RVC Open Day

I went to the RVC Open Day yesterday and had a brilliant time.  The facilities there are amazing.  We had a tour of the campus and learned a lot about what it was like to be a student at the RVC.  I really enjoyed having a go on the lamb birthing simulator - the lamb I was trying to birth had its head back, so I had to push it back in and gently bring the head forwards.  It was a lot less slimy than birthing a real lamb!

One of the things that the students at the RVC learn is how to tip a sheep.  Scott from Spring Grove taught us one of the methods - reaching around and under the sheep and pulling the back leg through - but there are lots of other ways, depending on the size of the sheep.  Sometimes if it just a small sheep, though, it is easiest just to lift and tip. 

 

Lamb Watch Day 8

Our last day at Spring Grove for Easter 2014, and an interesting end to our stay.  One of the ewes in the field had mastitis, so we had to catch her and her lambs and bring them back to the barn so that we could keep and eye on her.  The udder was hard and swollen, and the teat had been damaged by the lambs' teeth.  She was given a shot of antibiotics, but it later turned out that her mastitis had turned into black udder - also known as gangrenous mastitis.  She will probably lose part of her udder from this infection.  Naomi will keep us updated on how things develop.

See the Day 8 Lamb Watch video here.

Lamb Watch Day 7

On Day 7, we meet the other animals of Spring Grove Alpacas and Rare Breeds.  The Alpacas (of course), who love to take a bath, plus the chickens, dogs, ducks, goats and horses.

Lamb Watch Day 6

The day started with a difficult birth -  the lamb was presenting with its legs tucked back, so Naomi, the farmer, had to bring the legs forwards so that the lamb could be born.  Once the legs were forward, the birth was very quick.  I cleared the mucus from the lamb's nose and put it in in front of the ewe so she could start cleaning it.

Once the ewe and lamb were in the pairing pen, we had to give the ewe an antibiotic injection.  As she had some assistance giving birth, we had to make sure she did not pick up an infection.

Later that day, we had to prepare the nursery lambs and ewes to go back into the field.  I was able to band the testicles and tail of a ram lamb.  The banding must be a little tender for the lamb at first - they do lie quietly for a while after it has been done.  But very quickly they are up and playing again as though nothing had happened.

See the Day 6 video here.  Be warned, there are graphic scenes of lamb birth right from the start!

Lamb Watch Day 5

It was a quiet day today, with no new lambs, but there was still plenty to do.  We got stuck in to the yard work, feeding the chickens and rabbits, and mucking out the pygmy goats.  We also had to give a couple of alpacas vitamin injections.

Tsunami is feeding well, as are Proton and Neutron, the two Castlemilt Morrit lambs born on day one.  We also want to introduce you to the new members of the O'Shea herd, which we bought at market - Hook, Line & Sinker.  Hook is a Blue-Faced Leicester ewe, and Line is her daughter - a Blue Faced Leicester cross.  Sinker is a beautiful black Blue Faced Leicester ewe lamb.  Hook has such a beautiful fleece - very fine and in tiny spirals.

Find the Day 5 video here.

Lamb Watch Day 4

Day 4 was so exciting.  Last year we bought a Grey-Faced Dartmoor ewe at the sales.  We called her Storm.  She went to the ram last November, and today she gave birth to her first lamb - a pretty little ewe lamb.  We named the lamb Tsunami because she was born so quickly.  I put iodine on Tsunami's umbilical cord and then helped take Tsunami and Storm up to the pairing pen. 

Trying to get a Grey-Faced Dartmoor to follow her lamb up to the pairing pen was quite difficult as her fleece is so long she has difficulty seeing her lamb, and kept running off in the wrong direction.  We ended up having to bring her up in the back of the truck.  Once in the pairing pen we gave her a trim around the face and the udders, so she could see her lamb and so the lamb could get to the udder.

Take a look and see Storm and Tsunami in this Lamb Watch video.

Lamb Watch Day 3

Day 3 at Spring Grove.  We had to treat all of the lambs and ewes in the nursery pen so that they could go back out to the field.  The lambs had their tails banded, which makes the ends of the tails fall off.  The ram lambs also had their testicles banded to make them into castrates.  The ewes had their feet trimmed and treated, and were given injections to prevent against worms.

As well as treating the sheep in the nursery pen, we also had to help a Herdwick lamb whose eyelids were still sealed together - a gentle pushing apart of the eyelids sorted out that problem.

Take a look at our Day 3 video here.

Lamb Watch Day 2 - Easter 2014

Day 2, and lambs were being born all over the place.  One of the ewes needed help giving birth, as the lamb was not presenting properly.  After she had the first lamb, I had to examine her internally to check if she had another lamb inside her.

 

The Lamb Watch Day 2 video can be seen here.

Lambing, Easter 2014

We are just back from a week at Spring Grove Alpacas and Rare Breeds.  We were helping with the lambing again, and I was able to get involved in all sorts of interesting situations. During the week, I assisted in lambing, castrated and docked the tails of ram lambs, I gave injections to a ewe with mastitis, and I even felt inside a ewe to see if there were any lambs still to come out. 

During the week, I also made as series of videos to show what I had been up to. Here is the Day 1 video. Enjoy.