Nimbusllama wrote:
I had a Castlemilk Moorit ewe start 'nesting' at 7pm and then didn't get going very well, but I couldn't catch her in the dark alone. I stayed up until 4am checking for any progress and finally caught her (with help) at 7am the following morning (with the nose and 2 front feet showing) and delivered a strong healthy ram lamb!.... I was sure it would be dead after 12 hours labour, so never give up hope...
I have found with my CMMs that they won't lamb when you are watching but insist on doing it when no one is watching. The only time I have witnessed an unassisted lambing is when I hid in some adjoining straw bales for about a half hour. The ewe kept checking that everything was quiet and no one about before lambing. It may have been the case that if you had not gone near her for an hour something may have popped out.
Regards, Dave
I admit I didn't make it clear that I didn't watch the ewe all night but at hourly intervals from about 10pm. Each time I looked nothing seemed to have changed. so I had two attempts at catching her in the dark without success and of course by then she was spooked. At 3am I rang the vet as I could see a foot but still no further progress, but the vet couldn't see the point in her coming out to watch it run round the field in the dark, so we agreed to wait until morning. I went to bed from about 4am until 6am when I knew I had help to get her in. When we finally caught her with a crook and a rugby tackle, the nose and front feet were showing and once inside I pulled the lamb out expecting it to be dead, but as I said it was strong and healthy. I don't think she would have parted with it on her own.
Many thanks for the advice though....
Brian
