[jaykay]

He looks lovely - congratulations 

Also, well done for containing your anxiety and not intervening unnecessarily.

[Brucklay]

Looks great to me to - what a lovely pair 

[Badger Nadgers]

Looking good. 

I hang around for a fair bit if I can, normally till they're bonded, and when the mother is walking away to graze with the lamb following.  Partly for the pleasure of seeing it, but also to see the mother's behaviour to the lamb, and just in case there's another to follow.  Also in case something daft happens;  common here is that they lamb near the top of the hill and with all the licking gradually tumble down the slope  which is okay unless the lamb ends up in a gorse bush.  Also handy with twins to make sure she's taken to both of them, and that if there's a weaker of the two it's not being neglected (if there's a weaker twin I give a squirt of the lamb aid/quick start to even things up a bit.)

After that, when they've had a few feeds, before I spray with iodine I stomach tube with artifical colostrum.

[goosepimple]

Just saw this post this morning, hope all is well with the wee lamb now LadyK.  My Soay has just had a Soay X North Ronaldsay lamb - it's the cutest of all our lambs this year, very rough coated.  She was the only ewe I didn't see feeding her lamb, I just couldn't catch her though I hung around for ages over the first few days, nowt happening and I was really worried.  Just had to bite my lip and trust her - lamb is big and bouncy now and tearing around with the rest.  They are pretty self sufficient these rare breeds.  I think it is if they have 2 you have to be careful partic if they're a first timer, there is always one smaller than the other (generally No2) and they can be a bit dopey about what they should be doing.  All our rare breeds birthed without intervention which is a big relief.

Good luck with your wee lamb, they look like they should have little wheels on their feet 

[ladyK]

Wee lamb doing very well, very bright and stumbling about determinedly after his mum.
4 more ewes to lamb, but no new lambs this morning.
Still I had my moment of panic: they both looked well when I first checked on them in the morning - an hour later I notice incessant and loud bleating from the field, I run to check and find the young mum frantic - no lamb! So now it was two of us headlessly running around looking for the lamb, all sort of tragic scenarios playing in my mind... After a couple of minutes I collected my senses and started walking the paddock more methodically and soon enough I found the little'un curled up under the hedge. Mum still running around bleating for him but he just wasn't responding to the calls. I stood him up gently and he seemed alright and after I put him gently near his mum again, she calmed down immediately, and off they went together, him now following again.
Can't quite understand what happened there - why was he not responding? Simply fallen asleep? Does this happen? I really thought of the worst for a few minutes there... his poor mum too it seems.
Anyway - all good again. Never a dull moment in smallholding...

[Bionic]

LadyK you sound exactly like me last year. Every time I heard a bleat I went to investigate. Usually nothing amiss, just the lamb wandered further than mum would like. You will find it worse when you get more lambs as they go off and play together and then all the mums will be bleating 
I seem to have got more used to the different bleating sounds this year. Recognising when mum is just calling for her baby to get closer and being able recognising a more urgent bleat.
   

[sabrina]

Lovely lamb, hope all goes well with the rest before you turn grey   

[sokel]

Lovely pics. the lamb looks like a little fawn 

I always think Soay lambs look more like Fawns than lambs

[goosepimple]

The lambs need a wee while to recognise mum too, our lambs were all confused at first, some of the mums are so alike.   For the first 3-4 days I have found that the lambs are just like babies and just want to sleep a lot, wake up, have a feed, a little wander, then fall asleep again.  In fact our Soay and the 2 Castlemilk Moorit ewes (all first timers) pretty much didn't move about at all in the first few days, just stood about with their lambs in more or less the same spot.  The North Ronaldsays are bold as brass however and after day one it's get up or get lost, their lambs cosily together and not running after mum.  Funnily enough I looked at the Soay lamb this evening, it was the second last to be born but is the biggest of them all - I still haven't seen her feed it!

[jaykay]

I have lambs that won't answer their mums, a mum that won't answer her lambs, a goat who keeps forgetting where she's put her kids - the kids are lying there blamelessy, but they don't answer when she shouts in a panic either.

Who know what goes on in those ovine and caprine heads!

Fortunately, the majority of babies and mums talk to each other.

[ladyK]

Another one lambed yesterday with twin ewe lambs 
This time I recognised the content faces all around and did't panic - all looking good. 
This ewe is older and experienced so she chose her spot in the hedges.
Like the first one though she started moving about in the afternoon,  and today she's taken them into the field.
I did have my moment of panic though when in the afternoon I noticed her still slimy/bloody behind was attracting the dreadful greenbottle flies... thought I couldn't risk not interfering. I caught her and doused her behind in (non chemical) fly repellant and thankfully the flies backed off  (she is understandably wary of me now). Watching her closely today but no flies and she looks more clean now anyway.

Saturday's ram lamb is looking well and rather agile already! Amazing - it really only took him a day to get out of the 'sleepy zone'. Just a bit worried about his navel cord - it still looks quite 'wet' - how quickly should it dry up? (the twins born only yesterday have theirs already looking dried up and shrivelled.)

I'm fascinated how the flock behaves around new mums - the first day they seem to be protected by an invisible 'respect zone' - no one will come close even if I take a feed bucket to her.  The second day it's more like the mum stays wisely away from the feeding melee but if I try to feed her separately others will try and interfere.

[in the hills]

They are lovely. 

We enjoy watching the interactions that go on in the flock,  too.

When one of mine lambs the other ewes will often stand near to her and be gently sniffing her face. They don't interfere but seem to support her. Once lambed mum and new arrival often stay a distance from the flock for the first week or so. They don't come to the trough etc.

We have one ewe who feeds and mothers her lambs no problem but doesn't seem too bothered about keeping her lambs close. Another ewe, Annie, always takes charge and has her lambs and Biscuits lambs with her. Good old Annie. She is one of our quietest, gentlest ewes.

[goosepimple]

brilliant, let's here it for soays 

[Bramblecot]

Soays were at the Sherborne show on BH Monday - lovely little sheep were the stars (in my eyes).

[Meh!]

Hope all is well. My first and only lamb arrived 2 weeks ago to my surprise and mums, I have 3 pet sheep,only one ewe who is 4 years old any neither of us knew she was pregnant. There are no other sheep on the farm where I keep them but farmer David had taken in some " bed and breakfasts" for a bit and they had mingled a couple of times. No idea there were tups in with them! That's what happens when your teenage girl gets let loose among the wrong sort in the hay!
Like you I was so worried -had done a lambing course 2 years ago for fun but its all different when it happens - and I had no iodine or anything. it was 11 at night and had to go pestering a friendly neighbour vet. have to say she was as excited as I was!
Enjoy wee lamby!