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A picture-perfect pose from a days-old spring lamb enjoying the relative freedom
of the "outdoor pen" prior to being released with his "Mom" to the Big Pasture.
Ewe #361 had been laboring to deliver an oversized lamb for
20 minutes or more, was fighting fatigue and pain, and appeared
to be at the stage where human intervention would be welcomed.
Aer kicking me in the face with a wayward back leg as a means
of introduction, she seled down and resolved to put up with my
intrusion. Progress had come to a standstill for her, with a large,
single lamb, toenailed in the birth canal, unwilling or able to prog-
ress another inch.
Toenailing occurs when a lamb is situated more-or-less cor-
rectly in the birth canal-- front-feet-first, with head down and nose
right behind the knees, giving the appearance of Superman diving
out into a cold, but brave new world-- but its front hooves become
stuck along the ewe's spine instead, right above the exit.
Lambs are generally delivered without complications.
anks to Murphy's Law, though, (something that all ranchers are
familiar with) not all things go as planned. From minor irritation
to life-threatening emergencies for ewe and lamb, complex births
are where stock growers prove their mele.
Old #361 was uncomfortable with the birthing process,
and her lamb had become distressed from time spent in the birth
canal. However, aer minor manipulation of the newborn's hooves
www.johnsondistributing.com
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Great Falls, MT 59404
Office (406) 453-6541
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