I purchased my first sheep some 14 years or so ago…I made my choices as my Grandpa had taught me. Sturdy stock, Good hooves, well muscled for the type of stock , good conformation, kind eyes, Twins or triplets and out of the same.
My girls have served me well, herding, breeding and in general being a pleasure to be around. Fondly I have named them Belle… Yes all of them…trust me…simpler that way… for me.
The years have past and I have lost one here and there…mostly to age…
Back in late September and early to mid October I had many things happening at the farm. Our first AKC trial sponsored by the Cardigan Club of America….then the Pembroke Corgi Nationals! followed by a Jim Hartnagle clinic! I had the ram away from my girls for months and was intending to breed but the time got away from me so I planned to breed latter when the time suited my schedule. The ram jumped the fence from another pasture and bred several ewes…before I missed him…he was in with several weathers that had bad temperaments. I had no intention of breeding my old girls …but it had happened…I had 95 sheep at the time and he looked like most of my sheep plus I was not looking for him to be in the field with the ewes…
One of my original old girls got down 3 days ago and had cast herself up hill…she had her back down hill and her feet uphill and thought she could not get up with her large tummy. The vet looked at her and ruled out pregnancy and I did not see any bag and felt just softness and thought the same way…we put her in a nice clean softly bedded stall and on soft things…the next day about noon I checked on her and there they were TWO lambs! One up running round the other died for lack of getting out of the sack. But the big thing was the poor ewe had a prolapsed uterus . Vet looked at her and said yes that was what had happened…
Sigh…I feel bad…she was a good ewe always and kind and a great mother. Clearly…even in in her time of emergency…she had looked after the first born lamb but was too weak to take care of the second one…
We put her down and she did not suffer long.
I have cried for the ewe and her lamb. for the awfulness of it all…for myself I suppose…and just in general…
As I write this a few more days have past…I feel better and life goes on…I miss her sweet face and kind eyes…and her goodness…
We have more healthy newborn lambs and happy Ewes…
So much coming up to look forward and plan for!
To borrow from the Bible a few words of wisdom…
“To everything there is a season,
A time to be born and a time to die,
A time to weep, laugh , mourn, and dance”
To Everything There Is A. Season!
Good bye my sweet Belle…
The surviving lamb is being grafted onto a very unhappy ewe…with lots of extra milk! and doing well at the moment!
1 comments
Oh Kay, so sad!