Mitsie is my beautiful coloured Ryeland ewe, she is the first sheep I ever owned, and she is a real character...
The first year she lambed with us was my first ever, and she duly lead us a merry dance on a stormy night in the field. It was before we had the lambing shed.. she would follow me anywhere, but when Nigel or James came near she ran as far away as she could. For years James had used an old garden shed to lamb, not ideal, as it was never cleaned out, and that year Mits had a lambs heads back and such a small pelvis that we had real trouble...
The second year, we had the old barn set up, which was badly lit but had to do, with the 3 pens we had constructed... She had her first lamb and then a second which was so dark brown that we missed its birth completely, even though we were standing next to her!! Then last year, which was again really difficult... similar to the first, but this time we ended up at the vet at midnight.. lost the first lamb, but ended up with Dixie.. on one of the coldest nights in March 2013, just before we had a deluge of snow... We did have the new shed last year, so a very sore Mits was duly returned in the trailer, and it took several days to lighten her mood... although she was the most attentive mum she'd ever been.
This year... hurray... I was there, and she decided to lamb during the day!! She looked at me pathetically and came from the main pen into an individual one without any problem at all.... I sat in the corner of the pen and she used me to lean on, sticking her face into mine each time to got up to move around... In the end I just gave a little help... with her rear hooves against my thigh for purchase...... made me smile all the way through!! She delivered two lovely boys... and was very pleased with herself!
The next day Mitsie had a visit..... Nanny McHawkins.. a friend from Newbiggin, knows a midwife, who, in mid March was staying with 5 other midwives in Swaledale, and who had requested a visit to Fabric of the Field and a visit to the barn too... So after some purchases were made, we all drove over to see the new mums... Mitsie of course was one of them.. and they loved her... you can see one of their pictures of her posing for the camera with her new lambs, on my facebook page...
Since then she has had a sore teat, and started kicking one lamb off, as he'd bitted her, but we lubricated it in the field... she let us... and then topped up the lambs with a bottle... still doing that even though they are both fine.. they like it!
Mitsie seems to have continued her good mothering skills this season, rather than her latchkey attitude of the previous years, she's doing brilliantly.......
We love her... moods and all!
The first year she lambed with us was my first ever, and she duly lead us a merry dance on a stormy night in the field. It was before we had the lambing shed.. she would follow me anywhere, but when Nigel or James came near she ran as far away as she could. For years James had used an old garden shed to lamb, not ideal, as it was never cleaned out, and that year Mits had a lambs heads back and such a small pelvis that we had real trouble...
The second year, we had the old barn set up, which was badly lit but had to do, with the 3 pens we had constructed... She had her first lamb and then a second which was so dark brown that we missed its birth completely, even though we were standing next to her!! Then last year, which was again really difficult... similar to the first, but this time we ended up at the vet at midnight.. lost the first lamb, but ended up with Dixie.. on one of the coldest nights in March 2013, just before we had a deluge of snow... We did have the new shed last year, so a very sore Mits was duly returned in the trailer, and it took several days to lighten her mood... although she was the most attentive mum she'd ever been.
This year... hurray... I was there, and she decided to lamb during the day!! She looked at me pathetically and came from the main pen into an individual one without any problem at all.... I sat in the corner of the pen and she used me to lean on, sticking her face into mine each time to got up to move around... In the end I just gave a little help... with her rear hooves against my thigh for purchase...... made me smile all the way through!! She delivered two lovely boys... and was very pleased with herself!
The next day Mitsie had a visit..... Nanny McHawkins.. a friend from Newbiggin, knows a midwife, who, in mid March was staying with 5 other midwives in Swaledale, and who had requested a visit to Fabric of the Field and a visit to the barn too... So after some purchases were made, we all drove over to see the new mums... Mitsie of course was one of them.. and they loved her... you can see one of their pictures of her posing for the camera with her new lambs, on my facebook page...
Since then she has had a sore teat, and started kicking one lamb off, as he'd bitted her, but we lubricated it in the field... she let us... and then topped up the lambs with a bottle... still doing that even though they are both fine.. they like it!
Mitsie seems to have continued her good mothering skills this season, rather than her latchkey attitude of the previous years, she's doing brilliantly.......
We love her... moods and all!
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