February was a crazy month!
A fox ate our pet duck. We were unimpressed. On the heels of losing Kyra's breeding ewe...seems so unfair. As if life was ever purported to BE fair.
Next, the thyroid doctor told me an ultrasound was necessary. Then, after that, a needle biopsy was necessary. Thankfully, the pathologist gave me tentative results the afternoon of the procedure, and we just had to wait for 'official' confirmation. Benign. Not cancer. PHEW!! Annual monitoring, but for now, no worries.
The same day of the biopsy, our first ewe, Miss Peach, went into labor. The kids called me as I was walking out the door or the hospital. No rest!! Turns out, there was a HUGE, single baby lamb in there. Vet was on a call too far away to be any help. But thankfully, a wonderful 4H friend came over. It took 3 adults, much turning, much groaning by Peach...but a boy lamb, looking 2-3 weeks old, finally was on the ground. Geoffrey named him SeaBass, girls call him Bowser.
Next, it was a Sunday, Paul & I went for a walk. I asked him to feed the sheep, so I could check udders from behind. (They run from me, if they see me coming, knowing I want to check their udders). I'm counting ewes, and...where is M&M? Paul jokes, she's probably in the field giving birth. We turn around, and she is, in fact, in the field, with a baby at her feet. It took 3 of us to coax M&M into the barn, to get her baby out of the cold, and 2 more lambies followed. Triplets. And M&M can count to three, woohoo!! The first little guy who'd been in the field developed sticky lungs & was on antibiotics (means I had to give shots twice a day for 5 days) All are healthy, very good.
Next, Luna had 2 BEAUTIFUL lambs. And as we're standing there, again, a triplet appears. She, too, can count to three. Nursing them all. They're dark, probably going to be the coveted black (blue) lambs. We feel very blessed. One more ewe to go.
Now, twins are 'normal' with Suffolk cross sheep. Not singles, not triplets, TWINS. But Shirley goes into labor, and again 3 healthy babies, and a momma who can nurse them all. I felt so blessed. Ewes who can nurse three, they only have 2 nipples, are not super common, and we had 3.
In the midst of this, JoyLynn is playing Ybasketball. Practice weekly. Games weekly. Taekwondo twice a week. Besides Awana & youth group for older girls.
I go to bed after Shirley's lambs are born, telling Paul, sleeping through the night is not long off.
I awaken Saturday morning, to Paul telling me there's a dead lamb in the field. WHAT????? The one Brenna had chosen the night before. The one Geoffrey had just named. The beautiful dark lamb. And, another is missing. Apparently, a mountain lion or fox, preyed on my lambs during the night. We'd been going out to check on the babies, so we know it happened between 2:40 & 5. Luna is frantic. Two of her babies are missing and she knows it. We penned her up with her remaining lamb. Luna circled the field for 2 days, searching, crying. If we'd go outside, she'd come to us, frantic for help. It was heart wrenching. Vienna, our oldest ewe, was also injured in the attack. We thought we might have to put her down. She's recovering. We hope. As am I.
It seemed so wrong, these helpless little babies. And let me just say, I didn't handle it very well. I'd been really missing my mom. I hadn't slept through the night in several weeks. I hadn't cried through all the stress of waiting & worrying over the biopsy results. I'd have to say, the worst Pampered Chef party I've ever done was that Saturday morning. And, as I was pulling out of her driveway, tears started to fall. And they didn't stop for about an hour. Poor Paul. Poor kids! Mom is totally losing it over lambs. But not really, just a release. Just the thing that pushed me over. Atsede came into my room, and cried with me. She says it was over the lambs, but I don't think so. I think she's sad, because I was sad. A breakthrough in our relationship.
We stayed up, with bait & an outdoor camera, watching for a flash, to shoot, or at least find out WHAT we were dealing with. We never did see the lion at our place. State trapper says probably fox or coyote, I don't know. Everyone we know with livestock, says lion. The Monday after, lion is spotted 2 streets over in neighbors driveway (just 15 ft from the front door). Young male, not afraid of people. It killed a sheep just over the creek that night. Those neighbors shot it the next night, when it returned, on Tuesday.
We're still putting everyone in the barn at night. We've moved llamas around, trying to find a new guard. It was painful. We're healing. Life goes on. Luna appears to be able to count to 8. If a few lambs dart off in play, she heads over & brings them back up by the barn. We've seen Shirley do this also.
We considering a guard donkey. We're hopeful the immediate threat is past. Vienna is still healing. We put Geoffrey's stud, Thunder, in with the momma's & lambs. He appears to enjoy it. Time will tell if he has the instinct to protect.
