We were worming the sheep the other day and things didn't go exactly as planned. I left the top part of the dutch door open to provide light, this proved to be a mistake. The girl sheep are quite skittish, and once they saw we were trying to corner them into a stall they panicked. Kia hit the Commander in the mouth with her horns on her way out the back door before he could get it closed, the rest chose a different route. As I watched three of the lambs decided to leap out the top half of the door, the drop on the other side is significant. Fortunately no one broke their leg but a lesson was learned on our part, close all doors before trying to run the sheep into a stall.
The boys were next so all doors were closed and the plan was to pull them out one by one. Killarney was taken out first, no problems. Alder (wild man) was next, he struggled but no one was rammed and he was quickly finished. That left Ironwood all alone inside the ram shed, turns out that wasn't a good idea. Ironwood is last in the pecking order, so leaving him by himself inside the shed brought on a panic attack. See that little window pictured above, it used to have a screen on it.
When the Commander went inside the shed to bring Ironwood out, the ram panicked and tried to jump through the window. He couldn't possibly fit through such a small opening but he destroyed the screen and splintered the wood frame, another lesson learned.
The sheep aren't as tricky as Houdini, but it isn't from a lack of trying.
Goodness, they certainly do have a talent for making things difficult don't they.
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh! So lucky no one was hurt.
ReplyDeleteJeez, stressful times at your farm lately, huh? But I love that your perspective is to look at all of these hectic moments as learning experiences!! You are the ultimate, optimistic and adaptable farm girl!
ReplyDeleteAnd now you are done worming the sheep. High five!
:-)
Teresa - They fight so hard to stop me from helping them, ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteMichaele - I am really surprised that none of the sheep seriously injured themselves, the Commander was lucky not to lose a few teeth.
Danni - I'm not done yet, everyone needs a second dose one week later to kill of any parasites that were hidden safely in eggs last time.
Yup...I learned the top part of the door lesson last year. Who knew they could jump straight up in the air that high?!?!? No one warned me. I have a couple of sheep that I can kneel in front of and sneak the drencher into their mouths and worm them without holding them at all. They make up for the rest of them that are wingnuts and freak out totally every time I walk into the pasture with anything resembling medicine.
ReplyDeleteStace - I would kill to have just one sheep that didn't go into a panic attack the moment I reach out to them. I had no idea that sheep could jump like that!
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