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Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Surprise, Surprise. Baaaaa!

I was out back with the goats, when my Mom came home from the feed store. When I walked up to the house, she had been unloading hay out of the back of her SUV, and she was talking to an older gentleman that was parked behind her. I was rather confused. I didn't know who he was. I assumed a neighbor from down the road. They were talking about measurements. Then he said "Well here you go." and opened up a cage he had covered in the back of his truck, and takes out two lambs and hands one to each of us. Then he gave my Mom a container of lamb milk replacer. That explained the measurements.

So as it turns out when my Mom went to the feed store, and this man came in looking to find a home for these lambs that his sheep rejected. He normally takes care of them, but he is going away for the holidays with his wife, and they don't have anyone to take on the responsibility of bottle feeding. I guess he has given lambs to one of the women at the feed store before, but today she wasn't interested. When my Mom saw them she couldn't resist. He told her he had a bag of milk replacer at his house, and he would pick it up, and then drop them off. No sooner did my Mom get home, and begin unloading the hay when he drove up. Turns out he went back into the feed store, and bought a container of the milk replacer instead of driving back to his house. So not only did he give her two free lambs, but he bought her a container of milk replacer too!

So I dug out the book Raising Sheep the Modern Way. I guess that will be my reading material for a while. And get this. The reason we had a sheep book before sheep. My Mom found it free at our local thrift store along with a llama book. Hmmmmm whats next, hehe.

I asked the guy what breed they are. He said there mixed. But I still wonder what they are mixes of. All I know is that they are wool sheep, not hair sheep, and they are three days old. My Mom said he told her there a male and female. I guess he didn't take a very good gander, they are both girls!

So here are the little darlings who don't have names yet.





The blackfaced one has yucky eyes. I put some medicine in them. Hopefully they will clear up fast.

Kimberly

6 comments:

Harry Flashman said...

Kimberly, those are beautiful animals. They'll make a good addition to your home. Let me know if you have problems clearing up the eye. This past summer, I had a terrible time with the barn cats getting infections. Even the medicine I usually cure that with didn't work. Someone suggested a medicine they sell at the feedstore. It's a powder that is blown into the eyes. It cleared the issue right up. If your medicine doesn't work, I will go out to the shop and get the name of it for you.

Tasha said...

Awww!! So adorable!! They look very much like my lambs, so I'd guess they're at least part Suffolk.

Also, the black faced ones eyes might be yucky because his eyelids are rolled under. That's what it looks like in that last picture. If that's the case, he'll end up blind because the eyelashes are rubbing his eyes. Sometimes you can fix that by gentle uncurling the eyelids several times a day for several days in a row. You'll want to get on that right away though, or else you might have to have the vet come out and suture the eyelids to keep them uncurled.

Congrats on your new lambies! :D

An At Home Daughter said...

Harry-
We have that medicine too. I can't think of the name off of the top of my head either. Right now Im using mastitis medication that usually works great for clearing up eye problems.

Kimberly

An At Home Daughter said...

Natasha-
I was reading in the sheep book last night and found the part about sheep eyelids, and immediately got that terrible feeling. Yes, her bottom eyelids are rolled in. I will work on unrolling them and keep putting the medicine in them. The poor little thing.
I take it you have had to deal with this before?

Kimberly

Kristin said...

Congrats on the lambies and I hope your eyelid treatment works. Poor dear. What are you going to do with them? Mmmmm lamb chops (I'm so baaaad).

Happy New Year!

An At Home Daughter said...

Hi Kristin,
Maggie's eyes did well with the treatment. We injected the penicillin a little to low in the one eyelid so we had to repeat it that night. After that it held, and no more problems. She does have some scarring on her eyes from going untreated for the first several days of life, but seems to see just fine.
They will be for fiber, and producing lambs. I spin, and crochet. We actually have got 2 more lambs since. I will have to post pictures soon.
Kimberly