Lucky

I was calmly working away, taking each fleece from its plastic bag and putting it into a clean feed bag.  I'd been looking for paper landscape bags but the nearby village stores don't carry them.  Who would use them?  Really, they are an urban item. 

I checked at the feedstore but they didn't carry them either.  Then, I had an idea and asked if they had any discarded, perhaps damaged, feed bags.  "Oh" the young fellow said.  "Come along with me", and I followed him outside to a trailer filled with garbage.

Someone had dropped off a quantity of new feedbags from a different feed store.  There were two bundles, likely of fifty each.  I took one and later wished I'd taken the other too.  These would do quite nicely for fleece.  I expressed my gratitude and he was happy to help.

The plastic garbage bag is not breathable although the modern day feedbags are made of some kind of plastic woven into its structure.  The newly bagged fleeces were then going into the blue plastic barrels which DB had kindly sawed open for me on the weekend.  These would be a rodent proof and dry storage for the wool until they were sold or I decided on next steps.

So, there I was working away at this little project when I noticed the flock of sheep outside looking odd.  A number of ewes were peering into the field, all watching attentively.  I quickly ran to the gate and entered the field.  The ewes quietly turned to the barn and scampered to it.  I ran to the edge of the wood chip pile and peered out over the field.  There, centred in my view, was a long legged coyote holding a white lamb in its mouth.  The lamb dangled by its throat. 

It wasn't surreal.  It was very real.  "No!"  I shouted.  "No!  Get away!"  I shouted louder.  It looked at me.  I leapt forward and waved my arms at it.  It hesitated and dropped the lamb.  I yelled more and ran down the hill toward the coyote.  The coyote ran straight away from me and calmly flew over the fence and disappeared. 

Not far away the llamas were watching.  "Do something!"  I yelled at them. 

The lamb had scrambled up, ran a bit then fell over.  I had a look at it.  Then I ran back and let Beau into the field.  This turned out to be an error.  He wanted to finish off the lamb!  I stood there not knowing what to do.  I gathered up the lamb and headed to the barn.  He was not small.  Later I would find out he weighed just under thirty-five pounds. 

I put him in a box stall in the Small Barn.  He just lay there on his side. 

I ran to the house and got my sister who was visiting.  We looked at the lamb.  There was blood but nothing profuse.  He got up and staggered across the stall before falling again.  He did this a few times. I thought about shooting him but in the end that wasn't going to work.  I called the Vet.  They gave me an appointment time, which I thought was kind of weird.  The receptionist did not deduce that a lamb attacked by a coyote was an emergency and maybe an appointment time necessary.

I bundled up the lamb and put him on the floor of the backseat of my car.  Where the chickens had been a few months ago.  It was about a half hour drive to the Vet's.  I stopped twice.  Once I pulled the lamb back onto his side of the car as he'd stood up and then nose dived to the other side.   The second time he was too upside down and from the driver's seat I was able to right him.  From there I kept a hand on his head and pushed it up and forward.  At one point I took another towel I had in the front seat and shoved it under his shoulder to support him.  This worked and I could put my blood stained hand back on the steering wheel.


At the Vet's I parked and went in and announced my arrival.  They had to decide where to put us.  They were going to put him on a table and I suggested the floor.  I brought him in and on the floor we went.  The lamb stood up.  One of the Tech's sent another to find the Vet and tell him it was "an emergency."  They didn't seem to get that on the telephone.  The Vet came in and was terrific.  He gave the Tech's instructions and they went to work. 

The Vet said it would take a half hour to an hour to stabilize him and then go from there.  I said there needed to be a decision made as to whether to euthanize the lamb or try to save him.  The Vet agreed, stating he was farm born and raised and understood the economic perspective.  We were on the same page.

Over the next hour, the Vet attended appointments and the Tech's were amazing.  They clipped the wool from all wounds.  They irrigated the wounds.  They gave him fluids subcutaneously across his ribs and administered an anti-inflammotory and an antibiotic.  For some time there were three Tech's sitting on the floor working on this lamb. 

