New Ear tags

Michael, the breeder we bought our 2 pregnant Teeswater ewes from, called today to replace the ewes missing ear tags and also have a look at the lambs they'd had. He was impressed with all 3 lambs and very pleased with the condition of the ewes as well. When we walked into the barn, the little gimmer lamb that has a "rattle" on her chest, coughed and sneezed. Michael had a good look at her and, like us thinks she may have some birth fluid still on her lungs. I gave her another shot of antibiotics as we've now let the ewes and their lambs out of the barn into the small paddock at the side of the barn. Hopefully being out in the fresh air, the gimmer lamb will loose her rattle.
Having a very experienced Teeswater judge here, we took the opportunity to get him to have a look at our Teeswater Gimmers. One has a slight pink colouring in her ears, which for showing could mark her down and we will have to watch from a breeding point of view. He was taken by Dumpling, her fleece has a sheen to it and he thinks she will grow into a good ewe. Dimples, the smallest of the 3 gimmers, is doing O.K but still has some growing to do.
Michael was also with us when we bought the Scotties and he remembers how small they were, so he got a pleasant surprise seeing how much they had grown over the winter, no mean feat when you think how bad a winter we've had. Hopefully they should grow even more now that spring is just around the corner.
It's good to listen and glean some knowledge from a very experienced sheep man like Michael, every time we chat to him we learn something new, he's not afraid to pass on his knowledge or experience.