The Monster

She was a 2 year old ewe. Mostly Katahdin. Part Lacaune. Her second lambing.  She wasn't making any progress, so I checked her. Initially, I thought there was more than one lamb coming at the same time. Fortunately, I was able to sort out one of the lambs and deliver it. A big ewe lamb. Healthy.

The second lamb proved trickier. It was breech. I had a hard time extending its hind legs, but was eventually able to. I feared I  may have broken the legs in the process. I started to pull the lamb out backwards. This has to be done quickly to ensure survival of the lamb. There is some risk of suffocation if the umbilical cord breaks before the head is out. 

I could not deliver the lamb. It was stuck. The two widest parts of the lamb are the shoulders and hips. I had the lamb out past the hips. Something was holding it back. But what? I felt along the back. I didn't know what I was feeling. It felt like bone. I was no longer concerned about saving the lamb. I had to get this "thing" out of the ewe.

The ewe didn't seem fazed by having half a lamb stuck inside her, but I wasn't making any progress. I needed help. I called a fellow shepherd. He got there a half hour later. When Hans examined her, he wasn't sure what he was feeling either. We put the ewe on a bale of straw to change the angle of delivery. I pulled and was finally able to get the lamb out.

It was a monster. It had two heads. There was bone protruding out of the back. It was big, too. I didn't weigh it, but its twin was over 11 lbs. I don't know how we would have gotten it out if it hadn't been breech (or backwards).

Believe it or not, the ewe seemed fine after her traumatic delivery. She continued to mother her other lamb. I gave her a big dose of antibiotics and continued antibiotic therapy for five days. I kept her separate for a week or two before merging her with the rest of the flock. It is now weeks later, and the ewe and her lamb are doing fine. 

I always tell people that if you have animals for long enough and have enough of them, you will see things. Birth defects are usually random. This was surely the most unusual one I've ever had. Hope it never happens again.

I gave the carcass of the two headed lamb to the granddaughter of a family friend. She does taxidermy of sorts. She assembles the bones of dead animals, mostly roadkill. The two headed specimen will be most interesting for her. I am anxious to see it when she's done.