Wednesday, February 04, 2009

Sheep 101

Our little bottle fed lamb has grown and adjusted quite well. She spends her days out in the yard and barn with the rest of the flock. When she gets hungry, she comes to the back door and cries. She spends her nights in the shop. It is very cold here and she doesn't have a momma that will curl up with her to keep her warm. Yesterday we brought her in to eat. I knew something was unusual when I had to go outside and call her. She had gone about 5 hours without eating. She did come to Jacob, but she would not eat. He came upstairs and announced that she was very fat especially on her left side. I knew she was bloated, but still was unsure as to why or what to do about it. I called Tnfarmgirl and she told me to keep her up walking. While the kids made her walk, I contacted the lady that we bought our herd from and she gave me a quick lesson in bottle fed lambs. She says this happens often. Somehow she must have gotten extra air into her stomach while taking the bottle. She suggested we hold the bottle down lower so that she has to get on her knees to eat. She then told me to go get Mylocon drops...you know those drops that you give gassy babies. She promised within 2 hours Angel would be fine. I did what she said, and she was right. Within two hours ,Angel's belly was back to normal. Who knew??? I certainly didn't. I don't think she would have made it without this little intervention. She told us from now on to be on the safe side that we were to give her a couple of drops before each bottle.

Sometimes I don't think I am cut out to have a farm . I get way to attached to these animals and it causes me to make poor decisions at times. With each new thing comes a new learning experience so maybe by the time I am 100 years old I will finally know what I am doing!!!

grace and peace,
julie

6 comments:

Kristin said...

I'm glad your little lamb is ok- what a cutie!

I found your blog today, and just had to say hello! From what I've read, you all are doing exactly what we want to do (live on a farm, raise a bunch of kids, homeschool, etc)- we just haven't made it there yet. I'm so excited about everything I can learn from your blog! Thanks for writing :)

Nice to meet you! -Kristin

Phase II said...

I'm sure you know how lucky you are to be able to live the lifestyle you do. Some of us are stuck in the suburbs just crying to get out...

Have a great day
barbara

Paige said...

That is SUCH a cute picture of S. with Angel!

Lynn Bartlett said...

Thanks for the information. We've been at this for 4 years, and there's still so much information we need to gather!

TnFullQuiver said...

Kristin,
I am so glad you found my little corner of the blog world. I know that feeling of wanting to do something but having to wait. We wanted this very lifestyle the entire 11 1/2 years that my husband was in the navy. There were times that it felt like we would NEVER have anything but a submarine life!! Praise the Lord, it did come to past, and the time we had to wait for it made us even more thankful!! I hope you can learn from our successes as well as our mistakes. We try to post about both so other people don't have to make the same mistakes as we did!!! Have a great day.

Barbara,
Yes, we know just how blessed we are!!!

Paige,
Seth loves the sheep. Last year before we put Peter the Great out with them, Seth would carry an empty bucket around so the sheep would follow him. He loved them so much. The sheep finally learned that he never really had anything for him!

Lynn,
That is the way I feel. If we can all pass along our learning experiences it will help each of us greatly!! That is one of the reasons I love to read blogs.

grace and peace,
julie

Paige said...

Oh my goodness!! That's hilarious. What kids won't come up with! Haha