New Things to Learn

Phil went out into the white wonderland this morning. I anxiously watched through the icicle covered (single paned!) window, as he slogged through knee-deep drifts. The chickens were trapped in their house, as the snow had covered their door. Phil put feed in through the roof, then went around to the lambing jug.

They were still alive! Standing up even! Way to go, little lambs!

Then my concern shifted to the other sheep, left in deep snow with no shelter (the goats are not about to share their pallet lean-to with the sheep, and the sheep probably prefer to be outside anyway. But maybe, my fears spoke, the babydolls got trapped overnight and suffocated. Thankfully, no.

As I read up on lamb care, I learned there were a few things I needed to do. Lambs are born with long tails (they almost touch the ground!), and they need to be docked to prevent droppings sticking to the wool (it actually gets worse than that—the droppings stuck to the tail attract flies, which lay eggs that turn to maggots. Poor sheep, dragging a maggot-infested tail weighing several pounds). So that’s really non-negotiable. Docking the tails needs to happen around 24 hours, I read, as after that the tail grows more nerve endings and becomes much more painful for the lambs.

This caused a mild panic attack: I had ordered a tail docker from a sheep supply place several weeks ago (never dreaming I would need it before the end of January!), but they had delayed the order (with my permission) due to a backordered item. I checked the status, and they claimed it had been delivered “to the front door.” When Phil had arrived home with the haybales yesterday, I had noticed our trampoline had been delivered on a pallet next to the driveway without my knowing, but I didn’t remember seeing any other boxes there. Because of the snow, I had covered the boxes with a tarp and left them.

Now I slogged through the snow myself, getting the snow inside my tall rubber boots. After futile digging around the boxes trying to locate the edge of the tarp, I was immeasurably relieved to see that the box of sheep supplies WAS there. God had sent it at just the right time!

Phil and I looked at the equipment we had received, and pulled the lamb vitamin booster and the tail docker (actual lovely name: emasculator). I went out to see the precious babies for the first time today. They were standing up, which surprised me: most babies sleep much of the first 24 hours, so the fact that they’ve been up each time we’ve visited is either a good sign or a bad one. I have no idea.

They didn’t much appreciate the vitamin booster. Phil came in to hold the babies as I docked their tales. They sheared off pretty easily, for which I was thankful.

Back in the house, though, I read another book that said, “Do not dock tales until 3 to 7 days, and if the lambs are thin, wait until 14 days. Do not do it in the first 24 hours, as that will severely stress the lambs.”

Worse yet (and this makes me feel sick), the emasculator is supposed to stay on the tail for 30 seconds after the actual cutting, in order to crimp off the blood vessels. Since the tool did not come with instructions, and the first two books I read about it didn’t mention it, I had no idea. Going back to check on the lambs several hours later, their tails were still bleeding, just a bit. I contemplated trying to just crimp the tails, but couldn’t stomach it. (I have conquered many phobias, but I fear that playing vet remains beyond my skill set.)

What comforts me as I think of verses like “My people [lambs] perish for lack of knowledge” is the reminder that these lambs are God’s lambs. By rights, they should have died at birth, in the snow storm.

What’s done is done, and now we have to wait and see.