Down Wattle Lane v2 - RIP Big Mumma

Graphic Farming Warning.

Sadly Big Mumma passed away recently. She was one of our older ewes, on the larger side and had a few issues in the past with prolapse and foot root. I didn't want to breed her again, but let her live out her last years in retirement. However due to the powers of mother nature she became pregnant.

Big Mumma went down, previously she had always given birth to large twins, so with her age, her bad feet, her being over weight, and then pregnant again, she became lame. We called out a vet, and I explained all of this, and my thoughts was to potentially put her down to ease her pain and save the babies. The vet thought she was just weak and required some additional nutrition to get her up. So I thought great, lets save mum and babies.

Within 10 or so hours later after the sun had set, I found her dead. I felt her belly and she was still warm so I thought perhaps we can save the babies. I quickly googled how to perform a cesarean on a sheep. With courage and the sharpest knife, (a craft knife) I could find, I went in. I had no gloves so went in bare handed, and found the first baby... and shortly after the second. I pulled them out and looked for a heart beat or some form of life, but both were dead.

Deflated I sat on the ground next to them in the dark... my heart broken for Big Mumma and her babies.

I'm not sure if what I did was right, but I had to try.

Big Mumma was a great mum to her babies, she loved her sheep nuts, loved a face rub. She was very good when I used to have to treat her feet, she would stand patiently and understood the routine. Big Mumma will be much missed. RIP

I gathered myself, and started to dig a hole, a very large hole, and I placed Big Mumma together with her babies, side by side and buried them.

To lose all three was difficult and to say the very least I'm angry with the vet. Sometimes I feel people lose focus of their real purpose, and rather focus on selling you product you don't need. 

Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm sure Big Mumma would have wanted us to save her babies earlier if we could have.