Saturday, January 12, 2008

Disaster Averted



It's Saturday and the temptation to stay in my pajamas and remain in the apartment was tough to resist...but the dogs have to go out and I want to check for lambs. I pull a sweater on over the pink flannels Mia gave me for Christmas. As I tiptoe through the sea of fleeces lying prone on the barn floor, I hear a knocking on wood at the end of the barn. Tommy-Boy throwing his weight around again, I thought. I don't usually go all the way to the other end, but I wanted to see how the round bales were holding up. There I saw Shavaun, upside down and stuck on her back like a turtle. This is a deadly position for a sheep to get into. They often can't get up and can't breathe. I've never lost a sheep this way, and don't want to. Shavaun had the added disadvantage of her heavy pregnant belly, acting like weights on either side of her - twins? Luckily she was near a wall and kicked with her legs to make noise - and I heard her. I pulled her hind and fore leg toward me, swung her around and she jumped up. What a relief - she shook herself, like a wet dog, and took a long pee. I checked outside - the smorgasbord is underway, with sheep, llamas and goats munching away on the round bales. Oh, how I wish I had a tractor to place one round bale at a time on the platform of a round bale feeder - so much more efficient than rolling the bales into mud.

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