You know you are lambing /calving when?

abitdaft

Member
Location
Scotland
When you're less worried about losing your wedding ring in your pocket of assorted treasure - sweets, change, knives, dirt and straw - than you are about keeping it on and leaving it inside a ewe.
My kids have bought me a small lambing/calving jewellery box that I keep in the kitchen for this purpose. The amounts of times that I have gone to lamb/calve something and had to shove my rings into a pocket is unreal.
 

Longlowdog

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Aberdeenshire
@bobajob ...when the vet answers the work phone with 'a huge theatrical sigh, yes Angus I'll be right there' and puts the phone down. 3am after a previous 6pm call out.
I was lent a tup with allegedly spectacular breeding who came highly recommended. 4 Cesareans later I don't think he'll be the visiting love interest for my ewes next year. I'll stick to my 6 year old stock tup who hasn't thrown a lamb that needed the side door since he was born here and the 170 Guinea tup I accidentally bought to start the bidding at Lanark who has thrown some great lambs that was used to catch repeats.
 

bobajob

Member
Location
Sw Scotland
@bobajob ...when the vet answers the work phone with 'a huge theatrical sigh, yes Angus I'll be right there' and puts the phone down. 3am after a previous 6pm call out.
I was lent a tup with allegedly spectacular breeding who came highly recommended. 4 Cesareans later I don't think he'll be the visiting love interest for my ewes next year. I'll stick to my 6 year old stock tup who hasn't thrown a lamb that needed the side door since he was born here and the 170 Guinea tup I accidentally bought to start the bidding at Lanark who has thrown some great lambs that was used to catch repeats.
Oh dear, hopefully there won't be as many cesarean as that.!!
The vet was out yesterday morning at a heifer that hadn't cleansed and had a sore foot (it's looking better today)
And back at 9 o clock at night to a calving, I'll be the first to admit I'm not the most experienced at calving and the vets often turn up calve it in ten minutes and make you look daft!

Anyway, it wasn't a massive big calve but neither of us could get the head to come through the pelvis so she ceasered it. And it's a healthy calf and it was up on its feet in no time.
First ceaserean in two or three years so as others have said its slightly annoying but the outcome was good so that is the main thing. (Just to add 5 others calved yesterday and all fine)
 

steveR

Member
Mixed Farmer
... but you still drive that extra 8 feet through the gate so you've got room to shut it without hitting the trailer.
YES!!!!! :)
Your friends visit and bring a flask of coffee for themselves because they know you're not going into the house till that ewe is in a pen with lambs full of colostrum.

Had some folks visiting and I was mad busy at the time, they made their coffee with pre mixed lamb milk from the fridge.... happily not my precious colostrum! They commented about the "super creamy coffee".....
When your real friends arrive unannounced, know where you hide the front door key, let the dogs out for a pee, make YOU a flask of coffee and bring it to the shed with cakes they brought.

When the 1/4 scale, bow legged, miniature lamb occupies you from 3 till 6 am but you can't give up on it because... well, just because.
Deffo to the last.... Usually accompanied by the fan heater warming them up etc etc
 

Longlowdog

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Aberdeenshire
@bobajob I've got a mate who will turn up lamb my problems in 5 minutes and make me look a right eejit. However he's proper old school, never call a vet type and won't give up till it's out. His success rate isn't as high as my vet. I use him for jumbles and head back critters but don't dare call him for the ones when I think they are just too big to come out the way nature intended.
 

Estate fencing.

Member
Livestock Farmer
@bobajob I've got a mate who will turn up lamb my problems in 5 minutes and make me look a right eejit. However he's proper old school, never call a vet type and won't give up till it's out. His success rate isn't as high as my vet. I use him for jumbles and head back critters but don't dare call him for the ones when I think they are just too big to come out the way nature intended.
Iv only called vet out once in 15 years lambing between 950 and 2300 ewes a year.
 
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