eating consistently and after the nursing, the mother wanting to lick on and nurture the baby. You'll likely be able to tell pretty quickly if she's going to accept the baby by her behavior...if she rejects him she'll butt him and won't let him nurse at all.

I'd hold her head the first time he nurses but after he's had a good feed for a bit, I'd let her go and see what she does. Place the scent in her nostrils, his bottom, along his back, his head so that when she reaches back to sniff who's nursing, she gets a whiff of the same scent she's got in her own nose. Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn't.

I've had good success with cattle and rabbits, but sheep may be much more sensitive..especially the hair breeds. They seem more akin to wild deer to me than the woolly breeds. Much more wily.

I hope it goes well for you! Please let us know? LOVE to hear about your homesteading efforts.

Here are some more snaps of Onyx And her potential baby. No issues yet that I can see. I couldn’t figure out how to load a video, if that is even possible, which is what I wanted to show everyone in order to get some feed back on what they thought of their interaction. I figured next best thing was photo bursts in order to show their behavior as much as possible. I wanted to give them a few minutes to relax before I attempted to assist feed. I’m curious about everyone’s thoughts. I will continue to add updates. Everyone feel free to let me know if I am overwhelming you with updates and or pictures.

 

[NH Homesteader]

Yay! That's so cool! I've just lived through a goat who tries to kill everyone else's babies, so nice to see this can be done in friendlier animals (she goes to her new home tomorrow BTW).

And also, she's gorgeous. I think I love katahdins.

 

[Ayla_noemi]

So these pictures were taken after two days no assisted feeding tomorrow night I will take more which will be 4 days no assisted feeding. She still looks healthy to me.