This week, it’s all about the farm: (Next week I’ll write a full report of the talks at the Animal Behavior Society 2013 Meeting in Boulder. It was great, lots to tell you about!) [I should mention here that I just changed that last sentence on 8-8, after a call from Jim who noticed I had actually written “I was great…” instead of “It was great”. He pointed out that that didn’t sound like something I would say, and he was right. I meant the latter, not the former. Argh, how embarrassing.]
First, although it was lovely to be on Vancouver Island and invigorating to be at ABS in Boulder, it is heaven to be home. Willie is doing well, I’m even giving him a little time off leash, and Tootsie is as adorable as ever. They both seemed awfully glad to see me, but they couldn’t possibly have missed me as much as I missed them. Cats Nellie and Polly are doing well, and can be found sprawled in the sun at any number of places by the house or the barn. This weekend is all about gardening and savoring the bounty of summer; the frig is bursting with local and organic broccoli, corn, summer squash, onions, carrots, lettuce, eggplant, & green beans. (I’m sure I’ve forgotten something.) There WILL be cooking tonight, I’m just saying. The bread dough is rising and the potential of zucchini fritters are making my mouth water.
But the real farm story this week is Ralphie’s. You may recall Ralphie, the little black lamb rejected at birth by his mother Rosebud, who imprinted on me and was raised on goat milk and sheep milk formula. I had to work to get him socially connected to the flock, but eventually he was content to spend his days grazing with them, or at least nearby. But he remained a “people person,” and he likes nothing better than to hang out with two-legged creatures who have no hooves.
As he got older, managing Ralphie got more difficult, because Willie can’t work and we are doing controlled grazing, Jim and I have to herd the flock into the “pasture of the day” every morning. On the first day without Willie as a working sheep dog, the sheep moved together in a flock and were easily herded into their pasture. The next day they began looking around inquiringly, then at each other, and then back again to their left and right. My translation: “Do you see a dog? I don’t see a dog?” By Day Three they had answered the question. “There is NO dog! Do whatever you want!” Thus, herding them to each day’s pasture became an interesting game. Note to self: Sheep do not flock in the absence of a predator. They pretty much go wherever they want, and that is not necessarily where any other sheep wants to go. We got pretty good at sheep herding ourselves, except for one problem: Ralphie. Ralphie began to dance to a different drummer, and paid no attention to the rest of the flock, or me or Jim for that matter, even if we tempted him with a bucket of grain. “Nah, I’m gonna go this way,” he’d communicate, and moving the sheep up into their day’s pasture always included extra time for Ralphie management. I ended up just picking him up on occasion and carrying all 45 pounds of him inside the fence.
However, Ralphie isn’t the only lamb who has become a bit of a challenge. One of the male lambs has an undescended testicle and is thus a functioning ram lamb. Sheep of his breeding (Katahdin especially) are ridiculously precocious and I knew I’d better check to see if he was still a viable ram with an internal testicle. Yes, my vet clinic said, he could indeed breed his mother and all the other ewes in the flock. That happened to us once when a precocious ram lamb, against all odds because of his age, bred two of the ewes in the flock. Imagine the surprise of the farm sitters who went to the barn in January to discover two lambs at the feet of a ewe they didn’t think was pregnant.
Here’s Problem Lamb # 2, now called Stud Muffin because of his cocky attitude. Quite the looker, isn’t he?
Stud Muffin simply had to be separated from the flock, and soon. That’s where my friends and favorite CSA comes in. Vermont Valley Community Farm is where all that luscious food I described earlier came from. It is run by the Perkins family, and Jim and I count myself to be lucky to be friends of theirs as well as grateful recipients of the food they grow every year. Long story short: They have a good size pen with lots of good forbs and grasses which had held goats before, and Barbara Perkins and I talked at length about whether it would work to have Ralphie and Stud Muffin live with them for the summer. A win/win for sure: Stud Muffin would be away from the flock, Ralphie would get lots of attention from the people who come to the farm to get their vegetables, and also from members of the Perkins family who loved the idea of having two sweet, friendly lambs on the farm.
Our only concern was the fence. Was it good enough to keep the lambs in? They had had problems with a goat getting out in year’s past, so Jim spent an entire morning strengthening any droopy area and fixing up potential gaps we thought a lamb might use to get out. He was very thorough; I’ve had enough experience with a variety of animals to know that they can almost always get out of a much (MUCH) smaller space than you can imagine. After the fence looked truly secure, we transported Ralphie and Stud Muffin to summer camp, and left the next day for vacation and my trip to Boulder.
