Caddy Lamb ?

So a neighbour called - do we want a Caddy lamb ? 

Caddy =  requiring bottle feeding either because its been orphaned , or rejected by the mother , or the mother cannot feed it.

So in spite of the shivering, placid, cuddly , lonely  3 day-old lamb being in the house

The answer from us was no.

But a couple of phone calls later and  he (Suffolk-Texel cross, but with no name ) can go to a neighbour.

Stopping the ducks

Finished product

we were visited by our neighbour. Did  we know that our ducks were out on the main road ( actually, finding various animals on the road isnt that unusual) ?  No we didnt , so we rounded them up  and herded them back. 
the geese are getting more adventurous and  are spending time on the lawn and in the pond usually  occupied by  the ducks and we think the ducks are setting off and exploring . The only place we could find that they might be getting out is a bit of wall that had fallen down .

So I would have to sort it out.
First step is dismantling the old wall, preserving and sorting the stones (coping stones, throughstones, hearting etc) . And in this wall I found a length of cast-iron pipe.

And the wall was running over a culvert, that had some cabling coming out  of it . Not sure what this is - phone line perhaps. the culvert could be for the rainwater coming off the moorland , 

  And the other thing is that i suspect the wall came down whilst the tree was young, flattened it a bit , it recovered and continued to grow, so it has a semicircular root.

So I dispensed   with the drainpipe, found some stones large enough to span the gap and rebuilt the wall.

Wall 1/2-finished and circular tree-root

Good ship sheep-pen

Although not vaccinated yet ( we need to wait to 3 weeks old) and not being fed by the ewe and therefore getting immunity through the milk , they have been getting outside - we reckon the bit of grass that hasnt had any animals on it wont have as many potentially unpleasant bugs lurking as land that has older sheep on it.

So have a mix of sheep hurdles - different sizes and some different styles, so  we have been creative with the sheep hurdles  to make a large enough space to let them run around .

And so we have  a boat-shaped pen into which they go a couple of times a day.

And we took the opportunity to weigh them -  2 weeks ago they were born at 5 kg. Now the weigh 5.5 kg. So that is with them taking 1.5L of made-up milk per day each.

Limpy the lamb - update no 2

I think limpy the lamb is better. The antibiotic injections needs to  continue  for another day, but she is out with her sister, running about and gambolling , as lambs do .
There is a slight residual limp,  if you look closely .

 But there is running

and playing with her sister

 and terrorising the ducks.  ( but there again ducks are stupid )

Limpy the lamb - update

So she is walking better. And the temperature is down ( from 40.5 to 39 deg C)  and she got her 2nd jab of antibiotics today.

And the effusion (fluid around the knee)  is more obvious.

but she is still  taking all the milk, walking better and even running around - and heres an  action picture to prove it !

Limpy the lamb

Over the last 48 hours one of our lambs started off with a limp. It has developed so that she does not put the left front leg on the ground.

On inspection it looks OK. When picked up there is full range of movement at the shoulder and the other  joints of the limb.

And they are both still feeding normally.
 

 and active, albeit with a bit of limp.

We spoke to the sheep farmer in the valley who suggested a  dose of penicillin - which he happened to have and she got a dose . But on the next morning things were no better and so a trip to the Vet was necessary.

And on close examination, as demonstrated by the vet, she has an effusion ( collection of fluid) in the knee joint and a temperature. So the diagnosis is probably jointill , or similar  infection . The umbilicus , the usual source looks OK though.

We've caught it early and with the correct antibiotics, she should get back to normal.
And so its  change of antibiotics to Norocav . In people this is Augmentin(co-amoxiclav). And if things aren't better in a couple of days we go back.

So people and sheep are different.
- there was no limitation of movement.
- moving the affected limb caused no change in behaviour (ie no response to pain, if sheep feel pain)
-the joint didn't feel warm ( yet) - possibly because its covered in wool!

But the antibiotic choice would appear to be similar.  Hopefully we wont have to go back , but if we do I wonder what happens next. Draw some fluid of the joint and different antibiotics ?

Asparagus

We dont have an allotment here ( there are Council -run allotments  in Orkney though - 58 of them ) . But we do have the large area that has been used in the past as a sandschool , with high ( approx 5 feet)  banks of soil and that gets lost of sun.

There are some of the apple trees there and more stuff will get planted in due course.
The current project is some asparagus. The plants were delivered earlier in the week and after a couple of days standing in water , they needed planting out .



so some sand

  put into ridges

and the asparagus  plants laid   on top

and the whole lot covered in soil which will hopefully prevent the wind and rain washing the sand way




And see what we get  next Spring !

