Arabella

One spring day, as I was taking water out to the animals, I thought I saw a new lamb in the pasture, so I went out to see. What I found was not one new lamb, not two, but three new lambs with three different mothers. They all looked healthy so I left them alone for the time being. After I called my daughter, Marie at her friend’s house to tell her I was coming to get her, we went out to the pasture together, and she weighed the new lambs and checked them over. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a ewe that seemed to be in labor, and she said it looked like she had been in labor a while. After checking the three lambs, a watchful eye on the other ewe, whose lip was curling, she decided that we needed to catch her and see what was going on. We managed to catch her and I held her neck, while Marie put her fingers in her uterus to see if she could figure out if the lamb was in the right position. The ewe’s vagina was very tight and Marie could only get two fingers in to start with. Eventually, she was able to get more of her fingers in, but still couldn’t figure out what position the lamb was in. The ewe was pushing on and off during that time and making Marie’s fingers numb, so she would have to take that hand out and use the other hand. She did this numerous times; all the while I am holding the ewe’s neck. We discussed at this point that we were sure we were going to pull out a dead lamb. It was a warm day, and the sun was beating down on us. After what seemed like an hour (maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t) Marie was able to grab the lamb’s neck and pull the lamb out. It was a ram lamb, and he was definitely dead. The ewe, Arabella, was able to lick him off and have closure, which is something Marie had learned is important. Later that day, I went to check on Arabella, and her head was right to the ground in grief and pain, walking with her back legs almost crossed. I told Marie she should give her antibiotics and she said she would get painkiller for her as well. Every day her head would lift a little more, and her walk would be a little less sore looking. She is a special ewe, as she has a rare coloring found in the Jacob breed. I am glad my daughter knew how to help her, because I sure didn’t!