We missed Bressay giving birth last year and when we discovered her, we also found a dead lamb. This year, we missed the birth again but this time around we found a rather stunning looking ewe lamb, albeit one who, it turned out, was rather hungry. She was pretty dry when we found them both suggesting she was a good hour or so old at least but judging by Bressay’s bloody back end, the birth may well have been a touch traumatic and as such, it looked as though the first drink has not been taken. We got mum and lamb in the shelter and tried in vain to get the lamb to suckle. Whether we restrained Bressay or turned her on her back, her lamb just did not want to take any milk. Plan B was to milk Bressay and either bottle feed or syringe the milk in. We assumed the lamb had a swallow reflex and so hoped we would end up doing the former. By this stage (early evening) the lamb was starting to go a bit weak and willowy and a little cold. We got lots of milk from Bressay thankfully and lo and behold, we suddenly had a hungry lamb who wanted her colostrum. The difference was incredible – suddenly she was up and about and her belly felt warm and full.
We managed to get two more lots inside her before Jack felt the need to go to bed but the good news was that at the last feed, Bressays’ udder was ‘less’ full but the lamb’s belly ‘more’ full, suggesting she may well have had her own drink!
Throughout it all Bressay had continued to be a very attentive mum - we suspect she was a tad sore and stressed after the birth to let her lamb drink straight away but after a few hours of recovery, felt a lot better – we are optimistic that by morning we will no longer be needed!!