So Long, And Thanks For All The Hay

The yearly sojourn to Kentucky to visit Sara and all the people and animals at Equinox Farm was modified from a car trip to a truck trip.  Not having any lambs this year, and so no new faces to join that flock, we were going to go in Julie's vehicle as it's easier to maneuver and better on gas.  But then an email arrived asking if I had any crossbred rams who would like to go live in Kentucky and be put to "work" (wink, wink).
As a matter of fact.....

I ran the idea past Rocky and Jared and they agreed that while they liked it here just fine they really didn't want to live out their days being celibate.  They are both half Cotswold, built well with nice fleece, and could have a very nice life siring commercial lambs and hopefully improving wool too.  We had the vet out to do paperwork, rigged up the gridwork that fits within the truck cap, arranged space for the spare tire which doesn't hang beneath the truck anymore because the screw thingy that held it up rusted out....grrr...., filled empty jugs with 'home water' and off we went.

The boys rode like old pros. We really appreciate rams that are quiet by nature and handled enough that a sudden trip like this isn't a rodeo.

We offered water at every stop (four) and at one Quik Fill there was this great old car next to us.  Guesses?

Yep, a Rambler.  Not sure if it was from when they were still made by Nash or afterward when American Motors picked up the brand.  If I had a million dollars I'd fill a garage with old cars just to pet and admire them.  Old cars have class!   :-)

The trip went well and the boys were installed in their new place before the end of the day.  They have a nice roomy space in the barn to acclimate.  The barnyard has some grass but not a lot and that's good - they are essentially eating standing hay here because of the drought. Sudden unlimited grazing on lush pasture would not be a good thing.

They have never seen a dog except Holly and we were a little concerned that they'd be scared.  Not to worry.  The guard dogs are very sweet and the rams were totally unconcerned.

Really, really unconcerned.  Rocky was getting his ear washed and I expected the dog's tongue to come out the other side the way he was working.  Or maybe the dog was whispering to him.

"Ppsspppssssppspssppsss.   Don't worry, I'll take care of you here."

It was good to stretch after the drive (11 hours) and we had a lovely look around at the farm where the boys would be living.  Besides the sheep flock and guard dogs there were herding dogs, chickens, guinea hens, peacocks and a nice orange cat.

One of the fields with the bulk of the flock on pasture there.  The boys are going to think they've died and gone to heaven.

Here's a cool structure.  It's a cistern to catch water coming off the barn roof.  A previous owner of the property dismantled the piping system which could supply water troughs around the farm.  Seems monumentally dumb to me to render it inoperative but maybe it wasn't holding water anymore.  After I got back home it dawned on me that I'd seen that brickwork before.  That Sara!

The boys never made a peep when we left and I'm sure they're happy there.  Now to wait for lamb pictures!

The next day featured a gathering/yarn swap at the farm which turned into a spin-in/knit-in in the barn alley.  How great is that?  Big fun was had by all and spinning and knitting help was there in spades.  

Bullwinkle went on walkabout toward the end and seemed intent on finding something edible  learning to spin.

He immediately understood the value of a Woolee Winder and checked them out on both a castle wheel and an e-spinner.

He inspected the actual yarn and declared it a fine job.

I'm not a morning person but the front porch is so inviting....

Sunday included a church service and then the afternoon was spent with the amazing Sara taking video of me as I walked through the use of our skein winders, teasing boards, blending boards and Quad Kate.  It will be a while before those get posted as I have a lot of cutting and splicing to do.  There's a darn good reason I got a C- in public speaking in college.  :-/

Monday came all too soon.  The sun wasn't quite up yet but the sheep were grazing right by the driveway.

"You all come back now, hear?"

"And bring some more of those jerky treats?"

We'll for sure be back!  Can't wait!

Suspicion

What the heck is THAT, and why did you bring it in the house??

 

I'se just a widdle lamb.

Midnight Sadness

No matter how many safeguards you put in place, when you deal with animals you sometimes have bad things happen.  Last night at barn bedcheck we found a 3 day old lamb with a broken leg.  She and her mom were the most recently added into the mixing pen, and was fine at 8 PM.  When we came in at 10 we saw her struggling and realized her left hind leg was grotesquely broken, although not through the skin.  A fast call to the vet's office and a 40 minute drive later we had a sedated lamb and an xray showing a reasonably clean break, but the vet couldn't pull the bone ends into opposition by hand because the tendons had contracted so much already.  Choices.  Do the best she could manually, splint it and hope the bone knits at all and is straight enough that the leg would be moderately usable.  Good chance it wouldn't work well.  Other option is surgically pinning and plating the bone.  Couldn't be done until late the next afternoon after the scheduled surgeries.  That was a long time for a little lamb to sit alone in a stainless steel cage, and the cost wouldn't be insignificant either.  Either option also included the complication that there may be nerve damage that would cause the foot to knuckle over and not plant properly.  Maybe circulation issues that would cause necrosis in the tissue. And there were the more  immediate thoughts of post op care - bottle feed the lamb, keep it somewhere safe and restrained enough that the leg would heal, but then integrate her back into the flock and hope the leg could stand up to the steady activity a grazing animal in a field would give it.  Suppose she always had a limp that made her lag behind the flock or get pushed around by aggressive members?  Could she carry a heavy load of lambs?

 Midnight is a lousy time to make life and death decisions for your animals, but if euthanasia was the right thing to do, doing it while she was still under sedation was the kinder way to go.  We struggled with this while the minutes ticked by and the lamb slept, free of pain for the first time in 2 hours. In the end, we chose to let her go.  The outcome was too uncertain, her chance of ending up still crippled too great.

Sometimes the best decision you can make for your animals is one that's painful for you but that's a price you pay when you're a shepherd..