It started on March 20th and ended on April 11th - only 3 weeks of worry.   The last one was a doozy - had to go in and pull the baby out - it took me almost 10 minutes and when the head came out the little tongue was hanging out - I was sure it was dead.  My husband said he saw the tail move so I did my normal routine to clear lungs, nose etc just in case and lo and behold it started breathing.  I couldn't believe it.  An exciting way to end the season.  Fortunately I didn't lose any lambs this year.  So here are the statistics:

9 ewes / 8 rams
10 all black / 4 white / 2 spotted / 1 grey

Southdown Babydolls;  1 black ewe / 1 white ram / 1 grey ram / 3 black rams (very disappointing that two of my girls only gave me singles  and that I only got ONE EWE!!!!!!

Cheviot Dolls:  1 white ewe / 1 white ram / 1 black ewe / 1 spotted ewe
Barbado Dolls:  3 black ewes / 2 black rams / 1 white ewe/ 1 spotted ewe

Lessons learned in 2010:

          1.  Just because a ewe was a good mother once does not mean she will be good every time but once a bad mother - always a bad mother (my experience)

          2.  Not all ewes break the birth sack once the baby is born which means if you (or the dog) are not around to do it - the lamb dies. 

          3.  When first born, lambs are not particular about which ewe they suckle. 

          4.   Some ewes never seem to memorize the smell of their lamb so that even if the lamb is standing right beside her she is crying out for it.  It appears she needs to make a visual identification followed by smell. 

          5.    If grain is offered - ewes will abandon their lambs in a heartbeat (once I saw this happen I started putting some grain on the ground in the pasture after I get them all where I want them and the lambs are close to their moms. 

          6.    After a few days - lambs would rather play with their buddies rather than answer their mothers' frantic calls - its fun to watch them play as a "gang"

  You can see pictures and check out sale prices on my website.