06 April 2011

New bottle baby

We have a new lamb!

Natalie delivered twins, though one was stillborn. Poor Nat … she is old, and I suspect she has OPP (a progressive lung disease like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in humans, which is transmitted through the milk to offspring, and interferes with lactation as well). There’s no way Natalie can feed a lamb (I really shouldn’t have let her get bred this year, but my fences aren’t up to keeping everyone separated) so … we have a lovely little bottle baby.

She is adorable. She’s quite tiny – I suspect they were a little early. Here she is, warming up on the heating pad, with the kitten trying to play with her:

She was born on April first, so we call her Folly.

Right now she spends most of her day in a big cardboard box in the living room, where we can hear her when she bellows for milk (she’s not at all shy about this), though on warm, sunny days she spends time outside in a big pen on the deck. Today when I went out to burn trash in the big burn barrel, she came and wandered around the yard while I did my chores.

She looks just like her mama, right down to the one brown patch on her leg. I’m glad she’s here, and she’ll stay here … Nat will have to go to the butcher (a quick death at his hands is far preferable to the slow painful death the OPP will bring her).

Bottle babies always remember that The People brought them food – Cherub, The Boy’s bottle lamb, is still the first to run up to you when you go outside. Here’s hoping that little Folly continues to grow well and grows up to be just as wonderful as her mama!

5 comments:

  1. Cute name!
    Many springs ago, I met a little lamb in the Cotswolds [England], hooves clacking on the field-stone flooring of the farm house. Her name was Lydia. My 2nd daughter's name is Lydia.

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  2. tough stuff you deal with. likely i will need to draw some words of wisdom from you when some sort of calamity strikes my own sheep. i admire your practicality & compassion.

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  3. I'm here for you, Jennosaurus! It's sad, but you focus on the living ones and accept that death happens, and just try to be prepared for it.

    It sounds horrible, but the burn barrel is a very practical option when there are stillbirths or dead lambs. The little ones get a Viking Funeral and the coyotes don't learn that there's food to be had from your flock. If you haven't got a burn barrel, get one. You'll be glad you did (for a lot of reasons!)

    Excited for you with your new goats! Can't wait to come visit. :)

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  4. Anonymous6:58 pm

    Hope Folly is still doing OK after that little set back. Such a sweetie. It was a privilege to cuddle her!

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  5. She's better today than yesterday, that's for sure. Her stress induced lethargy led to bloat, which necessitated some unpleasantness with tubes and such, but the kefir / milk replacer mix has got her back on track. She was following Caleb around all morning and nibbling on his feet. :) I figure that's an encouraging sign!

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