Adapt yourself to the things among which your lot has been cast and love sincerely the fellow creatures with whom destiny has ordained that you shall live. - Marcus Aurelius
Friday, May 16, 2008
The life of a farmer...
Today was a very sad day for me. Rhiannon had been bred to my beloved Cheknon, and I was so hoping for a gorgeous gulmoget I could use. Well, today I got it. But unfortunately, when I got to the house, she was already dead. She was very large, legs longer than Torrents lamb, and very stuck. Pretty little face, gorgeous eye flashes, cute little white spots on her head...perfectly crimpy fleece. I am literally sick to my stomach. I've been crying off and on for an hour, this just tears me apart. She was VERY stuck, I had to twist and turn to get her out, one leg was back. Rhiannon is very tired, so I'm almost hoping she doesn't have another lamb in her, because being she's so tired, that ones life would probably be in danger as well. On a bright note, I learned some techniques of pulling a lamb. Unfortunately, it looks as though she'd been dead for a while, so if my mom had actually gone into the pen this morning and noticed she was having problems, we may have been able to save the lamb. But its' no use looking into the past, right? I still have Thor, who's Cheks as well, and we'll see how he turns out.
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5 comments:
I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your gulmoget ewe lamb Rayna. Sounds like you did all you could. We had three one leg back presentations this year. They can be very tough to deliver, especially with bigger lambs. Did you try to feel for a second lamb? Please let us know how it goes.
Ron Parker has some good tips for delivering one leg back lambs in his free online book, "The Sheep Book", I wish I would have read it beforehand.
Good luck with the rest of your ewes and lambs. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you.
How horribly SAD, Rayna! I can't imagine going through something like that! It sounds like Rhiannon is going to be OK ~ at least that's a good thing...
Please be gentle with yourself. It sounds like there was nothing you could have done and at least you helped your ewe. Perhaps a little "lamb therapy" is in order. I see you've got several adorable babies just waiting for some attention from a sad shepherdess...
This is the first time I've visited your blog! Would it be OK if I put a link to it on mine?
Thanks gals...It really means a lot. Sure you can ad my link to your blog, Nancy :) Rhiannon is doing much better today...that ewe lamb was so big...Glad Rhia is okay. If I would have been thinking straight, I would have weighed it...
This is a sad day for you, Rayna. So sorry...
How gutting, I'm really sorry to hear about this. But, as the others said, you did what you could and you made sure that your ewe was saved so did your job as a shepherd. I hope that the rest of lambing goes well and that the antics of the little devils racing round the yard cheer you up :o)
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