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- #211
purplequeenvt
Herd Master
All the lambs but the 2 youngest were pulled off their moms today. I caught (almost) everyone in the creep last night so they’d be easier to deal with today. In theory anyway. Everyone needed their 2nd CD&T shots too.
When I went out this morning, I had missed one of the white Border Leicester girls so I had to catch her. Over all it went well. I was the only one that bled and that was only a minor scrape.
The biggest issue was when I realized my lamb count was off. I knew I was supposed to have 24 total. 2 were the young ones out in the field with the moms, 2 were caught in a different pen, and multiple counts of the other lambs only gave me a total of 23. I figured my head-counting skills (dang things don’t like to stay in one spot while I count them) were the issue so I started giving shots. Sure enough, I had 1 CD&T dose leftover when I was done. Then I thought that maybe I actually only had 23 lambs and I had been counting one of the lambs that had died.
I pulled out my lamb list that I keep on my phone and that confirmed that I was, in fact, actually supposed to have 24 lambs. So then I started checking names off my list and discovered that I was missing Pamina (2nd lamb born, black Border Leicester ewe).
I scanned the field looking to see if she had snuck out with her mom, but no, she was nowhere to be seen. That’s when I got seriously worried. I didn’t think that she’d just died somewhere because we’ve got a big black vulture problem and they would have all over that situation. I was worried about coyotes though. Oskar isn’t in that field (he’s not quite ready to be with lambs) and he had been really worked up a few nights ago, I’ve heard coyotes recently, and I don’t know exactly when I had last seen Pamina (I know, bad shepherd!).
I walked the field looking for any sign of her or what might have happened to her and suddenly, there she was!
A new sink hole had developed since I last mowed the pasture and she had fallen in it. She was very damp and muddy so I’m assuming she probably fell in sometime yesterday when it was raining. She’s still a bit unsteady on her feet, but she got herself up to the barn and now everyone is accounted for.
All the lambs are locked in the new paddock and everyone is screaming their heads off so I’m sure all the neighbors are going to hate me for a few days.
When I went out this morning, I had missed one of the white Border Leicester girls so I had to catch her. Over all it went well. I was the only one that bled and that was only a minor scrape.
The biggest issue was when I realized my lamb count was off. I knew I was supposed to have 24 total. 2 were the young ones out in the field with the moms, 2 were caught in a different pen, and multiple counts of the other lambs only gave me a total of 23. I figured my head-counting skills (dang things don’t like to stay in one spot while I count them) were the issue so I started giving shots. Sure enough, I had 1 CD&T dose leftover when I was done. Then I thought that maybe I actually only had 23 lambs and I had been counting one of the lambs that had died.
I pulled out my lamb list that I keep on my phone and that confirmed that I was, in fact, actually supposed to have 24 lambs. So then I started checking names off my list and discovered that I was missing Pamina (2nd lamb born, black Border Leicester ewe).
I scanned the field looking to see if she had snuck out with her mom, but no, she was nowhere to be seen. That’s when I got seriously worried. I didn’t think that she’d just died somewhere because we’ve got a big black vulture problem and they would have all over that situation. I was worried about coyotes though. Oskar isn’t in that field (he’s not quite ready to be with lambs) and he had been really worked up a few nights ago, I’ve heard coyotes recently, and I don’t know exactly when I had last seen Pamina (I know, bad shepherd!).
I walked the field looking for any sign of her or what might have happened to her and suddenly, there she was!
A new sink hole had developed since I last mowed the pasture and she had fallen in it. She was very damp and muddy so I’m assuming she probably fell in sometime yesterday when it was raining. She’s still a bit unsteady on her feet, but she got herself up to the barn and now everyone is accounted for.
All the lambs are locked in the new paddock and everyone is screaming their heads off so I’m sure all the neighbors are going to hate me for a few days.
