PyrOfTheFlock
Exploring the pasture
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I apologize in advance for writing this depressing novel and thank you for those of you who are willing to read it.
My favorite ewe, Shadow, had twins today early in the morning. My mom had been up early and went out to check on them to find that she'd already birthed twins and passed the afterbirth. She had one healthy adorable ewe lamb and one not so healthy adorable ram lamb. The ram lamb was out on the ground shivering and not getting up, making little bahs and sounding congested. My mom called me down to the sheep pen and had me bring a towl for him, when I got down there I saw that he was clean and almost dry but shivering and still laying down. This was Shadow's third lambing, and her second time having twins. I didn't think anything would be wrong with him, just a little slow to get up like a previous ram lamb from one of our ewes that lambed four days ago.
Before wrapping him in the towel, I tried to see if I could get him to stand. I'd pick him up and his front legs would stretch but his back legs were pulled up beneath him, just hanging there. I wrapped him in the towl and I promptly went to find the bottles and milk replacer we had stored just for these occasions. Since he couldn't stand and couldn't get milk from his mom I thought maybe if I can milk her(which is no easy task) and feed him myself he might be able to gain his strength after a few days so I did just that. After getting an ounce of collostrum in him and a few ounces of milk replacer, I brought him up to the house so I could keep a constant eye on him and he wouldn't get trampled or cold.
After he slept for about an hour he started bahing, his bahs were strange like short little breaths, I went to him and fed him again, around two or three ounces of milk replacer. Then I tried to get him to stand, and he fell the first few times but after a few tries and getting his legs situated he was able to stay standing. I laid him down and left him to sleep for another hour, fed him, and kept working with him to get him to stand and so on. By the third feeding he was standing and even taking a few steps and catching himself when he was about to fall. While watching him and working with him I noticed that his spine seemed to curve just slightly above his hips, and that he kept his head turned slightly to one side. While he walked without my help, he tended to go in a circle rather than straight. He may have been deformed, but I don't know what could have caused it, Shadow had always had big healthy babies and was always a good mom.
Now that he seemed to be doing better though, I had hope that he might still survive. I brought him back down to see his mom, who started licking on him and bahing at him, he walked a bit, peed and pooped for the second time today and bahed back at Shadow. I took him with me to get a tub and some towels for him to stay in while I kept him in the house. I laid him down to sleep again in his tub with his towels. Twenty minutes later I hear him gasping for breath, I rush to him and find him limp, not knowing what to do I picked him and rubbed him down his neck and his back, he kicked out and gasped for air, then went limp again, I sat there and watched him to see if he was breathing, he wasn't, I rubbed him and he kicked out again, gasped for air, struggled on for several minutes longer, I knew he wasn't going to make it so I stopped trying to help him and just rubbed his face and wiped his eyes, like his mom when she was licking him, hoping to comfort him in his last moments, and then finally he seized and took his last breath. I was heart broken, I'd spent all day with him and he'd improved, giving me hope. In such a short time I'd come to love him so very much even though I tried to stay unattached. But maybe it was for the better, after all, he would have lived his short life, possibly deformed, possibly in pain, and then he would have eventually died a painful and cruel death under the butcher's blade because that is every ram's story. I've decided to stop breeding my sheep. I've been thinking about it for awhile now, and I don't think this way of farming is right. I will keep my woolies and castrate the rams and they will be used for nothing but wool production until the day that they die, hopefully, of old age.
Here are a few pics of him, and of Shadow and her healthy ewe lamb.
My favorite ewe, Shadow, had twins today early in the morning. My mom had been up early and went out to check on them to find that she'd already birthed twins and passed the afterbirth. She had one healthy adorable ewe lamb and one not so healthy adorable ram lamb. The ram lamb was out on the ground shivering and not getting up, making little bahs and sounding congested. My mom called me down to the sheep pen and had me bring a towl for him, when I got down there I saw that he was clean and almost dry but shivering and still laying down. This was Shadow's third lambing, and her second time having twins. I didn't think anything would be wrong with him, just a little slow to get up like a previous ram lamb from one of our ewes that lambed four days ago.
Before wrapping him in the towel, I tried to see if I could get him to stand. I'd pick him up and his front legs would stretch but his back legs were pulled up beneath him, just hanging there. I wrapped him in the towl and I promptly went to find the bottles and milk replacer we had stored just for these occasions. Since he couldn't stand and couldn't get milk from his mom I thought maybe if I can milk her(which is no easy task) and feed him myself he might be able to gain his strength after a few days so I did just that. After getting an ounce of collostrum in him and a few ounces of milk replacer, I brought him up to the house so I could keep a constant eye on him and he wouldn't get trampled or cold.
After he slept for about an hour he started bahing, his bahs were strange like short little breaths, I went to him and fed him again, around two or three ounces of milk replacer. Then I tried to get him to stand, and he fell the first few times but after a few tries and getting his legs situated he was able to stay standing. I laid him down and left him to sleep for another hour, fed him, and kept working with him to get him to stand and so on. By the third feeding he was standing and even taking a few steps and catching himself when he was about to fall. While watching him and working with him I noticed that his spine seemed to curve just slightly above his hips, and that he kept his head turned slightly to one side. While he walked without my help, he tended to go in a circle rather than straight. He may have been deformed, but I don't know what could have caused it, Shadow had always had big healthy babies and was always a good mom.
Now that he seemed to be doing better though, I had hope that he might still survive. I brought him back down to see his mom, who started licking on him and bahing at him, he walked a bit, peed and pooped for the second time today and bahed back at Shadow. I took him with me to get a tub and some towels for him to stay in while I kept him in the house. I laid him down to sleep again in his tub with his towels. Twenty minutes later I hear him gasping for breath, I rush to him and find him limp, not knowing what to do I picked him and rubbed him down his neck and his back, he kicked out and gasped for air, then went limp again, I sat there and watched him to see if he was breathing, he wasn't, I rubbed him and he kicked out again, gasped for air, struggled on for several minutes longer, I knew he wasn't going to make it so I stopped trying to help him and just rubbed his face and wiped his eyes, like his mom when she was licking him, hoping to comfort him in his last moments, and then finally he seized and took his last breath. I was heart broken, I'd spent all day with him and he'd improved, giving me hope. In such a short time I'd come to love him so very much even though I tried to stay unattached. But maybe it was for the better, after all, he would have lived his short life, possibly deformed, possibly in pain, and then he would have eventually died a painful and cruel death under the butcher's blade because that is every ram's story. I've decided to stop breeding my sheep. I've been thinking about it for awhile now, and I don't think this way of farming is right. I will keep my woolies and castrate the rams and they will be used for nothing but wool production until the day that they die, hopefully, of old age.
Here are a few pics of him, and of Shadow and her healthy ewe lamb.
I've experienced very similar things such as this with piglets and understand how you're feeling
