Preg Checks and Cookies

Those two things don't really go together, do they?

Let's start out with the pregnancy checks! I borrowed my friend's Draminski Pregnancy Detector so I could check the sheep, Darla and Purl.

The detector is pretty neat, and if I had more than two sheep I'd have to save up money to buy my own. It's a little, portable ultra sound that detects the presence of amniotic fluid in the uterus. Sometimes it can read full bladders, but usually it's pretty accurate. Plus, I've found that normally sheep squat to urinate when you catch them (because they're stressed), so their bladders usually aren't too full. The meter recommends testing between 75-90 days bred. If you check too early there might not be enough amniotic fluid to cause a signal, and if you wait too late, the lamb(s) are too big and you can't get a signal from the fluid.

The detector itself looks very simple. It has one button (the on/off). You can't mess that up! You can see June had to inspect it first.




Then there's the probe. The probe needs some type of lubricant to ensure good contact with the skin of the animal.



You can use vegetable oil or KY jelly or lotion. This is what Lindsay sent with the detector.

I made a little video while I checked Purl. PLEASE ignore what I'm saying in the video. I was flustered and trying to check her and film at the same time. I say a few things that are incorrect. The main thing- I always check on the RIGHT side of the animal, not the left. First you turn on the probe, then you put the lotion or oil on the probe. It will beep about once per second. You put the probe on the right flank, in the area where there's little or no wool. You then point the probe up toward the spine and slightly forward. Usually you can get a signal within a few minutes, but once you get used to it you can get one in a second or two. If the ewe is pregnant, you should hear a rapid beeping. It also helps to have someone hold the sheep to test them. I had to tie Purl to the hay rack and she was a little fidgety. I would have waited until David got home so he could help me, but he gets home after dark and I couldn't wait.

Ok, so now you can watch the video. I recommend you turn off your sound first. ;-)

So Purl is definitely pregnant! I checked Darla after this, but I could not get a pregnant signal. There are 3 possible reasons why:

1. She's not bred.

2. She's too far along to get a signal.

3. She's not far enough along to get a signal.

I'm really hoping it's not #1. I doubt it's #2 because she's not looking very pregnant. I really think it might be #3 because I picked her up November 8th and it's possible she'd just gotten bred. If that's the case, she could possibly be only about 40 or so days bred. I'll try again in a month!

I tried to preg check June, but I'm not sure the meter works on goats (though the website says it can possibly work on goats). She had too much hair and I couldn't even get a signal at all.

Oh, and I tried it on myself. I'm not pregnant. ;-)

On to the cookies! I made more sugar cookies last night because we have work luncheon today!

I had fun with these. I was up late decorating them, but it was fun!

They're almost too cute to eat! Almost.