However, Ralphie and Stud Muffin weren’t the only mammals on the farm. The folks at Vermont Valley CSA have two 100% lovable Siberian Huskies: Shanna, an elderly matron who I wrote about in For the Love of a Dog regarding thunder phobia in two dogs who had to live outdoors to guard vegetables from deer. Shanna is one of those dogs, and Vermont Valley Community Farm is where it happened. Many years later, Shanna is a dear, sweet, elderly girl who still watches over the farm but appreciates the cool, kitchen floor more than ever before. She was joined a few years ago by a young female Siberian named Nasta, owned by son Jesse and his wife Jonnah. Nasta is a rambunctious, fun, friendly, roller coaster of a dog, who will steal your heart in a minute if you give her a chance.
Hummm. Lambs… Huskies… Yup, you know where this is going. Last Saturday, while we were out of town, Barb, David and son Jesse Perkins were in the house and heard baa-ing that sounded atypical. It was indeed. When they went out onto their porch they could see that Nasta had somehow gotten into the pen and had Ralphie down and by the throat. I will be eternally grateful to Jesse for being a lightening fast young man, who by all reports, tore barefoot out of the house, lept into the pen and rescued Ralphie with literally seconds to spare. It sounds as though Ralphie would have been dead within seconds if Jesse hadn’t been able to get there in time. The Perkins family, bless them, spent much of their day at the vet’s office, where Ralphie slowly came out of shock and began to be able to breath normally (his windpipe probably suffered some serious damage). By the time we heard about it, Ralphie was back at Vermont Valley Farm and behaving normally.
Nasta is fine too. She is a lovely, lovely dog, and was only doing what comes naturally. She is super friendly with people and a dream dog around Jesse and Jonnah’s son, Pavo. I bear her not the slightest twinge of ill will, and am just sorry for Ralphie that we under-estimated her ability to scale the fence. Poor Ralphie.
Needless to say, Ralphie and Stud Muffin are back here with us. We just got back from getting them; our visit motivated by the fact that this morning Ralphie found a way to get out of the pen and was found grazing while sweet, elderly Shanna sniffed his butt. Nasta, poor girl, has been kept at her home off the farm (she visits during the day) so luckily Ralphie’s adventures did not continue. Now of course, we still have to keep Stud Muffin away from the main flock, so more fence repair here has ensued. (Keeping a flock of sheep out of an area is not all that difficult. Keeping a ram away from a ewe who is in estrous is another. Shepherds call rams “Fence Testers.”) So now they are in a large, fenced area up at the top of the hill. It has tons of great grass, so we’ll probably put a few more of the smaller lambs in with them to take advantage of the good food there. I’ll hike up the hill every evening and give them their grain and they have fresh water (thanks to the longest hose in the world… well, 5 hoses actually), so they should do well there. Stud Muffin, I’m afraid, is destined for a friend’s freezer, but I still am planning on finding a permanent home for Ralphie. Here he is now, I just went to visit him and give him a neck scratch:
Kat says
Very glad Ralphie is OK that makes my laughter at the adventures more appropriate. Your stories of the farm bring back so many memories of my growing up years. I remember five humans trying to move a dozen sheep between pastures and how difficult it was and our very determined and frankly rather mean ram and how docile he was after our failed attempt to pasture him with the pony–they often grazed side by side on either side of a fence and seemed quite comfortable with each other but when we moved the ram into the pony’s pasture she saw a playmate and came tearing down the hill to play. He saw a monster bearing down on him and fled for his life, she thought race around the pasture was about the best game ever. After about three lap around the pasture I think a two year old with a piece of thread could have walked the ram back to his pasture. Of course not all of the memories are happy ones, I remember the two weaner pigs killed by our Great Pyrenees while we were gone for the day and the banty roosters killed on the highway but by and large it was a great place to grow up and I enjoy your farm stories both for themselves and the memories they evoke.
Frances says
Ah, the joys of livestock! I’m glad everyone came through (relatively) unscathed.
We met what I strongly suspect was a hand reared lamb while out walking the other day. My standard method when walking with the dogs in a field with sheep and older lambs is to keep the dogs close to me, and move forward a few yards at a time, giving the sheep time to move their lambs out of the way. Except that one well grown lamb advanced instead, showing every sign of recognising dogs as potential playfellows… Now there is a situation that can easily end in tears, so the dogs had their leads on immediately and the lamb got shooed away.
