On 3/13, 15 days into lambing, I got a text about 2:30 a.m. from a friend/Farm Club member who wanted to let me know that a ewe I was watching had lambed. Farm Club members have the link to our barn cameras, and this same person alerted me to potential problems a couple other times.

I wanted to keep an eye on this Raquel because she is an older one and she had triplets last year. I found her with this lamb. My Jacob lambs weigh an average of 7.5 to 8 pounds, but this one was only 4.4 pounds. Tiny.

Two horn Jacob ewe in labor, looking at her rear where there are membranes visible.

At the same time Jingle was in lambing.

Jacob ewe with curled horns standing over two newborn spotted lambs.

Now I don’t remember the details, but this after the second lamb was born. She was 7.2 pounds. I think I helped with that one because it was taking awhile.

Two horn Jacob ewe cleaning newborn lamb covered with yellow meconium.

Jingle’s first lamb, 8.8 pounds, twice as big as Raquel’s first.

Jacob ewe licking newborn lamb covered with yellow meconium.

Jingle had her second quickly with no help from me. That one was 8.2 pounds. They were both covered with meconium. That’s an indication of fetal distress, but they seemed just fine.

Raquel’s third lamb. The second one was slow to get up.

Two horn Jacob ewe with newborn twins on their feet.

Jingle’s lambs were on their feet quickly.

Raquel’s first and third lambs on their feet getting ready to nurse.

Spotted newborn triplet lambs under a heat lamp.

I set up a heat lamp in Raquel’s pen.

Spotted newborn lambs standing and trying to nurse from ewe.

Jingle’s lambs nursed quickly. I moved them to a pen in the stall barn alley because all the others were full.

Three newborn spotted lambs in straw under a heat lamp.

I thought that Raquel’s second lamb needed a boost to get going.

Usually I save some colostrum from one of the ewes early on in lambing just in case I need some. These were lambs 65 through 69 and I hadn’t saved any. Jingle was the perfect candidate for this because she has teats that look more like good size goat teats. I use the plastic cases that hold large syringes. They are perfect for milking into and for storage. I fed some of this to Raquel’s second lamb. I made sure that all lambs were nursing well before I went back to bed about 5:15.