Unbelieveably. And against the odds she is still quietly sitting in her pen watching the world go by. She cannot walk more than a few steps, and makes not a sound. I pour her potion down her throat every two or three hours and make her get up to pee. Yesterday about 3pm I noticed that her ears were warming up.
Later she ate a little corn lying down. And I hand fed her some spinach. And by late evening she was standing up for a very short while to eat some hay.
Today I will call the vet and get a shot to make sure that she has expelled everything. Because I am pretty sure she has not, though I could feel nothing in there. I have images of her expelling the dead one and others alive in there but this is impossible. Just fanciful. So miserable for her. But I am feeling very tentatively positive. And lets hope that this is a one time thing and not a sign of illness in my flock.
She will not be bred again though. In fact next year no-one will be bred until I come back from New Zealand in October.
I will tell you a funny story.
Last night I was slow to cover Sheila up. Every night she tuggles into her carefully prepared bed and I lay her blanket over her, sealing in the heat.
Well,last night busy I was hand feeding Mama her potion. It is all melted into a full cup of warm water and I shoot it in small amounts down her throat with a big syringe. But it does take some time as we rest between mouthfuls.
Sheila’s pen is just across the barn corridor and she has a little kind of window in the wall that she can stick her fat piggie head head through to see what is going on in the barn. I could hear her moving around arranging her bed, pulling it up higher and higher and then I heard her lie down and it was quiet for a minute. I kept talking to Mama as I sat on the straw beside her, holding her head and helping her drink. Then I heard a distinct “harumph” from Sheila’s pen. “Coming Sheila.” I gently called out. I kept feeding Mama then heard another grunt and wriggle. I started to finish Mama up then as I stood I was greeted with Sheilas what about me face, through her little window. She proceeded to bark quite indignantly at me. “Ruff ruff ruff ” she was saying. Her snout quivering in the throes of a little piggy tanty. As I moved to climb over the gate, her head was swiftly withdrawn and as laid down my cup and syringe, pilled my gloves back on and settled my hat further down on my head, stomped my frozen feet and picked up her blanket, I heard her rustle again in the straw.
As I leaned over her gate gathering her blanket into folds to throw over her I could see that she had raced back into her bed, wriggling deep into the straw, then hearing me she went quite still, her elephants eye turned upwards peering out from under her ears waiting for her blanket. I flicked it out into the cold air of the barn and it unfurled straight like a sheet above a bed and floated and settled over her long round body, coming to rest just below her ears and and she was covered right past her tucked in piggy tail. “About time” she thanked me her voice muffled in the deep straw. And with a great sigh she closed her eyes. And the barns sleepy silence fell about us. I turned off the lights, patted the sentinel cat and closed the door behind me quietly
Have a lovely day.
your tired friend
celi
We are into the fifth consecutive day below freezing and there is ice everywhere. Mainly from buckets of water freezing solid overnight then being chipped out so they can be filled with warm water again in the morning.
Someone liked the snow though.
c
The Kitchen's Garden 
62 responses to “Mama still holding her own and a funny story”
I am so relieved to hear Momma appears to be on the mend; I’ve been worried!
You have inspired me to have my own farmy one day… thank you
Have a great day Celi
I hope you are able to have your own wee farm one day leslie, there are many little farm properties just waiting for us to come back to the land.. c
The pig story brightened my morning. Thanks. I say a little prayer for Mama (and you).
So hard to have the animals sick. They can’t tell you what they have and when we have to give them meds it’s hard to communicate to them we are helping them. I’m getting used to giving my cat insulin shots but thank goodness animals are more resilient. She is figuring out that she gets lots of pets with the shots so it’s a fair trade. I hope mama is ok and that she continues to recover. And may the rest of the animal family stay healthy! You seem to be having a rough go of it.
and now i need to go and de-ice a door that is frozen shut so I can let other sheep back out for the day.
The list never ends does it? And winter has definitely arrived. That ice storm is working it’s way through here now though it’s not as bad as it was in TX.