Next, the thyroid doctor told me an ultrasound was necessary. Then, after that, a needle biopsy was necessary. Thankfully, the pathologist gave me tentative results the afternoon of the procedure, and we just had to wait for 'official' confirmation. Benign. Not cancer. PHEW!! Annual monitoring, but for now, no worries.
The same day of the biopsy, our first ewe, Miss Peach, went into labor. The kids called me as I was walking out the door or the hospital. No rest!! Turns out, there was a HUGE, single baby lamb in there. Vet was on a call too far away to be any help. But thankfully, a wonderful 4H friend came over. It took 3 adults, much turning, much groaning by Peach...but a boy lamb, looking 2-3 weeks old, finally was on the ground. Geoffrey named him SeaBass, girls call him Bowser.
Next, it was a Sunday, Paul & I went for a walk. I asked him to feed the sheep, so I could check udders from behind. (They run from me, if they see me coming, knowing I want to check their udders). I'm counting ewes, and...where is M&M? Paul jokes, she's probably in the field giving birth. We turn around, and she is, in fact, in the field, with a baby at her feet. It took 3 of us to coax M&M into the barn, to get her baby out of the cold, and 2 more lambies followed. Triplets. And M&M can count to three, woohoo!! The first little guy who'd been in the field developed sticky lungs & was on antibiotics (means I had to give shots twice a day for 5 days) All are healthy, very good.
Next, Luna had 2 BEAUTIFUL lambs. And as we're standing there, again, a triplet appears. She, too, can count to three. Nursing them all. They're dark, probably going to be the coveted black (blue) lambs. We feel very blessed. One more ewe to go.
Now, twins are 'normal' with Suffolk cross sheep. Not singles, not triplets, TWINS. But Shirley goes into labor, and again 3 healthy babies, and a momma who can nurse them all. I felt so blessed. Ewes who can nurse three, they only have 2 nipples, are not super common, and we had 3.
In the midst of this, JoyLynn is playing Ybasketball. Practice weekly. Games weekly. Taekwondo twice a week. Besides Awana & youth group for older girls.
I go to bed after Shirley's lambs are born, telling Paul, sleeping through the night is not long off.
I awaken Saturday morning, to Paul telling me there's a dead lamb in the field. WHAT????? The one Brenna had chosen the night before. The one Geoffrey had just named. The beautiful dark lamb. And, another is missing. Apparently, a mountain lion or fox, preyed on my lambs during the night. We'd been going out to check on the babies, so we know it happened between 2:40 & 5. Luna is frantic. Two of her babies are missing and she knows it. We penned her up with her remaining lamb. Luna circled the field for 2 days, searching, crying. If we'd go outside, she'd come to us, frantic for help. It was heart wrenching. Vienna, our oldest ewe, was also injured in the attack. We thought we might have to put her down. She's recovering. We hope. As am I.
It seemed so wrong, these helpless little babies. And let me just say, I didn't handle it very well. I'd been really missing my mom. I hadn't slept through the night in several weeks. I hadn't cried through all the stress of waiting & worrying over the biopsy results. I'd have to say, the worst Pampered Chef party I've ever done was that Saturday morning. And, as I was pulling out of her driveway, tears started to fall. And they didn't stop for about an hour. Poor Paul. Poor kids! Mom is totally losing it over lambs. But not really, just a release. Just the thing that pushed me over. Atsede came into my room, and cried with me. She says it was over the lambs, but I don't think so. I think she's sad, because I was sad. A breakthrough in our relationship.
We stayed up, with bait & an outdoor camera, watching for a flash, to shoot, or at least find out WHAT we were dealing with. We never did see the lion at our place. State trapper says probably fox or coyote, I don't know. Everyone we know with livestock, says lion. The Monday after, lion is spotted 2 streets over in neighbors driveway (just 15 ft from the front door). Young male, not afraid of people. It killed a sheep just over the creek that night. Those neighbors shot it the next night, when it returned, on Tuesday.
We're still putting everyone in the barn at night. We've moved llamas around, trying to find a new guard. It was painful. We're healing. Life goes on. Luna appears to be able to count to 8. If a few lambs dart off in play, she heads over & brings them back up by the barn. We've seen Shirley do this also.
We considering a guard donkey. We're hopeful the immediate threat is past. Vienna is still healing. We put Geoffrey's stud, Thunder, in with the momma's & lambs. He appears to enjoy it. Time will tell if he has the instinct to protect.
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