Little Tragedies

Sometimes I may paint a picture of our lives here as being idyllic and without problems or disappointments. I shouldn't do that, I should share our setbacks and sorrows too.

Our sheep named Mama recently gave birth to two lambs. The lambs and Mama are fine.

About a week after the lambs were born, we purchased two young female black belly sheep.




Most of our sheep are not pure black belly, and we want to have that kind of sheep. They are becoming hard to find as most local sheep farmers are switching to a breed called dorper. It is a good breed, but we like black belly sheep better.

So we got these two little females. I was so happy to have them. We always tie new arrivals so they don't get lost. The males were confined. The first night went well. In the morning I checked on the new sheep and both were fine. I moved the reddish one so she could eat some grass. When I returned to move the lighter one, she looked like she was dead. I don't know if she strangled herself in the rope, or if she somehow broke her neck.

We checked for a heart beat and found nothing, nor was there a gag reflex. For about fifteen minutes I tried to get her to breath by holding her mouth closed and blowing in her nose. Eventually I gave up and felt terribly bad for the little sheep. I had such hopes for her, and I let her down so badly.

There was nothing else to do for her, except not to let her be totally wasted. So we set about the somber process of preparing her for roasting.

For about a week I have been feeling down about this. The remaining little black belly seems fine and is doing well. We have named her Amber, and she has a personality. The sheep seem to know who the favorite is, and all the sheep early on began to knock Amber. Mama will chase her if Amber is anywhere close to her. The sheep are a little rough with all new arrivals.

For her part Amber at about three months old, seems to think she should be the boss sheep. She makes a lot of noise at the other sheep when she feels it is time to go eat. The lambs often follow her instead of Mama. The other sheep have begun, occasionally to follow Amber rather then Mama who has been the boss sheep and probably should remain so until Amber actually knows where to go and what to eat.

Now after some time, Amber appears well integrated with the flock. She plays with the lambs, and she sleeps relatively close to Mama. Mama no longer goes out of her way to knock Amber, though she will still knock her if she crowds the feed pan. Amber is not quite boss, however the sheep now largely go out to eat on Amber's schedule. This is not entirely good. Amber appears far more tolerant of the sun and heat than the rest of the sheep. Especially Mama, who needs to take it easy during the hottest part of the day. Instead, she follows commandant Amber out into the field and comes back panting from the heat.

If Mama survives this forced grazing she will be better for it. She is very thin and I think all her food intake is going to milk production. The lambs have roughly doubled in weight. If Mama does not survive, then we have big problems, as the lambs are not yet anywhere close to being weaned. We have taken to following Mama around with a bucket of water so she does not have to return all the way to the house to get a drink.