Celi is there any chance that ‘something’ may have come in with hay/alfafa bales? Namely a grass that pregnant sheep can’t eat. Thinking about Mia last year as well. I am so glad Sheila is there to lighten up your life a little in sad times. Laura
Mold spores can cause pregnant sheep, cows etc., to abort I know this. Hmmmm….difficult to detect unless obvious mold is visible. If it was baled damp. Or not stored covered.
Birds are transmitters of disease too. My chickens infected my turkeys one year. I hope the puzzle is solved soon! Vet should know.
Yay Mama and Celi! Continued prayers for you both. And what a cute piggy story. That Sheila, she knows she’s supposed to be tucked in before bed time! Stay warm.
Glad to hear about Mama – hope the vet can arrive quickly with the abortifacient.
You don’t think Sheila might ‘do a Charlotte’ when faced with competition from a kunekune?
I love your charming and amusing Sheila story. A sweet child, she is. I remember your saying she has a canny eye and that she looks straight at you. (This time waiting for her blankee.) oh that we could have such simplicity and truth among ourselves, we “superior” beings.
Hoping the vet will set dear Mama on a healthy and quick recovery. I think The Fellowship will be checking in with you several times today for a update.
You didn’t mention if you read Sheila a story after tucking her in … or maybe a little nursery song?
Phew, I’m so relieved that Mama’s on the mend. I hope the same applies to your sit-upon!
We had our first frost last night – quite severe, as it was still there at midday despite the beautiful sunshine, which dried all the washing outside on the patio. I am punch drunk and whacked after writing what seems like hundreds of cards!
Love ViV x
Who could not love you!!!! You filled me up with warmth and happiness this morning….thank you! Huge sigh of relief for Mama!!!! Your loveliness and kindness is as huge as the oceans and the skies above them.
You are a wonderful story teller and have a extraordinary way of drawing the story in my heart and head…ever so beautifully. 🙂
I can hear the sighs and feelings of comfort and trust in the thoughts of those in your care. It is a great gift you have my friend.
Love you! Me!
I’m sending healing and positive thoughts in your direction for your good-self and Mama. Take care. xx
Whew! I was almost afraid to see your post today…was dreading bad news but I knew if anything could help Mama get well again…it would be you! 🙂 I’m so glad and relieved as I’m sure you are very much! And a big grin and sweet thoughts of visualizing Sheila waiting for her blankie, then falling blissfully asleep after being tucked in. You’ve done it now Cinders…forever more you will have one more thing to do before you leave the barn at night in the cold months…but what a sweet thing! 🙂
When you are a pig and you really don’t have much hair I can imagine the warm blanket is just perfect. Piggy sighs of contentment. Oh! Wonders Momma is holding her own and today will get a shot…something to help her heal. Fingers crossed there isn’t something horrid going round, just a fluke that poor Momma body said…not these…not this time. No more.
Then all will be well again on the farmy.
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
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…and to all, a good night…☮ & ♥
Just love that Sheila! What a character. Glad Mama is showing signs of improvement., too. Eight years is pretty old for a sheep to have lambs. Keeping my fingers crossed that the shot will do the trick. The vet would some ideas of what to do, too. It really warms my heart that there are wonderful people like you treating their animals with love and respect. Too many people are cruel and uncaring with their animals. It was 20 below here last night and I worried for the chickens. DH installed a heat lamp in the fenced off baby chick nursery part of the hen house where the flock could not fly up and cause a fire. It got to 15 degrees in there, but that is OK with them. They are big and strong and have lots of feathers and are now 6 months old. As long as the animals are eating and digesting their hay and grain they are producing heat and staying warm. I will be glad when this cold, arctic air goes away. Brrrrrrrrrr Please try not to overdo and get a relapse.
When i found Mama she had just had her first pregnancy, triplets and the man had taken them away and sold them to a zoo to be bottle fed in the petting zoo side, this is her fourth pregnancy with me, so yes I do think I let her go too far. PLus while i was down with this wretched back problem I think she was left out in the field too long, and not coming up for the hay and mineral..and no-one noticed.. because I was the one who should have and I was on the bloody couch.. so a combination of things.. This cold is awful. Everyone gets double feed in this weather, just to keep them warm – and now my chickens are laying like crazy!! c