I love your description of the sheep looking round, and deciding there is no dog to worry about. I’ve seen them them watching Sophy, my Papillon… black and white, check… long flowing hair, check… very small, ummmm… and doesn’t stare… but definitely dog… better not risk it, let’s move over!
Beth with the Corgis says
Oh dear! Anyone who says of dogs “it’s all in how you raise them” would be wise to read this cautionary tale. Some dogs have not had the kill drive bred out of them, and they will do what instinct tells them. So glad it all turned out ok (though poor Ralphie will probably think differently of dogs from now on).
Speaking of unlikely matings, I have a friend who had a 14 year old maiden pony mare turned out with a two-year-old colt who had been gelded about a month before, and guess who ended up pregnant? If that mare were worth $1 million and at 14 had never been bred, you’d have a heck of a time getting her in foal even with an experienced stud. But nature sure will find a way.
Farewell, dear Stud Muffing. I hope he is tasty, at least.
Beth with the Corgis says
I also have a story that is somewhat the opposite of your Husky tale.
A friend of my father’s had a labrador retriever which once brought a perfectly undamaged live duck to the door, captured apparently at a neighbor’s pond.
The same dog used to play an interesting game of fetch with the cat. The cat would run full speed, put on the brakes and slide across the tile floor.
The dog would then run after the cat, pick the cat up in her mouth, and carry her back to the starting point. The cat would then repeat the running and skidding.
Both dog and cat, apparently, loved it. For myself, I would never trust my Corgis with a live animal that they decided to put in their mouths.
Rose C says
Had been thinking about Ralphie since you mentioned you were trying to find a place for him. Thanks for the update. Still curious as to what makes an ewe reject her lamb. What happens to the rejected lamb? He becomes the one always left behind and the most difficult to move with a herding dog? How else does being ‘rejected’ by the mother lamb impact the lamb as it becomes an adult?
Trisha says
Rose, I wish I could tell you what makes a ewe reject a lamb. I’m sure there are a variety of factors. Rosebud had triplets, and was a great mother to two of them, although she did have trouble with her udder that we finally solved with peppermint oil. (!) Perhaps she felt she could only raise two lambs, or didn’t like the smell of Ralphie? or or or…. Anyone know of research on why some lambs are rejected when others are nurtured from the same batch?
Beth with Corgies, I laughed out loud at your retriever story. We now have a story of a cat being used as a tool. Imagine if you had that on tape, it would be viral in seconds! And I hear you about the pony breeding; absolutely it would never take if you had wanted a pregnancy, we could bet on it.
Love the stories of Frances, so responsibly walking through a flock and trying to keep a hand-reared lamb away, as well as Kat’s ram and pony story. It is so true that living with multiple animals makes life extra interesting, yes? (By the way, checked on Ralphie again, he is doing very well. I’m going to put another small lamb in with the boys. She is the smallest of all the lambs, and it will be good for her to get extra grain. I’m not worried about her being bred, she is way too young. She’ll settle in okay after a day or two, since Stud Muffin is her brother.
Janice says
Oh dear, that sounds familiar! A few years ago I kept Boomer, a bottlefed wether who managed to worm his way into my heart. He is Big now and does (finally) act like a sheep and stay with the flock. I keep telling myself that it helps to have one really tame sheep and so there is a reason for keeping him, besides the fact that he still comes up to hang out with me. And of course the bottle fed critters don’t herd worth a darned, so your description of packing him up to the pasture–yup, been there and done that. However, Boomer does now herd with the others, so they do eventually “get it.”. This year’s bottle babies (5 goat kids and one lamb) are munching the area between my barn and my house. This is also the area where we park our cars. Fortunately they have seemed to figure out that those noisy metal things should be kept away from. But they are sitting ducks if a predator came our way. Many years before Boomer, there was Maverick, yet another bottle fed lamb who had no interest in staying with the flock. He liked to graze by himself in a pasture between our house and our renter’s. And sure enough, in broad daylight, high noon, a coyote came by and must have thought: “hmmm, how nice of them to have left a little lunch box, a tasty morsel that doesn’t run away, out for me. ” When my renter, a young man named Jason, looked out, the coyote had Maverick by the throat and I suspect that he performed similar heroics to your friend Jesse. Poor Maverick was throttled within an inch of his life, but sheep are a great deal tougher than anyone gives them credit for and did make it. He went on to live here for years and was a very useful sheep. You see, I didn’t have a herd dog back then. I thought that I didn’t have enough sheep to need one, silly me. But Maverick would come when he was called and so he would lead my flock around. I would run away calling him, he would come running and they would follow, trying to see what was so interesting. Around about the same time that I lost Maverick, I went to a sheep farm to get a new ram and came back with a dog. (Now I wouldn’t dream of keeping sheep without a BC–a trained dog is essential farm equipment around here, probably even more so that our PU truck). However, I am also now a firm believer of electric fences in their various shapes for keeping predators and prey apart and even boy sheep from getting to the girl sheep (as long as you give them some space as well–it would never work if they were side by side, but this has even worked with a high-flying billy goat I used to own). And after losing yet another goose this summer to a coyote, all my birds go behind an electric mesh fence at night. I even have the goose pen set up inside the yard where my dogs also use and this is still acceptable to all creatures (except the coyotes, I expect). Anyway, I applaud your efforts for find Ralphie a home–although if he ends up staying, well, it happens to the best of us.