RIP Zena

12 hours after birth

Lambs grow rapidly in the final few weeks of pregnancy. This puts an enormous burden on the mother - as well as getting enough feed for  herself, she has to get enough to supply the growing lambs. With a very large uterus, feeding is difficult because the stomach and everything else gets squashed up. Even with high -energy feeds we were unable to keep up with the requirements and she  started breaking down fat stores to provide energy. The breakdown products of fat are ketones ,which are burned to provide energy.  But too high ketone level causes listlessness and going off feed, which is what happened to Zena. 

All this is made worse with multiple births (  double the lambs to grow ) , and large lambs ( more to grow and they take up more space, making feeding difficult) 

So having got through pregnancy and lambing it all provided too much , and in spite of intensive feeding , she succumbed. 

So RIP Zena

 

 

lambing

Given the normal gestation of sheep , the first possible date for lambing should have been  4 days hence  ( friday, today being monday).
So it was a bit of a surprise  at 6am going and seeing the ewe to find a head protruding.

Nothing for it but to  get on , I suppose.
The first one was the normal presentation with the feet extended. So its 'just a matter of' waiting until enough has appeared that you can get hold of, and then pulling in a downward direction.

 and about 20 minutes later mother and first  lamb are doing well.

So a bit of a wait for the second one .
About an hour later she started  contracting again. but this time there was a head and instead of the legs being straight out in front, they were bent back at the elbow joint.

Hmmm - a  malpresentation and time to send for help .

So with some help and advice from a local farmer  the position  was converted to  the normal one  and then we had 2 lambs.

 So 2 lambs. And according to the local expert, they are both a good size , in spite of the ram being a small Boreray. So 2 large lambs and an elderly ewe is the likely cause of the toxaemia.

And the toxaemia has interrupted the  production of milk, so at the moment the ewe has no milk and we are starting to bottle-feed the youngsters.
 As the lambs are likely to  have been born early the advice is to keep mother and lambs inside for a couple of days.

Hopefully this wont all prove too much for the ewe,

A poorly ewe.

And Zena hasn't been herself for the last few days . Off food, listless, lying down a lot.
The consensus (Robbie down the hill, and the vet) seems to be that she has toxaemia.

And as ever , google is your friend for finding out about stuff. Toxaemia in sheep is different to toxaemia (pre-eclampsia) in people . In sheep its due to lack of calories in to keep up with the needs of rapidly growing lambs lambs in utero, which grow the most in the last 6 weeks.  It is worse in ewes carrying twins, adn the consensus is that she has at least 2 in there. The mother cannot keep up with the energy requirements of the  growing lambs, so she develops a low blood sugar and starts breaking down body stores of energy , which produces ketones.  Her current Body Condition Score ( a method of assessing nutritional status) is 2, according to Robbie.

The specific treatment is delivery of the lambs , and the vet can induce labour if necessary . In sheep its steroids , whilst in people its oxytocin that is used.

In the meantime its a matter of trying to keep up the energy intake.
So the suggestions are
-grain instead of sheep feed ( Zena has been  spontaneously eating  the poultry grain )
-feed with carbohydrates . (Suggestions include Ready-brek mixed with molasses)
But it is necessary to stimulate the rumen , as sheep  need to ruminate their food to digest protein and carbohydrate. And yoghurt mixed with carbohydrate has been suggested for this.

According to our sums  the earliest we could be lambing is in 5 days time.

And once delivered , this problem should go.

And we thought your onw  children were anxiety-generating !

Dropping ?

When you compare this picture of Zena with one taken a few weeks ago , we think her shape has changed .  Previously the pregnancy was symmetrical in her abdomen, now it seems it  isn't.

This could be the ovine equivalent of 'lightening' in women, when the pregnant uterus moves down into the pelvis.  Its called dropping in lambing circles and is listed here as a sign that lambing is imminent.


Watch this space

Get them to stop !

Still laying well.
Anyone want eny eggs ( please) .

Eggs, anyone ?

So , long days as we are past the equinox. Maturing hens .
And so yesterday the crop was 17 eggs.

methings reduced rations for a few days , to try and discourage them

Orkney Vole

We saw this from the kitchen window one morning. Its an orkney vole.

They are unique to the Islands of  Rousay, Mainland (thats us!), Sanday, Westray and South Ronaldsay.


Having read about it , it is related to the common vole but its ears are  larger and they have shorter, paler brown fur.

The subspecies was introduced to the islands 5,000 years ago, possibly on the boats of Neolithic settlers.


thay have shallow burrows and  one website says they can be found in ruined buildings, so its possibly all  the stone walls that attracts them to here.

We've also seen them on the grass and managed to capture a few pictures of one.

Roast Cockerel

 So utilising my newly acquired skills ,  it  became necessary to use it again , as one particular  cockerel was fighting and  arguing with the others ( in spite of having an enormous field to explore. Anyway ,
this

 became  this

 and this

 

 and eventually this