Cerys, the fat chick of the sheep world, finally got lucky and got laid. Amazingly enough, she also got pregnant after two years of inability to produce an offspring. After a very long labour and a lot of discussion about whether we needed to call a vet or take matters into our own hands and reach for the Vaseline, Cerys gave birth to three healthy little lambs. She looks a little defeated in these photos! I guess she is thinking: "Why me? I was doing alright without this little 'life experience' "
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A couple of things we have learned from Cerys:
1) Fat sheep are not healthy sheep. Being fat reduces fertility, increases pregnancy risks, makes labour difficult and can make for big lambs- too big to be delivered naturally without risk to lamb and mother.
2) Never count a ewe out simply because she has failed to get pregnant the first time she is joined. She may need an extra year and a bit of a diet change!
3) Give a ewe who has had triplets at least a year's grace from lamb bearing to recover and rebuild condition- she probably needs two years if you are actually concerned about her welfare and not just her money making capacity.
4) Ewes who have multiple births need to have supplemental feeding to keep up with the milk demands of the lambs- these ewes lose condition very quickly.
5) The more lambs a ewe is carrying, the greater the risk of complications during labour and the higher the possibility the ewe will need assistance to lamb. Multiple lambs can get tangled up in each other during the birth.
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