Backwards Blackie Boys

3rd April

Morag, my only Scottish Blackface, usually has her lambs in mid March so by April I was beginning to wonder if she was pregnant at all. She did have an elder but she wasn't particularly round so I began to suspect that she was maybe going to have one tiny lamb this year.

I had been commenting on Morag for weeks when, finally, she showed signs of labour. She has always needed assistance to give birth so I didn't wait around - we caught her by the horns and dragged her to a pen. I put on a pair of lambing gloves and when I stuck my hand in I felt something unusual - that is until I realised it was a lamb's tail. The poor child was coming, forgive me, arse backwards. This was a dangerous situation. If I couldn't get this lamb out then mother and child would die. The lamb was small which was what saved everyone in the end. I managed to hook both legs with my finger pull them up so the lamb was coming feet first. A quick pull and he was out. Backwards lambs, if left too long, can drown in amniotic fluid that gets pushed into the lungs by the mother's contractions. To my relief the lamb was fine.

I thought that was it until I reached inside again and felt a second pair of feet - also backwards! Once I realised what position this second lamb was in I acted quickly to get him out too. Thankfully I didn't have to hook the feet that time.

Morag went straight to them and began licking and talking. I don't recall ever coming across two backwards lambs before - what a relief to get them out in time.

6th April

A few days later I went out with my DSLR to get some photos of the very fluffy boys. The whiter, smaller one is Euan - the brown-faced one is Erwyn. 

I love Morag to pieces and she always has the cutest, fluffiest lambs.

23rd April

A few weeks later and the backwards Blackie boys are thriving!