Apr
2009
We’re lamb foster parents
April 11th, 2009 at 07:30 pm by Shari Thomas in Around the Farm, Chickens, Family Cow, Horses, Sheep, WeatherWe got a call from our neighbor this morning. They’re overwhelmed with grand-kids and lambs, including four “bummers”. The plea came in early… could you come get this lamb like five minutes ago?
It took us a few hours to get ourselves ready. After all, we awoke to snow/rain, better than a quarter-inch. Feeding was a bit of an adventure. The chickens were the smartest of all. They stayed in their coop.
The cows were a soaking wet mess, even though they had a very good shelter. Some of the ewes had gone into their shelter and others (including the ram) were soaking wet. The horses were taking turns rolling in a pile of wet sand.
Back to the little lamb. She has been totally traumatized by the grand-kids. It appears she has some vision issues and doesn’t suck well. It’s a real chore to get a couple ounces of milk replacement down her. Fortunately, she’s old enough to nibble on hay and seems to drink water.
In the middle of a hail storm, we moved the lamb jug from the lamb pen to our little “patio” in front of the garage, and right outside our back door.
Bev attempted to be first one into the pen to help take the jug apart, but the ram, “Tom”, found her way to interesting for any of us to be comfortable. She quickly scrambled back over the feeder and we waited for Cindy.
Cindy went over the fence while Bev entertained Tom through the safety of the fence, until Cindy started dismantling the jug… Then Tom got way curious. A flake of hay solved the issue.
We hauled all the pieces to the patio while the lamb went exploring. Within a few minutes the lamb was safely inside the jug with a floor of straw, a flake of hay, and a water pan.
We feed every four hours with the exception of through the night. Oh, speaking of feed… it’s bottle time now.
Buy me a beer and I'll write more posts more often.
Add A Comment