The lamb with the damaged eyes was taken to the vet by Dave on Monday morning and had its eye lids sutured open. The condition is called Entropion and is hereditary - which means neither that ewe or her lambs can be bred again. Something else to keep track of. Every farmer has a log book and eventually the lambs are ear tagged with numbers so that such concerns can be tracked and appropriate decisions made about future breeding. I have been asked why we do not name our sheep. We used to do that; there was Ethel and Mabel and Rose and Audrey and so on.......! But there is little room on a working farm for sentiment. When the tough calls have to be made, it is much harder to make them when the animals involved have become close members of the family. Fortunately for me, Dave is the one that gets to make those decisions. We also breed sheep for meat so when the lambs leave the farm for market I also have to stay away.
That does not mean we do not have favorites and recognize particular attributions of some sheep and label them accordingly. Also, when one gets particular attention like the sheep that we are currently watching because of her prolapse, we become attached as we nurse them through their difficulties. I have secretly named this sheep blossom. She certainly has 'blossomed' and is nearly as wide as she is high. I am sure she is carrying triplets which will likely make birthing even more complicated. She is on her feet, eating well and back out in the side pasture where we can watch her carefully. She was making herself a little too comfortable in the barn and not getting enough exercise. I just hope there are viable lambs in that big belly.
All the other lambs are doing well, including Squint (on the left) who is no worse for wear following the trip to see Malcolm, the vet.
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