Just thought I'd write this up in case it's of use to anyone, and also in case anyone can give me any pointers to things I might have tried more successfully sooner.
I have this evening delivered three lambs - two good live ones and one barely, won't survive - from the most amazing tangle of legs, jaws and ears that I've ever come across with a live birth.
The other older, experienced sheepkeeper (I'll call her Maggie) and I were both of the opinion that Hatty (the last Zwartbles to lamb, an experienced ewe who had a year off last year and went to the Hebridean tup) ought to be making progress by now, and nothing was happening. We'd seen the birthing sac earlier - or at least, Maggie had - but now there was nothing to see at all. We agreed we'd try to get Hatty into the corral in the corner of the field, or tip her up in the field, and have a look.
She was having none of being driven away from her chosen spot, and we didn't want to give her the stress of being manhandled all the way down to the corral, so between us we managed to wrong-foot her and I caught her under the jaw and had her down before she realised what I was about. Maggie's an old hand, and was on the head in an instant, to stop her trying to get up.
So I had a feel, and there were two feet, but they were the wrong way up - soles uppermost. I assumed it was coming nbackwards so I started to look for the a tail. But found a jaw, and then another jaw and a foot that felt like it was from another lamb. And at least two more legs.
My usual tactic is to decide which lamb I'm going to bring out first, push anyone else back in by the head, sort out the legs to be sure I have the right two to go with the head I've chosen, making sure by tracking up from the head to the shoulders and back down to the foot, and repeating for the other side.
But I kept finding other legs in the wrong place, or oriented the wrong way, or wrapped around the one I thought I wanted. I swear I straightened at least five 'wrist' joints.
At this time, several thoughts were going through my head. Uppermost was I wouldn't try for too long to the detriment of ewe or lambs, but would call the vet if I thought I couldn't manage it. It was certainly as complicated a jumble as any I have ever come across.
Next was that the majority of the times I've experienced a jumble like that, one or more of the lambs has been dead. Sometimes long dead. Dead lambs don't help get born, and can jam the system up, lying the wrong way, blocking the entrance to the birth canal with the top of their head, etc.
Another thought that kept making its way into my consciousness was that there is still the occasional case of Schmallenberg. There were just too many legs...
As I worked on, trying to get any of the heads definitely paired up with even one foot, I said to Maggie, "Give me five more minutes then we'll call the vet. I don't think I am going to be able to do this one." Less than five minutes later I felt that I was making no progress whatsoever, just repeatedly tracking up to a shoulder from an ear and still being unable to be certain I had the correct leg by the time I got to the toes, and things were starting to be drying out in there. I had plenty of lube (lubricant) but you can't always overcome the friction once the lamb's fleece starts to dry out.
I'd actually just said to Maggie, "Ok, call the vet. I'll keep trying, we can always cancel them if I get it, but I think this one is beyond me." And then suddenly I had a head and a leg that definitely went with it surging past all the other legs and jaws, and a large lamb emerged and shook its head. That first shake of the head is always magical, but trebly so when you'd thought it must be dead lambs or worse.
I cleared its nose and checked it was breathing before passing it up to the front and going back in to see if I could get the next one out. It was upside down in the canal (belly uppermost) - never a good sign - but I managed to get it turned around and the head and legs emerged. However, it then seemed to be stuck, and that's not good after a long labour, and especially after it's started to breathe, which it had, so I worked fast to get it unstuck and out. It was alive, and it was breathing, but it wasn't looking very hopeful. I passed it over to Maggie and went back in to check there were no more. A bit of me was of the opinion I'd had more than 4 front legs at one point. Sure enough, there was a large lamb further in. In a normal lambing I'd have left Mum to deliver that, but after the jumble we'd had it's better to get them all out as quickly as possible. Sure enough, there was a lot of colour in the fluid around the lamb, which indicates stress, so it was none too soon to be getting it out. To my delight it too shook its head and started to try to breathe. It clearly had some fluid on the lungs, so I alerted Maggie that I thought she would need to swing this one. I left it still attached to Mum by the umbilical cord for a few moments for it to get used to having been born, then once it seemed ready, pulled it clear and passed it to Maggie. A few good swings and the breathing was much better.
We stayed with Hatty long enough to be sure the two better lambs were breathing okay and trying to stand, then left Hat to her job while I went off to bring Lessa and family in for the night. We'd had a lot of rain and cold wind with it, and although all Lessa's lambs had fed, we were of the opinion they'd have a better first night if they weren't having to use energy to get warm too.
As I slowly walked Lessa and lambs across the field - of course she was at the furthest possible corner from the gate - I could see two lambs under Hatty, looking strong on their legs and questing with purpose for the teat. Hatty was working hard on the third lamb, but there seemed to be no response. As I reached the 2/3 mark, Hatty made mournful baas, like a ewe does when her lamb has died or gone missing. If I hadn't been intent on getting Lessa's lambs to shelter before they got too cold, I'd have gone over and quietly removed the dead lamb right then, but in fact Hatty seemed to know it was hopeless and turned her attention to the two strong lambs.
Once Lessa and lambs were safely in the corral, which is well sheltered, I went over to see how Hatty was doing. The third lamb wasn't totally dead, but was mostly unresponsive and crossed its jaws when I put a finger in its mouth to see if it had a suck reflex. Hatty and the other two were now a few feet away from it, so it seemed clear that Hatty didn't think it would survive, and I agreed with her.
I went off to the barn to fetch the lambing trailer to bring Lessa and family the rest of the way, and met up with another of the animal team, I'll call her Mona. We fetched Lessa and her three, then went back for Hatty and her two. By this time Maggie had joined us, and told me that a plate of supper was put by for me when I was ready.
We got them all installed in pens I'd made up in the barn, and I went off for my much-needed supper. Maggie kept me company and then went to check that Hatty's two had both fed.
We'll collect antibiotics, CombiVit and Metacam from the vet in the morning. Hat is fine, but that was a lot of manipulation and I'd sooner be sure she doesn't have any infection or soreness.