Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Electra electrified!


So, I go out to feed and water the chickens in the coop this morning, and I see a ewe in the electric fence. I run over to the battery and unplug the charger, and run over to look at the ewe. Her eyes look really gross, like she had been dead for a long time or something and she didn't move. I ran inside to wake my 11 year old daughter and said a ewe was in the fence dead and I wasn't sure who it was. Rosemary came out and went over to her and then yelled back at me (trying again to do the chickens) and said "It's Electra and she moved!" so I ran back over, and she said that this ewe is very skittish and she usually is afraid of us. So we tried to untangle her (4) horns out of the fence. We struggled for a little bit, though Electra did not struggle as I think they can sense when they are being helped. I didn't think I was going to be able to do it so I told Rosemary to go in and get Marie (my oldest, who owns the sheep) so they came out. By then I had her out and she was just sitting on her legs, but holding her head up OK. I hollered for the girls to get Rescue Remedy and we sprayed some in her nose (Rosie couldn't find the liquid kind.) Marie also expressed some of her milk (she has a pretty young lamb that was near by when I first went out) and rubbed it in her eyes - because we have pink eye going thru the flock - which is why her eyes looked so awful when I first saw her! We then led her to the water because she can't see with the pink eye, which is also most likely why she "walked" into the fence and then tried to win the fight! Whew, from a "dead" ewe to a live one was a much better start of the day!