One of the sets of twins included a deformed lamb with no face. Obviously, this lamb was born dead. The lambs are of mixed colors. They are doing fine, though you always wish yearlings produced more milk. There's one ewe lamb I keep offering a bottle to, to make sure her appetitie is being satisfied.
So far, my favorite lambs are a set of twin black ewe lambs. They are solid black. One has a "star" on its forehead, like its mom, who also has two white feet (back). The lambs can be registered and there's a 50:50 chance that they are RR. #536 produced two nice lambs last year. One I sold at the KHSI annual sale. Her lambs are "pretty." She's a good milker.
Though she wasn't objecting, he wasn't interested in nursing her. He wanted me to feed him. So, I fed him for several days on a bottle. Eventually, he decided mom's milk tasted better. He has thrived ever since. I named him Kelso, after the Ashton Kutchner character on the 70's Show because he got chilled because he was too "stupid" to nurse. Pretty, but stupid, just like the 70's Show character.
One day when I went out to the hoop house, I found five lambs from two ewes that had lambed. I wasn't 100% certain which lambs went with which ewe. I think I got them right, but each of the ewes refuses to let one of her lambs nurse. I've been holding the ewes. Today, I'm going to put their heads in stanchions. I don't want to bottle feed lambs, whose moms have plenty of milk.
Poor #92. She is 10 years old now. It's a heck of a time to have quads. She's a fantastic mother and an excellent milker, but expecting her to raise four lambs is probably expecting too much. Don't know whether I'll remove one lamb for bottle feeding or offer bottles to all of the lambs as a supplement. I'm going to take extra special care of #92. She's never been a ewe that holds a lot of body condition on her small frame.
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