Excitement in the fields

7th January

12, noon-

I now have an answer Val, as to why rams are kept away from mothering ewes: As I am walking down the path this morning towards the sheep’s gate and they are all lining up for their feed, the idyllic pastoral scene of  2 newly born kids surrounded and protected by their flock with the sun rise through the clearing, becomes a nightmare within seconds when the ram throws one of the babies out of the way to get closer to the mum and mount her…..I managed to get Dora and the babes back in the shed and locked away, having first wrestled with Dini to keep him away from the lambs, and straight away Dora laid down and rested. …knowing that the babes were now safe, I went to see Michel, Puylaroque’s mechanic and our friend. I had some business to settle with him and I also wanted to talk about what had happened back in the field. His family had 250 goats when he was young and he said you never leave a ram with pregnant ewes. As the female is pregnant she won’t let him mount her anymore, so he will ram into her, chances are she’ll abort and he’ll be able to mount her again…. Now this is what I think happened to Deeva a couple of weeks ago. She is Dora’s first born from last February and I was sure she had had an abortion. How did you know ? said my mum. Well, from being big and happy one day she was thin and winging the next for one and then looking at her backside there was no doubt something had happened there….. Then her udder inflated to such an enormous size that I called the vet in a panic. He said put her in your car and bring her to me first thing  in the morning, I’ll check that she isn’t still pregnant before giving her the tablets that will dry her milk. But luckily, the next morning she was back to normal…. We had been puzzled as to what had happened to her. Now we know. As for Dora, if she lost her babes now, Dini would be able to mount her again pretty much straight away…Michel added that once you’ve decided when you want lambing to occur, you get the ram with the flock of ewes, 6 months previous and only for a few weeks, 4 at the most and then move him out again. Michel had a lot of very helpful advise for us. Keep a close eye on them he said to make sure the babbes feed alright. Call me if you’re worried about anything and I’ll come around he said as I left.

 Dora is now safe in her shed and our ram is outside with the other ewe looking in. The babes were not hurt, being feather weight, but who knows what could have happened. I believe in the wild the weakest lamb would not make it…. In this case it’s Bernie. She was the second born and a bit smaller than Nula her little sister….the next thing now is to get Dini out of there so that the girls can get on with it. I won’t be able to do it with Geoff alone….

I am off to Caussade to get a feeding bottle and some powdered milk from the vet in case one of the two looks like she needs a top up from mum’s milk. It is sometimes the case with twins.

8pm- Our neighbour Yves came to help us this evening to move our ram to the donkey’s field. That was a feat in itself. We got him by the horns while he was eating and with a leather belt made into a collar, to which was attached two dogs leads, Geoff and Yves moved him along from one field to the other. He was resisting like hell and the men were struggling. Once in the donkey’s field Dini ran out looking for and calling for the ewes. Poor Dini! In human terms he is a bully but in animal terms he is just a ram and he is lovely. When I handed him his bowl he ate and even let me stroke him as if nothing had happened but straight afterwards he was back calling for the females….He will be a bit lost for a few days. Before getting back indoors and calling it a day, I went to check on the girls, making sure all was fine there. You won’t believe what happened next! Dora was head butting Deeva as soon as it looked like Deeva was getting too close to the babes again!!!! After about 10 minutes of fighting, Deeva gave up and run off each time Dora went for her. What a day! May be the human race does not descend from apes after all …Ah! Ah!

Wednesday 8th January

Phew! All is well in the fields this morning. The donkeys Bijou, Bichette and Dini are grazing in the top field, and the girls in the bottom field seem to have come to a peaceful settlement....

Val says  When all these things are new to us it is so good finding an expert who can help. I have a friend with 8 donkeys, so she is my first port of call.  Good luck with them all Martine
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