Failure to Thrive- the Weak Lamb

It’s 4am. Dusty has been at work for 3 days. We are full send on the lambing front. Every year I go into lambing wondering/dreading what I will get to learn this year. Maybe one day I will hit a point where I feel like an expert or prepared to handle anything. That day has not yet come.... not even close. 

It’s was straight into the fire this year. No warm up. Just head first into a difficult pull. Everyone lived through the initial delivery... I’m not sure how even now that I have had 48 hours to process it and detailed notes in my health records. 

(I am going to digress for a moment.... I love records. It’s taken tweaking over the years and I’ll probably always be modifying and adjusting them but our health records have been one of my most valuable tools)

Anyways.....

Everyone lived through the initial delivery. 48 hours later though we are still dealing with consequences from that. Weak lambs are incredibly frustrating to me. We don’t get many but it’s usually a result from trauma at birth but we have had a lamb that was given perfect conditions and yet still failed to thrive. 

This little ewe lamb tonight was given 24 hours of colostrum. It took her 8+ hours to just stand. She had no sucking reflex. Somehow she survived the first 24 hrs and was walking and running and interested in the ewe. We started milking the ewe and feeding the lamb. We even got her to suck from the ewe. Then we took a sharp 180 and are headed in the opposite direction. The little ewe lamb is now in the house and being tube fed every 2 hours. The odds are she won’t make first light. She is having seizures and is star gazing. Hasn’t urinated but is still passing fecal matter. Temps are all normal. 

I have learnt so many things to try to assist a weak lamb to be successful and yet the one thing they need the most and the one thing I cannot help them with is A WILL TO LIVE. To want to thrive. 

Every time we have a loss on the farm it feels like a personal failure of my own and I think that is the most frustrating thing for me when it comes to the case of weak lambs and failure to thrive. 

Lambing 2019

I would say overall it was a successful year here on the homestead. 

We ending lambing on a hard note this morning. 1 large dead ewe lamb. Died during birth. 

Large lamb

First time ewe

Both legs back

Wedged in canal

Plus we didn’t catch it right away

Death happens but for me it’s not easy but some deaths are easier to process than others. This kind of death sits on my shoulders. Ultimately, it’s my responsibility to get their lambs here safely and alive and when one dies in a pull that outcome squarely is mine.

I shoot for an unrealistic 100% success rate and some years I have been blessed to get that. This year was close. All but the last survived and with only a few ewes needing a little extra help. 

We are heavy on our ram lambs this year which makes this loss even more frustrating... a ewe lamb.

But as hard as this is, it’s another lesson learned.

Selling your Soul

Self- evaluation or farm evaluation can be a heart wrenching process (at least it is for me).

Do we have enough land to support this? 

Do we have access to enough feed?

Do we have the time to keep expanding?

Do we have the time to properly care for any animals?

Do we have enough money to support a hobby farm and our other needs?

Is this what we (all) want to be focused on?

Sometimes the answers all point full steam ahead. For our family, there have been some yellow lights, which has meant a closer inspection or a pause to reflect. 

As I write this I am driving 5 adult babydolls to their new home. The original 3 (Teddy, Bella, and Buttons) have all now found new homes. I feel so much sadness in my soul. Sad to say goodbye to the sheep that have been our base. I have had lots of moments of hesitation during the process of selling these 5. 

Do I honor the animal and let them live out their days on our farm?

Do I need to sell them?

Am I doing the right thing?

We sell lambs every year. We have sold older animals. This trip and process has been plagued with this question of right vs wrong. 5 older sheep is a significant change to our farm fabric. These particular sheep are also some of the animals we are most attached to.

I believe at some point every farm/farmer has to ask themselves these same questions. We know it's not a matter of right vs wrong but a question of aligning production & operations with your soul & passion. 

Today I/we are selling pieces of our soul to balance production. Another not so easy lesson.

Life and Death

Our girls, especially our oldest girls, spend quite a but of time outside doing chores and caring for our animals. One of our girls loves the goats and she has an elderly goat that she has cared for the last year. Last night her goat couldn't get up so we moved her to the barn out of the wind. This evening she had a stroke and our oldest said it was time to euthanize Nancy. 

Watching her care for her and say goodbye is tough to watch and it's amazing to see the maturity she has gained over the last couple years. I don't know how else this type of growth could be replicated (not the right word...). 

I am grateful for the lessons we learn and the character we gain. I am grateful for the good and the bad. Birth, life and death seem to be the constants in our changing world.