Nic1 says
Does she reject it simply because she really only can care for two sufficiently? From a natural selection perspective, that seems to make sense. Does a ewe ever reject a single lamb? Countryfile in the UK is a good programme about farming and Adam the farmer often mentions that he has to temporarily adopt a triplet as the mother rejects usually the one she thinks is weakest. He tries to find a ewe with one lamb only to see if she will adopt the lamb too. I’m afraid I know of no research as such but it does seem to be well documented.
There is a campaign aimed at getting puppies better socialised around livestock here in the UK. Part of the problem of course is having controlled access to the animals. Millions of pounds in insurance claims for dead sheep hunted by dogs with irresponsible owners have driven some farmers to become a bit more proactive about education. Important to note that any dog, regardless of age can be taught to use the sheep as a cue to look at mom for a game or treat of course….I just love LAT by Leslie McDevitt too. Very similar to the ‘watch’ cue by Trisha. Ingenious. Cats in driveways used to torture my dog, now they are a cue for a fun game. Same with sheep, squirrels, rabbits. Amazing how they start to generalise once they get the game too. Definite issues regarding thresholds though so I always think it’s wise to opt for management (lead) too if you’re not 100% sure your dog won’t get lost to the predatory pattern sequence .
Kat says
@Nic1 I can only speak from the experience of growing up with sheep but based on that it is a rare ewe that will raise triplets. Most ewes that have triplets will reject one. Looking back it seems that it was almost always a ram lamb that was rejected I wonder if that’s really true or just that the bottle lambs I remember best were rams. It would be an interesting research question.
My father had an interesting technique for the rejected lambs–pretty much always one of triplets or the first lamb from a ewe who’d never been a mother before. Dad would restrain each ewe with lambs in turn and encourage the bummer lamb to nurse. The lamb learned to be a milk thief and wound up imprinted on the flock rather than the humans. We’d support with bottles but the lamb would get between a quarter and a third of his nutrition from the lactating ewes. If we were lucky a ewe that had lost a twin or only had a singleton and was used to raising twins would adopt him and we could stop with the bottle feeding.
And on the subject of coyotes, our pickup used to sport a bumper sticker “Eat Lamb, 10,000 coyotes can’t be wrong.” Fortunately, Great Pyrenees are great deterrents and the dogs spent the night with the sheep so even the bold as brass coyote that we saw late one afternoon sauntering along the fence of the sheep pasture looking over the menu thought twice when he came back for dinner and he went away hungry.
Nic1 says
@Kat – that’s fascinating, particularly regarding the fact that you remember rams being rejected. I have no experience of lambing so don’t claim to know anything at all but I do take an interest in farming and husbandry practices, mostly because I am interested in the welfare and health of animals. Certainly would be a good research question for someone to get their teeth into. We also had a programme here on the BBC called ‘Lambing Live’! It was typical that they rarely got to capture any actual lambing live but was fascinating watching the process, the joy and the agony. Schmallenberg virus has been a horrendous challenge for so many shepp farmers here in the UK and Europe. Do you have this in the States?
http://www.katehumble.com/humble-nature-life-lambs-and-dog-called-badger
This book looks really interesting. Kate moved took on a smallholding to save the farm and got thrown into the deep end. I’m intrigued to read about her dogs too because she insisted on adopting rescues (mutts) to teach them to work sheep. Challenging!
