And the 2nd thing...

 This is Adelaide, my Finn ewe. I love this girl. Her wool is so nice and silky. She's just turning 3 and has never lambed until  last Saturday morning. I knew she was pregnant, just not sure when she was going to lamb. She chose a really cold wet morning. And she just had those 2 ewe lambs right out on the dirty wet ground, in the middle of all the other sheep and lambs. And just left them apparently.

That's the morning that I just took my time to go outside too. I even had a cup of coffee, which I never do. I had looked out and saw all the sheep, so just assumed everything was ok. Well, it wasn't.

When I did go out and get all the feed ready, I got out there and put the feed in the feeder for them. That's when I saw the poor little lambs, laying on the ground. Still sopping wet. The little black lamb was already dead. Nothing I could do for her. I ran inside to get towels, went back out and put both lambs in a stall. Then looked for a mother. It was Adelaide. So grabbed her and got her in the stall with them.

I got the other lamb dried as much as I could. But she was so cold. Even her little mouth was freezing cold. So I just took her inside to get her warmed up. I sat by the wood heater and rubbed her and tried to get her to suck on the bottle of colostrum I had milked from Adelaide. She couldn't even do that. Plus she was shaking. Like convulsions or seizures. It was horrible.

I had a small tube that I tried to use to tube her. But it was too flexible and I couldn't get it down far enough. So had to go to Ace Hardware in town. I left her in front of the heater, covered up. I just knew she's be dead when I got back. And I got some colostrum from the co-op too.

Got home and she was still alive. I mixed up the colostrum and put what I had from her mother in it. Got it all sterilized and put that new tube right on down her throat. I think by then she was warm and hungry, because it went right down where I thought it should be. I put some milk in the syringe and down it went. And within a few minutes, that little girl was up and sucking on a bottle! Just like that. I was amazed at the transformation in her, once she got some good warm milk in her little belly.

And she's been a happy healthy little piggy lamb ever since!

I put her back outside later with Adelaide. She knew the lamb was hers, but she just wouldn't get her to nurse. I kept trying, and she would lick her and was nice to her, but it just wasn't there for her. That mother instinct. And still, when I bring her outside, Adelaide stays right with her. But no nursing.

And of course the little lamb follows me now.

So I have 3 sweet little bottle lambs. All ewes. All full Finn. I will be keeping all of them. I'll probably sell Adelaide and Amarillo now. I have been supplementing the Tappitt Brothers with a bottle a few times a day as well. I named this little gal Carabella. She is 5 days younger than Campbelle and Cameron, but twice as big.  I went ahead and docked her tail a few nights ago along with the other 2 and 3 more outside.  And they are all doing fine now. A few days ago, she weighed 7 pounds.

I hope I don't have to tube feed a lamb again. I hope these next 2 ewes will be good mothers and take care of their lambs. They are Katahdin mix ewes and they all have been good mothers so far, I am just waiting on these 2 and we're done. Tonight is supposed to be in the 20's. I so hope they have them today or wait a few more days. But I am thinking tomorrow morning. That's when most of the lambs have been born, early morning. We shall see.