My Lovely Old Girl Has Gone

Sheepshape

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Longface was in her teens. 13,14 or maybe more. Bought as an 'old ewe with one more year in her' along with 19 others in 2009, she was aged about 7 then. Her endearing personality and charm meant she stayed, and stayed and stayed. Deemed 'toothless', she was marked 'for slaughter' by experienced neighbour in 2010. I changed her mark to hide her from OH and placed her back in with the breeding ewes.

Longface continued fat and fertile until 2013, when her milk supply dropped off at about 2 weeks after giving birth, so from then on she was a 'retired lady'. She had other ideas, though, and was impregnated by the neighbour's ram (totally unbeknownst to all of us until her belly started to swell in January 2014) and she produced 3 lambs. They were mainly bottle fed. 2015 she had (planned) twins, but struggled again with milk....so retired again and kept very close to the house and as far as possible away from any rams.

Towards the middle of 2016 she really began to slow down with arthritis and the winter was difficult for her....kept in good condition by waiting for her to come down for her ewe food and selectively feeding her treats. Since March she has been losing weight slowly, no longer willing to fight to get to food, tired and arthritic. A jaw lump was expanding. I knew the time was getting close.

I considered 4 options....1).Hope she quietly went to sleep in the corner of the field and didn't wake up. It didn't look like it was going to happen. She just was getting more tired and ever slower. I couldn't let her linger until she could no longer feed herself....food always having been her great passion.

2) Have her 'on farm euthanised' by the vet. I had a head injured ram euthanised a short while ago, and it wasn't quite the 'easy death' I'd expected. Having to hold him whilst neck shaved and neck veins found, and then injected.

3) Have her shot by marksman neighbour.....this was certainly an option, but meant isolating her in the shed and hoping she died quickly first shot.

4) Sending her to market. I've been to the abattoir and observed the way the animals are kept with their own flock members, kept calm and quiet and, stunned very effectively, die immediately. (This may not be true for all abattoirs, but it is for our local one.)

I reluctantly chose 4 after .

She went to market with other ewes who had had pregnancy problems, prolapse, severe mastitis, milk failure etc. (this included one of her daughters who had had to have a Caesarian for a severe prolapse). She loaded quietly into the trailer after several of her favourite chocolate biscuits and left, tears streaming down my face.

How I am missing her. I still have 3 of her daughters....lovely ewes with lovely lambs.

26 lambs to her name...and probably 14 years old.

There'll never be another Longface.
 

misfitmorgan

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I'm sorry to hear you had to make such a hard decision but at least you made a good one. Always better to end their life ever so slightly shorter while in reasonable condition then to let them starve to death, much kinder death.
 

Baymule

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Love means having to make those difficult decisions. Love is putting what is best for Longface ahead of your own emotions. You did the right thing.
 

Sheepshape

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Thank you all for your kind words.

This is how I like to remember her.

long.jpg
 

Latestarter

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So sorry but remember her just as she is in the above picture rather than as the old failing girl you let go of. I hope one of her daughters will earn her place in your heart.
 

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