I think we need a name for this little lady... any suggestions?
Kara the Arapawa? (Her Mum is affectionally known as Karen).
Lara the Arapawa?
Zara the Arapawa?
At the 7.30pm check, she had blown up again and wasn't keeping up with mum and her twin. So, I have made the call... we have a new house baby. Hand raising her, I will have more control of her health care.
So, we have a little 3-day old lamb with bloat, which is a little unusual as the lamb is with mum and not a bottle-fed lamb.
Both sides were sticking out, arched back and lethargic. Mum actually abandoned it this morning until I reunited the family.
After consulting the vet, we put a feeding tube down it's throat into its tummy to release some of the gas.
The right side had some improvement, and the left side had a lesser amount of improvement.
I spent a little time gently massaging the lambs belly and tried to encourage it to fart and burb its way to good health 😅.
We then reunited the lamb with its mum and it's twin sibling.
The plan is now to monitor it today/overnight and if it improves good. If it doesn't and things worsens, redo the tube down the throat and then start feeding it a yoghurtised probiotic milk formula... at which point we will have to hand raise it so we can closely monitor it feeding. I'll make up a small batch tonight just in case.
It's a sweet little girl, so I want it to survive if we can make that happen.
Arapawas First Sip
Three little faces, black and white,
Peeking over, a curious sight.
"See, little ones, how we must sip,"
Mum, teaching them from the trough's cool lip.
A lesson learned, a thirst allayed,
In the green field, a memory made.
On my return home from a wool show, I could see Girlie (my favourite ewe) was in labour and having difficulty. She was on her side, legs in the air, and she was pushing but with no progress. Last year we had to call the vet out and she lost both babies. Both lambs were very large for a small ewe.
We put Girlie in the pen, and with the vet on the phone, we birthed two rather large lambs. We had difficulty with the first lamb, but the second lamb pretty much popped out. But so far Mum and lambs seem to be ok.
I'm so happy for Girlie, she's a great Mum and she really deserves these babies.
With your naked eye you can see a red tinge to the night sky... but your camera captures the true beauty.
Put your camera in night mode, hold steady and take a photo of the night sky looking south. Use a tripod or hold your phone steady against a clean window.
