What the heck did this? [Warning: Graphic photos]!

[soarwitheagles]

Well, my wife's favorite lamb is our new white lamb whom she named, "Snow." My favorite of all time are 4 new black lambs...incredibly healthy and incredibly fast runners even though they are only a few weeks old. Last week I saw these black rams running 30-40 mph in our pasture and it was a delight to watch them run and play.

Yesterday, I discovered that two of my favorite black lambs obviously could not run fast enough...

I feel a bit sad, and very much angry.

I have some questions for the experienced sheep herders here...

1. What could have possibly done this?
2. Why would it kill two lambs, take one head, and leave the other lamb dead but intact?
3. What am I to do with the mommy ewe that has an udder looking like it is ready to explode?

Nuff said...

 

[Baymule]

Oh, I am so sorry about your beautiful lambs! I know you are heartsick over this.

You might need to consider a LGD, actually, 2 of them. Mine might bark a lot at night, but that is telling the predators to STAY AWAY and they do. If we didn't have the dogs, we would have no sheep.

 

[greybeard]

Fox. (plural)

 

[soarwitheagles]

Thanks for the replies. Yes Greybeard, we have a large population of red tailed foxes in this area. But I thought they were too small to take down a sheep...

 

[Pioneer Chicken]

Oh no! I'm so sorry. I can't help you much with the sheep q's but hope you find answers soon.

 

[Southern by choice]

 

[promiseacres]

would the mama adopt another lamb??

 

[Latestarter]

Sorry for your losses... typically foxes aren't a threat to adult sheep. Lambs are NOT off the menu... You might try a large havahart or large predator/similar trap and use the carcass as bait and see if what did this comes back for 2nds. I'd leave it in the same general area where the kill happened.

ETA: if the momma ewe is in distress, you could always catch her up and milk her out some to relieve the pressure. You could also keep milking her & save/freeze the milk for future use with bottle lambs or rejected lambs.

 

[mystang89]

Wow I never imagined a fox to be able to do that. I knew they could room a chicken house but thought they were a bit small for lambs. That's good to know though.

I'm am very sorry for this. Did it happen at night or day?

 

[soarwitheagles]

Hi mystang89,

We believe this occurred during the evening hours. Our sheep will often go out into the forest at night...

Not anymore...at least for now. We are keeping them in a pen with lights on! A friend recommended we also turn on a radio...