Sheep merry-go-round!
Posted: Wednesday, 18 April 2007 |
8 comments |
We found YET another sheep with a head sticking oot from under her tail. So Erlend draped her over the strae bale and I put the lambing snare around the wee lamb's head. Then I squatted over the yow's shoulders so she couldn't stand her front end up. (This keeps the hind end elevated on the strae bale so Erlend can push the head back in with more ease.) I weight at least 260 pounds so there was NO way that yow was going anywhere!
Being a true Woman of Grace I promptly kicked over the pail full of antiseptic hot water and it flooded down the byre passage with all of the bull pee. The lambing ropes merrily flowed by as Erlend stared at me in silence with one arm stuck inside of the sheep. He finished pushing the head back in while muttering under his breath while I tried not to look guilty.
He then had to go and refill the bucket and since I am a buxom woman and we figured Madam Sheep was going nowhere I stayed put. I was crouched over her shoulders facing her tail with the sheep kneeling down on her knees with her rear end up in the air on the bale of strae. As Erlend disapeared through the dairy door I stuck my hand in the sheep in order to keep her from pushing the head of the lamb out again.
All of a sudden the yow bounced off of the strae bale and sprang to her feet! I had just enough time to reach around behind me and grab her under the chin so that her nose pointed upwards. This only slowed her down and did NOT stop her - she still managed to race around and around the pen with me on her back clutching her chin with one hand and pushing her lamb back with the other.
Round and round we went as I tried desparately to dig my heels and toes into the ground. I figured, "Any moment now she's going to collapse - I'm not a lightweight!!" But things did not work out that way - she just kept going!!
So I started to howl at the top of my lungs, "HELP!! HEEEELLLLP!!" until Erlend came racing into the byre and saw me wizzing around the pen, backwards, on the yow in a very interesting position.
Lucky for me Erlend is a strong man and he soon had the yow back down on her knees. I half-crouched half-sat a bit more on the yow's neck and this seemed to do the trick long enough for Erlend to finish with the bucket of water and iodine soapy stuff.
I'm happy to report that the lamb was born strong and healthy - and so was her wee sister!
Baaaaah
Posted on Things Go Moo in the Night... at 22:46
Comments
Beeing a sheepfarmer is hard work. You get so close to life and death, and it is a great "kick" when you save a wee life. I think more people should get that feeling and show more respect for "Mother Nature"
Dag from Norway
Hi, I followed your posting from the SOA-Hearthfire list. I can't stop reading about your life in Scotland. I went back to the beginning of April and want to read more, but alas I'm at work (civilian for the US Navy) and need to get something done. I'll have to bookmark your site and return later. Happy lambing!
Amy Gilley from Maryland, USA
I really love working with sheep and living on a farm! I'm sending you and your family a card Dag - I hope it reaches you soon! Ok, back to the kitchen with me!
Michelle Therese from Mainland Orkney
OH!! What a picture! I have to sympathize with poor momma yow, of course - who'd want to be in THAT position for long? Congratulations on the two new lambs! Are you almost done for the season? Or otherwaise stated - How many more yows have to lamb?
Denise from California
I'm enjoying following you adventures in lambing. Lots to learn.
Kathleen from Canada
o, i'm so sorry but that picture made me laugh so much(not in a horrible way) it's just it's the kind of thing you only read about in james herriot books and i always wondered if he embellished it a bit..right from kicking over the bucket and watching the ropes flow by to your sheep ride......now i'm thinking, maybe not....
tanith from lewis
It seems that our last two yows, "Martha" and "Blue Butticus" (a joke on Roman names - the sheep has blue marker paint on her butt) are holding out as long as sheepily possible...making me wake up every two hours every single night to check on them for no reason what-so-ever because they are sound asleep. I think these ladies are doing this on purpose to try and drive me into a sleep-deprived coma hahahaha!! Blue Butticus is HUGE!! I suspect she has at least eight lambs in there...
I have another caddy lamb to bottle feed. Her mama rejected her, poor thing.
Michelle Therese from Mainland Orkney
I always thought James Herriot was embellishing as well - until I became a farm wife!!!
Michelle Therese from Moooo!
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