Trisha, I’d love to hear so much more regarding your experiences raising and working with sheep. A book perhaps?? This blog post is fascinating and raises so many interesting issue to discuss (as ever!) Hope Ralphie is making a good recovery. Hugs to Nasta too! (Bless)
Trisha says
Interesting Kat that your experience included ewes always rejecting one of a set of triplets. I suspect it might be breed (or line?) related. We actually had 4 sets of triplets this year (out of 7 ewes!), and the other three ewes accepted all the lambs. Rosebud herself had triplets last year, and raised them all well. Who knows why she rejected Ralphie, but rejections (and acceptance) is primarily related to scent. I was there for the birth, and all three lambs came very fast, boom boom boom, one right after the other. You’d think they all would smell the same (based on the amniotic fluid apparently), but perhaps he picked up the scent of another ewe or lamb. There had been another ewe just delivering in the same area just minutes before, so that’s my best guess. Or, maybe Rosebud was a year older and just decided that two was more than enough!
FYI, just this morning we moved one of Spot’s triplets in with the ‘boys.’ All Spot’s triplets needed extra milk, and this little girl just never flourished. She drove us crazy because she’d nibble instead of suck, and so while her brothers would down a pint of milk in seconds, she would nibble away as the minutes ticked on. And on…. We put her in with the boys because we’ll be able to give her more grain that way. She’ll have a bit of a hard time for a day or so, but her mother is in the adjacent pasture, which UC Davis has found is the least stressful way to wean a lamb.
JJ says
re: “Ralphie began to dance to a different drummer, and paid no attention…”
I wonder if you thought of using training to modify Ralphie’s (and any of the others) behavior? Or if you have ever done so with your sheep? Might be fun and working with a different species could be educational… Just a thought.
Trisha says
To JJ: Oh yeah! I’ve thought about it a lot; it would be great fun to clicker train Ralphie. It’s on the To Do list, but regrettably it is underneath 1) Heal Willie and 2) Prepare Day Long Seminar and 3) Transplant 150 plants (or more) to the barren moon-scape that is now the yard. Maybe after the seminar this coming weekend? 🙂
liz says
I wonder about dogs’ understanding of our relationships with different animals. Do they categorize animals, as in friend, foe or prey? It can quickly become a complicated line of thought based on the types of dogs and animals involved, but it occurred to me after reading this post, while observing one of my dogs watch my husband and other dog play. Without apparent interest in playing or interacting himself, my dog seemed thoroughly content watching the other two bond. Then come to think of it, I remebered many times where one dog monitored human/dog interaction without getting involved. What do they think about as they watch a us? On the other hand of perhaps “watching in appreciation,” I observe the furrows in the brow of my prey-seeking dog as I work on conditioning her to our familiar deer, her barking the only alternative to whatever else I prevent her from fulfilling. Among other efforts, when the deer are around I say to her “friend,” which has a long history in our relationship of theoretically signaling a neutral animal (and because the deer are eating mulberries purposefully left for them so that we may enjoy their elegant presence) and she gives me a look. I know I can’t possibly know the meaning of the look, but it seems to be one of utter confusion. If a dog could ask why, this would be the time.
I guess that much in the same way Nasta must have discovered, human relationships with animals are not very cut and dry…
How I have been enjoying the mention of Swiss Chard Pie from a few weeks back! I’ve made a few variations now (one with Kale, breakfast sausage and Irish gouda- favorite) and it has been a highlight of the summer, morning noon and night. The power of suggestion! Thanks! Also enjoying the abundance of fresh delicious food, and trying to think of winter as well. After too much blanching and prepping for freezer, I’ve resigned to try skipping the blanching process (feels like blasphemy to write). A few packages of raw shelled peas and sliced beans will be my experiment, and hopefully they will get eaten before their nutritional value is gone or they otherwise become gross. Worth a shot, and if not then my dogs will have some additions to meals.
Love whatever learning comes my way here- sheep, food, and various discussion included!
JJ says
🙂 I so get it. Life seems to be all about priorities.
Robin Jackson says
Some breeds, particularly Merinos, are more likely to reject based on number born. Interestingly,
The agricultural service in Australia has found that lambs that interact with the ewe sooner are less
likely to be rejected–and that multiples take significantly longer to stand up than singletons,
13 minutes vs 10.
http://www.agric.wa.gov.au/PC_91881.html
Robin Jackson says
BTW, Sue Ailsby, a well known dog trainer, also raises llamas. Her family farm clicker trains the llamas for the same reason most US zoos now clicker train their large animals: it makes husbandry tasks much easier. She has written a llama training guide available free on her site:
http://www.dragonflyllama.com/page14/page25/page52/page24/
A fun read from a practical livestock perspective.
