As some of you might know, my most favourite Arapawa Ewe is Girlie. She was the first “wild” Arapawa that trusted me to let me feed her by hand. She is also the most doting Mum out of all the Ewes.
About 4 years ago, Girlie had a daughter to an Arapawa Ram that was not part of my main flock, so we decided to keep Girlie’s Daughter, as Girlie herself was an excellent Mum, I thought her Daughter would be too.
Girlie’s Daughter was very unlike her Mum… she became one of my fiercest Ewe’s and was always a challenge to handle. I really didn't mind as I was impressed that she chose her own path and developed an identity of her own.
About a week ago, Girlie’s Daughter unfortunately became the victim of Barbers pole worm, a blood sucking parasite that causes severe anemia and sudden death in sheep. It’s something to watch out for during wet summers or the start of autumn. There is very little in the way of warning signs, and generally when you discover it, if you don’t drench immediately the sheep can die within 24 to 48 hours. Signs include pale mucous membranes (eyelids/gums) and lethargy.
Initially the first thing that I noticed was that she was following her lamb around a lot. Nothing that would alert me to anything, just something I noticed… as Girlie’s Daughter tends to lead from the front. The following morning Girlies Daughter was hanging back with her lamb, and then I knew something was wrong. When a sheep isolates herself from the flock… it generally means the sheep is sick.
I walked over to her to investigate, and she just stood there, didn’t run, nothing. Which given how fierce she normally is, it became apparent that she was lethargic. I walked her into the holding pen, which there was no objection from her at all. I checked her eyelids and they were white as paper. They should be salmon pink. She was severely anemic and as she was lethargic, and her poop was normal, my confident conclusion was that she has Babers pole.
I immediately drenched her, and at this point in time, it's a 50/50 chance as to whether she will survive or die. I separated her from her lamb, so the lamb wasn’t using the little energy that her mum had to keep producing milk.
The following morning, I checked in on her, and she was still alive! That was a huge relief.
However, she didn’t look great, and I had the feeling that there was still a very good chance that she would die. I also noticed that she seemed to be blind… her eyelids were still white, and she was still extremely lethargic.
To help her regain some energy for her body to produce the blood that she had lost, I made up a homemade tonic. A glucose/electrolytes mixture. Basically, 500ml water, 2x tablespoons honey, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon baking soda, and I gave her 50ml 4 times a day. Along with some grains, hay, sheep nuts and water.
I checked in with the vet and was basically advised to allow time for her to recover.
After about 4 days, she has recovered to a stable position, but she’s still not right, and I am confident she has gone blind in both eyes. She is eating, pooping, drinking, standing and takes a few steps at a time, although walks in a lefthand direction.
I’m not sure what I should do with her now.
I’m glad she is alive, I’m glad she is stable. But if her sight doesn’t recover…I don’t know what to do.
I feel terribly sad for her.
She has lost her Arapawa spirit.
Update: No improvement, but I have put some family members in the pen with her so she has company.
Remember when I said something rare and vibrant was coming to Down Wattle Lane?
Well... the postie just dropped off the 'treasures' and honestly?
They’re a lot more... hairy... than I expected.
Meet the future of our little farm! These are 🌸 Saffron Crocus Corms… 1,000 of them!
Why Saffron? Well, besides wanting to grow the world's most expensive spice in my backyard, I need a way to keep myself busy.
Being home day in and day out due to my Parkinson's, it can be a bit of a mental grind, so the plan is to keep active and stay mentally challenged with this little project.
I've spent a good few months thinking “what can I do with our beautiful Loburn land” and somewhere along the way Saffron got stuck in my head.
So stuck in my head I've even prepared a full detailed 4 year business plan, because if the Pukeko and Hares don't get to them first, hopefully we can make a dollar or two along the way.
The goal is to become “A Boutique Saffron Farm”, producing Saffron and Saffron associated products.
There's a bit to do, and the 1000 corms are for now, a trial. But if all goes well, and the corms successfully produce flowers this April, we will be looking to increase to 20,000 Saffron corms very quickly.
Right now, they look like tiny, bearded potatoes. But in a few months? They’ll be popping up 'Red Gold.' 🤞
Time to get my hands dirty! 👨🌾💪
Thank you all so much for your kind condolence wishes for Zara. She was a truly special lamb who quickly grew very dear to my heart.
There was an immense investment of time put into Zaras care... literally a 24-hour job over 3 weeks. There was some guilt on my part, that I was neglecting the rest of the flock.
Having raised Arapawa sheep for over a decade with few issues, I’ve unfortunately learned that when a lamb gets sick, their decline can be terrifyingly swift.
We spent three weeks battling for her life. Initially, I felt death was inevitable, yet we had to try. A week in, I started to feel optimistic, believing we were past the worst. Everything was looking good. However, the last three days brought uncontrollable bloat, and despite multiple visits to the vet, her little body finally gave up this morning at 7:30 am.
She passed away peacefully here at home, her head resting in my hands and her little eyes looking up at me. I talked to her softly and calling her name until she took her final breath.
A few tears then followed.
Moments like these make you question why I raise livestock that I treat as pets.
The emotional difficulty of losing any animal under your care is immense, and you’re inevitably left asking if you could have done anything differently or better.
It would be easy to simply give it all up.
But I feel that if you aren’t feeling these emotional ups and downs, you aren’t truly living.
I love my flock dearly, and as hard as it can be on days like this, the good days always outnumber the bad.
We currently have 36 sheep and lambs, so life goes on. My duties must continue... and I do love every minute of it.
Poor Zara... she's still so big! 🙄
I have to keep her inside so she doesn't float away in the wind!
We're off back to the vet 3pm today to "pop the bubble" so to speak.
