[Jacob-list] birth signs?

[Mary Hansson]

Victoria,
 
Heal quickly, and don't fret too much.  My husband has been on duty a few times and my heart is in my mouth every time.  The good Lord has gifted him (and me) with eventless births every time, and each time he has mid-wife'd his way through the event, he has come out the other side more in tune with the sheep and more interested in keeping them around.
 
If you saw a breeding and wrote that down on a calendar, the dates in Laura Lawson's Managing Your Ewe will likely be within 1 day either way---that is just experience talking, and things can vary.  If you didn't see a breeding, you may very well be another month or more out.  
 
I have seen mucous plugs come out of behinds and it be another week before the baby comes forth happy and healthy.  I have also seen mucous plugs come and baby there within the 12 hours that are most typical.  
 
In short, the barometer I use for "imminent lambing" is the following:  Feed am and pm.  If a ewe comes in with the group for feed but only picks or stands around looking like she doesn't quite know why she is there (and everybody else is chowing down like usual), I grab the ewe and lock her up.  We usually have babies within 3-4 hours at the most.  Until then, exercise is the best thing for the ewe----and there are some very good shepherds out there that will also urge you to leave her out and let her handle things on her own.  
 
The only time such a decision is the "wrong" one is if baby is turned around backwards and sucks all that amniotic fluid in when the rib cage expands and the head is still inside the ewe.....  Once you see back tootsies coming, it is too late.  I have never been able to get close to a ewe that is in the open.  This is the reason I opt (when I am home and it is possible at all) for the locking the ewe up when she goes off feed.
 
I have missed 2-3 times over the years----and had a VERY GRUMPY ewe to show for my attention to detail. :o)  The locking up didn't hurt her, but created a real crimp in her schedule.
 
Mary Ellen




Mary Ellen Hansson, MEd, RD, LDN
ISeeSpots Farm
Jacob Sheep:  Lambs, adults, wool
www.iseespots.com
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