Small Favors

Well, to all of our surprise, the ewe lamb continues to live. She is eating and drinking some, and we are going to start turning her out for short periods and see if she can act like a sheep a little at a time. She could still die any day, but I'm happily surprised she is hanging on for now.

The katahdin with the leg wounds is doing very well and turned back out with the rest of the flock.

Bad Neighbors

Alas, we have a bad neighbor where our sheep live. She has allowed her dog to run loose and savage the sheep 3 days in a row. Two ewes are badly wounded, and one is looking like it might be a loss. Time will tell, the vet came out and said the ewe lamb deserves a chance to try and live, and so we are giving that to her. If we were running a larger commercial operation she would be an obvious cull, but she is well below finishing weight and with so few sheep we have the extra time to give her some special attention.

I hate the idea of killing dogs, but I'd have no compunction about shooting this one. The poor dog, it is not her fault that her owner is irresponsible and not keeping her safe. But my sheep do not deserve to be terrorized and I don't deserve the financial losses nor the sadness and disappointment.

Animal control is some help but not much, advising us to "take care of" the dog ourselves. I went to the field bright and early today ready to ambush the dog, but it stayed away. Hopefully the dog and her owner moved out today as was planned and the sheep will get some peace.

Lucy and I are on our way out for our evening vigil of pain medication and antibiotics by headlamp. Lucy is such a wonderful partner in all of this, I feel blessed as always to have her help (Thanks, Diane!)

I know it is just a sheep, but suffering is not meant for any animal and I hope she either improves swiftly or passes swiftly without a great deal of suffering in between.