not even 0630 yet..dawn is breaking and ma, the lambs and mickey are all fed.
last day of work this week..thank gawd.
i talked to the sheep owner last night..they bought 6 ewes and a ram to start their hobby farm and so they can meet their farming status requirements of actually earning a living from some kind of farming. all of the ewes were bred...so far 4 including ma have had 7 lambs between them so lets assume the last two together produce another 3. this family will have 19 maybe 20 sheep by next week in a one acre pasture...too many to sustain there indefinitely for sure. from an investment point of view, it was a good move..as long as you are willing to sell off the extras. sheep are used for three things..wool, breeding and meat. ok there are some milk sheep out there but you still have to breed and produce yearly babies in order to get any milk.
this family is attached to their sheep now so they don't want to go the slaughter route. but lets be honest...almost all sheep used for even wool or breeding farming will eventually stop producing and the auction will be the final trailer ride before slaughter.
anyway, the family is looking for responsible pet homes for a good chunk of their sheep. so if anyone knows anyone, please have them contact me.
now i find myself uneasy because i don't trust easily where life long commitment and possible future exploitation regarding animals is concerned..esp. animals of the farming type. too much rescue history for me not to have learned extreme caution.
with ma's ruined udder, she is useless for anything..even if it is amputated for her safety and comfort...she is not worth anything to anybody. even pet homes can be an issue if folks decide to downsize, move, get sick/injured/divorced or simply change their minds...so theoretically, despite this family's best intentions and care...ma and her babies could still find themselves one day in the slaughter line because once out of their hands, the fickle finger of fate can come prancing by.
i hate the fickle finger of fate, it totally can mess up animals lives.
now i wish i had never met ma, had not watched her babes be born, have not fed them their gloves and bottles to keep them alive. and i regret having peep curled up on my lap with bo trying to butt in.
you know where this is going...ma for sure is going to stay and become a saint. i told the owners last night that she could stay. maybe if we network and try really hard, we can find forever, stellar homes for the babes (with saints adoption contract to protect them from fickle fingers in place???)
no good deed shall go unpunished.
do-gooding is a freaking headache.
hi joe..one of our staff was interested in mom and all three babes but in speaking to one of the owners today, it looks like the plan is to sell off the moms and male lambs and keep the female babes.. so our two female lambs would have to go back to their owners once they no longer require round the clock bottle feeding. if you are interested in purchasing any of the moms or the ram lambs, let me know and i will pass on the contact info.