And they took care of me.  I washed up my blood covered hands arms and brushed my hair.  I can be a poor patient and an even poorer observer.  As the Vet later stated, they already had one emergency and didn't need another.  But at least I forewarned them.  I had a fruit bar and ate that.  I found a chair.  They got me some water.  It was cool in the office.  I was fine.

The lamb had puncture wounds from teeth at his hind leg and on either side of his throat.  The puncture on the hind leg went right through the leg above the hock.  The testicles were torn but they were beginning to fall off anyway from the elastorator applied for castration.  The Vet just tidied it up.  Loose sutures were done at the throat and the hind leg.  Loose as these are puncture wounds and drainage would be important.

More drugs were given and some were prepared for me to take home.  The lamb's ear tag had become infected and the Tech's cleaned that up too.  I paid the bill and pulled up my car.  The Tech's named him Lucky and carried him out to my car.

The Vet did not guarantee the lamb would live but thought he had a good chance.  "And, oh" he said.  "Change your clothes before you go out anywhere."  He was referring to the blood on my shirt. 

"Do you think I can go through the Tim Horton's drive-thru?"  I asked.  We all smiled and I carried on.

As I'd pulled away down the driveway I'd asked my sister to make a scarecrow.  I had read this somewhere on the net.  You take some strongly human smelling clothes and make a scarecrow out in the field.  Every few days you change up the clothes with stinky ones.  It's not foolproof but it does make a difference, impressing the coyotes with the presence of humans.  Sister had made a great scarecrow right down where the coyote had struck.  It was flapping in the wind when I came up the road.

She made us a good hearty lunch.  Then, we brought the flock into the Small Barn and pulled out Lucky's sister and mother, Dot.  Dot had had the triplets - well sort of.  I have concluded that two days before she gave birth to her twins she stole Spot's twin.  one of the previous coyote losses was one of Dot's 'three' lambs.  We put these three in the box stall.  Dot nickered to Lucky and he peeped back.  He was on his feet.

The next day Lucky lived.  That's today.  It's evening now and Lucky still lives.

Today I bought a Maremma guardian dog.  Her name is Millie and she is four years old.  Her family sold their sheep and she is really bored.  She will move here in a day or two.  She will have to get penned up for a few days.  Millie needs to learn that I am the Lady with the Food, the lesson everyone else here knows already.  In addition, Millie needs to make friends with her new sheep family and they need to get to know her.  They have never had a dog live with them.  Hopefully they will see her as another sheep who eats different food.  Also, Millie and the llamas need to get acquainted.  The llamas need to see Millie as a big sheep who can help them scare off coyotes.

Millie currently has a border collie friend so I expect she will be fine with Beau.  Let's hope Beau is fine with her.  Beau has just about figured he's the only creature in the Big House and that it's okay not to go to the barn with us every time.  He's also getting used to waiting for me on the outside of the fence.  He can now wait quietly while I have conversations with the other animals that don't include him.

This evening I borrowed some lamb milk replacer powder from my neighbour to give to Lucky.  Lucky's face and throat are very swollen.  The neighbour suggested an ice pack which I was able to apply for about five minutes but it is too big to tie on to his head.  I had thawed some colostrum and mixed that with water.  I don't think Lucky has had much success nursing from his mother.  I am concerned about dehyrdation.  Although he looked - and smelled - bloated yesterday, today he looks gaunt.  So, I also borrowed a baby bottle from my neighbour and got him to suck a small amount.  Then he seemed to have spasms and convulsions!  I actually thought he might die. 

While at the Vet's yesterday Lucky experienced apnea several times.  That is, he stopped breathing but his heart remained strong.  In addition there was concern that there was fluid in his lungs.  With the mild bloat he frothed a bit.  So, I think today's reaction to the bottle was a bit of apnea and lung congestion.  It is possible because of the swelling that he cannot swallow properly and he inhaled some of the liquid. 

At last check tonight Lucky was laying down in the corner of the stall.  He was up on his chest and not flat out on his side.  When I entered the stall to top up the water, he followed me with his eyes.  At eight thirty this evening, Lucky lives.