7 Lambing supplies I can’t live without

Lambing season supply lists are easy to find in books and on websites. You can even buy a kit  (like this one) that cover all the basics. However I have found a few things that have made my life much easier.

1. The Carhartt arctic overalls and jacket has quilted lining and comes in men’s and women’s sizes.  There are plenty of pockets for bottles and vaccinations. And, when it gets covered with enough milk, lamb poo and mud to stand up on their own, you can throw the whole mess in the washer and dryer. When it’s really cold, I wear a polartec hood and thinsulate-lined gloves and I can literally stay out in the barn all night. And this year, I had to – several times.

Number 1 and her baby

This mother woke me up at 2AM via the baby monitor. Then the iPhone made it easy to share the happy arrival with friends!

2. Baby Monitor/Intercom. A simple unit from Wal-Mart or Radio Shack will pay for itself in saved lambs, especially when it’s cold and momma needs help getting those babies dried off quickly. I leave the monitor on very low by my bedside, and when I hear “mmmeh. mmmeh. mmmeh,” I suit up. Sometimes I get woken up when the sheep decide to scratch their butts on a squeaky gate, or when a baby wanders off and they all start screaming, but it’s a lot less trouble than going outside every couple of hours. There is something about that momma-noise that jolts me out of bed!

 

Ram Lambs in Towels

Diva’s brand new twin ram lambs relax in their warm towels while mom has a meal. By the time mom was done eating, the babies were almost completely dry.

 

3. Towels Towels and more Towels! Pop them in the dryer for a few minutes and get them nice and warm. They will stay warm longer if you stuff them as tight as you can into a 5 gallon bucket. Sometimes I use a blow dryer if I don’t have time to dry them with towels, but there is something about the rubbing motion that helps lambs “wake up” and get ready to eat.

4. Premier 1 Lamb and Kid Feeding Bottle. If that link doesn’t work, try searching http://www.premier1supplies.com for item 562900.  Add the Pritchard teats. The bottle has handy measurements printed on it, and is microwave-safe. After taking quite a bit of abuse, it’s holding up very well. We tried using 20 oz. pop bottles but measuring is not as convenient and I had problems with them leaking.

5. Banamine/Flu-nix. I call this “Sheep Ibuprofen.” It requires a prescription, so speak with your vet, but I like Banamine for several reasons: It’s OK to use on pregnant ewes, it’s a pain reliever and it’s an anti-inflammatory. If you have an animal with fever, you need to address the root cause, but in the meantime it will bring down the fever and hopefully improve her appetite. We give the lambs a shot a couple of hours before banding them, and it seems to help the discomfort.

6. Udderly EZ Milker. I was tired of standing on my head in the jug milking sheep, so I broke down and invested in one of these hand-held milk extraction devices. I can quickly collect and freeze colostrum when I have a heavy milker. This year we had some mothers who had difficult births, so they were not getting up to let the baby nurse as much as they needed to. It was easy to extract colostrum from mom and supplement the baby with a bottle until mom was back to 100 percent. Since the milker is vacuum-driven, I stick it on while mom is eating and she doesn’t even know it’s there, which sure beats being kicked in the face.  It’s easier on the mother’s udder and more sanitary than hand-milking, so it will pay for itself if it saves a lamb or prevents mastitis.

7. Smart Phone. Not only do I have my sheepy friends’ and vets’ phone numbers handy, but I have been able to get decent quality picture of each and every birth. Then I post them to my Facebook to horrify or amuse my city friends. Some of  have told me that they enjoyed looking through all the baby pictures together with their kids. Also, if I forgot to write down the birthday, it’s on my Facebook. Update: I now use a Galaxy Note 4 which has a pen. So I can scribble all of my notes in the phone quickly – weights, medications, changes in appetite etc. This is much better than waiting til I can get in front of a computer, or having 300 scraps of paper all over the place.

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