A Sheep Gone Rogue

So I told the story about my 2 sheep escaping and how we found one dead on the railroad tracks.

Three weeks later, at 8 o'clock , we had a visitor. A local young man had been in his kayak on the creek when he said he saw one of our sheep.

He came straight to the house to tell us he saw the sheep and although she looked to be injured, she was walking and grazing.

Devin, Indiana and Willow went with this young man down the railroad tracks and across the creek. They saw my ewe. She was happily grazing in a field of green grass near the creek.

Because she would not follow them home willingly, Devin carried her home. This was not an easy task for even a strong man like him, as she weighs a good 160 pounds.

Her back leg had a pretty serious injury and she smelled like rotted flesh. A vet visit the next morning revealed she had a sizable wound that appeared she was attacked by something. The vet spent a good hour cleaning the wound of maggots and fly eggs. He washed the area well and used a wound spray on her. Finally she got a shot of a strong antibiotic.

Today she is still limping  some and her wound is draining. I am keeping a good fly spray on her to prevent another maggot infestation, and I plan to clean the wound of dirt next week when she is sheared. Her fleece is a mess and her dreadlocks on front have been torn off, but she is alive and will likely make a full recovery. I am thankful for that fact.

I am hoping that the farm has no more adventures like this one.

Happy Thursday Ya'll!

Sami Has a Little Lamb

This morning we woke up to new life on the farm!
Sarah had lambed sometime this morning and to our surprise she had not only one lamb....

but TWO lambs!!!! They are both boys and I could not be more thrilled!

They both appear to be healthy and are both nursing very well!

This little guy is a little smaller than the other. They are both friendly and Sarah doesn't mind us checking them out. Now, the ram who fathered these two is named Whiskey Creek. We wanted to name these two guys along those lines, and we decided to name the little one Tiger Creek. This is an actual creek that runs through our property.

Then there is this guy, whom we have yet to name. We are thinking carefully though for the perfect one. He is more spunky and much more curious. Gosh, look at those ears!!!!!

Sarah has spent the day tending to her babies and getting them cleaned off.
We moved the ram out to another paddock, out with the horse and calf. The horse guards the calf like she is his mama, but overall I think the three will adjust to one another.
We had to put a sheep halter on him and lead him out across the drive with a bucket of feed. It really does pay to have your animals "bucket trained."
He will come back to see Sarah in the fall when it's time to breed again, but meanwhile he has much more room and more grass.

To say this has been an exciting and fun day is an understatement! These sweet lambs have tiny, tiny curls in their fleece. They are also quite soft!

Tomorrow we will band their tails and their "jewels" so that they can be castrated. The tails need to be docked for health and hygiene reasons.

 

But for now we will just enjoy watching them. They are such sweet animals! Great job Sarah!