Behind every good man

There's a better wife.

If it wasn't for my wife last night we would have dead lambs for sure. She normally doesn't go out to see what we are doing, especially not at night. About 1:00 am my wife chased me out of bed. She had gone to look and saw a ewe lamb lambing, but it wouldn't let her get close. Went out and pulled it(nose was cold already as it had taken a little long) She wouldn't lick it so went to empty the hot box. In front of the hot box was a half frozen lamb,(as in very cold that it's neck was stiff and legs not functioning)Beside that was the mother with 1 dry lamb and bawling for this one. Behind that was a ewe that had just dropped 1 lamb out of 3. My wife ran in to get a pail of hot water to drop the frozen one in, I emptied the hot box and dragged the no good mother and baby into it. By then the ewe behind had all 3 out and only could lick 1 at a time so I kept stacking them on each other as I waited for help. Wife showed up with hot water and I started bathing frozen one. I told my wife to go get more help. In she went and came out with 2 of the girls. As they dealt with the 3 triplets I was trying to get the frozen one thawed. When they had the triplets in the warm trailer they took over the frozen one, started milking it's mother and feeding it, drying it off. As they did that I was in the hot box getting that lamb top suck on it's mother. She stood very nice which was a blessing as she didn't lick it once and had never been penned tight before. got that one dried with rags and sucking and back to the frozen one i went. We moved that one into the trailer and with rubbing and hair drier got it warmed up. Got it sucking yet and then back to bed. Took about 2 hours total.

Thanks to a wife that goes out when I don't wake up we had no dead lambs.


going to post pics yet

She's a keeper. Better take her out to a nice restaurant.

pics i think

after 21 years she is a keeper. We actually went out for lunch yesterday. first time in almost a year

But not to one that serves lamb.....
Sorry....

never got into eating them. Cost to much around here. At $2.90 a lbs live for a 50-80 lbs 2-3 month old lamb is to rich for my blood.

A sign I bought my brother that now hangs on his shop door:

Behind every successful farmer is a wife that works in town.

Sounds like a family affair! You are lucky to have a wife and kids willing to help in those conditions.
Ben

We had a small flock when the kids were in 4-H. 20-25 ewes. Lambing time was the most exciting and the most depressing time of the year. Sometimes things went well other times not so much. Stressfull watching a ewe in labor and know when to stand back and when to intervene. Taking lambs to the house to warm them and getting their mothers to take them back once warmed up was a pain. Got pretty good at milking ewes. Overall a pretty good experience, just a couple bad years with to many dead lambs and the feeling of responsibility. gobble

Good story and a GREAT family! I had a Vet. tell me that sheep are always looking for a reason to die. Glad everything turned out well.

Whew. Solid loving and willing to participate in reality. Take her and the kids (children)for a dinner out. Very courageous actions. Jim

Version of an experienced local on sheep

A sheep's first intention is to get away from you.

If you block that its second intention is to die on you.

On the "behind every good man". A version I heard at a funeral recently

"Behind every good man is a better woman and a suprised mother-in-law"

GREAT story and great results. I used to have sheep, and I swear "they're born looking for a place to die." Just sayin'

for all the guys who believe sheep are wild, and looking for a place to die. I can not agree. Our sheep 150+ our all pail fed grain and a few will paw at you to be scratched. I will say having 6 girls probably helps. The lambs will come chew on our jackets and jump on us if we lay down in the straw. As for dying I don't think we lose that many. My goal is to always have 150% live at weaning. We lamb about 170% so 20% loss. May seem high compared to cattle but when a ewe has 4 lambs and 2 are born dead that is 50% of her lambs dead. she still weans 200%.

Lots of fun and we hope to do it till retirement.

Mom woukd take a quart ginger ale bottle and almost fill it with milk plus some sugar and the good stuff, moonshine,a big table spoon of it. The lamb or calf would either die or get going.