Nicola says
Have you tried taking Tootsie with you when you have to move the sheep? The smell may be enough to convince them to flock – even though I doubt Tootsie would know what to do!
Hope Willie continues to heal – get better soon, fellow.
Amy says
I have a 13 wk old female golden who’s litter mate lives across the street. They play together everyday. The past few days, their play has become more aggressive to the point of us separating them. Both are females. Is this a case of too much togetherness?
D says
HA! The part of your story about herding sheep without a dog had me laughing out loud, because I experienced the same thing earlier this year when my dog (a.k.a. Right Hand Man) was laid up with an injury. My pasture is a good distance from my pens, and moving them myself wasn’t fun. Yes, my sheep were also saying “I don’t see a dog, do you see a dog?” as well…even when friends came to try to help. Even multiple people cannot equal the power of one good dog to safely and calmly move the flock from one spot to another. Grain is useful, but when you have an entire flock charging at you for a small bucket of grain, it can be hard (and potentially dangerous) to get as far as you need to go.
Fortunately my dog is back to work now. But it made me realize…maybe I need another one! 🙂
Karen says
We had a small flock of sheep for years. The first two bottle babies were fun. They were born April 1st, and named April and Fool. They went to visit my son’s grade two class. April spent her life here and died a couple of years ago, at 15 1/2. After that, if a lamb was rejected, but the ewe had milk, I didn’t bottle feed. The ewe was kept haltered and tied up in the lambing jug for a few days, so that the rejected lamb could bond with it’s family. I went out many times a day to make sure the lamb could nurse. After they were released from the jug, I went out several times a day with a bit of grain for that ewe. The lamb learned quickly that when I came, it was feeding time, so while the ewe was distracted with the grain, the lamb raced in for a feed. Depending on the ewe, I might leave a halter on her to hold onto while the lamb fed. Or I might have to hold the front foot up on that side if she tried to kick him off. Most of the time it was a quick and simple procedure, taking less work than mixing formula and cleaning bottles. I would also try to sneak the lamb on other ewes while they were all lined up at the trough feeding.
One thing I remember is that we had black ewes and white ewes that had twins, sometimes one of each colour. It happened a few times, that after both lambs were born, the ewe suddenly decided that she didn’t like the lamb that wasn’t the same colour as herself. Coincidence or….?
One year I made the mistake of taking a two or three day old lamb to the house to clean it’s terribly gummed up backside with soap and warm water. When I brought it back, the ewe would have nothing to do with it. I did the grain/nurse thing with her, and suddenly on day 12 she decided the lamb really WAS her’s, and all was good after that.
Kerry M. says
Amy,
Check out the Dog Play DVD by Trisha. It is a great resource with tons of videos and guidelines for appropriate vs inappropriate play as well as recommendations for how to diffuse potentially problematic play.
– Kerry
Trisha says
Thanks Kerry, for the suggestion to Amy to check out the Dog Play DVD. Amy, I’m glad you wrote, because sometimes play can indeed escalate into aggression, and this is a great time to teach dogs to control their own arousal levels. I would move in between them when they begin to ramp up (see DVD for more details), and distract them with treats. Then let them back playing again. If you have to intervene 3 times, then separate them for several hours. Over the weeks and months, teach them to turn away from play to the sound of your voice (quiet, upbeat). There is always a higher potential for aggression between 2 females of the same litter, so I’d be very pro-active here.
To D: Glad your dog is back to work!
To Karen: Ah, I wish I could have gotten Ralphie back on Rosebud, but her udder shut down and she already had twins anyway. We got her milking again, but by then way too late and I thoughts triplets far too much pressure on her udder. But I have done what you have too, had one ewe who rejected her second lamb for 3 years in a row. We tied her up and put her in a triangular-shaped tiny pen, and after 4-5 days she accepted 2 of the lambs. One year she never really did, but the second lamb, clever girl, learned to sneak behind the first lamb, parallel but behind, and get to the milk from the other teat under the ewe’s belly. When she turned her head to sniff the lamb, she always got the butt of the one she had accepted. Who said sheep are dumb! I thought that lambs was pretty darned smart.