Ridgetop - our place and how we muddle along

[Baymule]

All of that made me feel grateful that Teresa married me and eliminated all of that.

You and Teresa were made for each other. Y’all took the long way around to get there, but your lives “before” just makes y’all appreciate each other so much more.

 

[Ridgetop]

DH makes me crazy sometimes, but he is a good guy. Coffee in bed as I wake up and lets me put my icy feet on him in winter. He also supports me in all my wild schemes. We are having to cross some of the hottest states to get to east Texas during a major heat wave across the country. There is no good route to take. At least Texas is getting some rain finally.

I worked on finishing the trailer today. The repairs are done so I worked on removing all the stuff that was left from the repairs. Tools needed to be put away in the shed and in the house, bathroom and kitchen scrubbed, all surfaces dusted and wiped down. Cleaned the AC vent and washed the filter. Removed DS2's giant boxes (2 large, framed pictures he bought to surprise DDIL2 which he had to store UNTIL NEXT CHRISTMAS!) Made the trailer bed, emptied the trash, and replaced the trash bags. Packed some tools. Made dinner and noticed that 18003 was in labor. Finally, since she was due last Friday.

After an hour 18003 was having trouble. She might even have been in labor all day. In the end the water sac arrived, but the lamb did not. I had DS1 help me and found 2 legs but no head. I finally found the head twisted under the body but could not get the lamb moved into the right position. DS1 turned the ewe on her side, then on the other side, then on her back to try to get the lamb into position but no luck. I went up to the house for reinforcements. DH came down to help. DS2 had fallen 2 days ago on the hillside moving up a large bathtub we used as a livestock tank and popped the cartilage from a rib. He had originally injured those ribs in Afghanistan. He went to the doctor and was told it would take 3 weeks to heal up again so he wasn't able to help much. The ewe was tearing badly and beginning to bleed heavily. I was covered in blood, birth fluid, and sweat. DS1 was covered in sweat, blood, and birth fluid. The temperature was still in the high 90's. After an hour on my knees struggling in the ewe, I called the vet and left a number for an emergency call. I tried pushing the legs back inside and turning the lamb, I was not sure if the legs that insisted on popping out were both forelegs, or rear legs, or a combination but the lamb was totally stuck, and the ewe was in big trouble. After another hour on my knees, I called the vet again and managed to get hold of her. She said she couldn't come out for an emergency C-section and didn't know how to do one on a sheep???!!! She also said she was leaving for a horse emergency. I pointed out that I had called at 8pm and left a message on her emergency answering service. She said she didn't get the message. (Second time I called for an emergency and couldn't get her out, I won't be calling again. ) DS1 took a turn at trying to pull the lamb out by the legs that were presenting but no luck. The ewe was bleeding very heavily now. DS1 and I discussed the options - all bad. At this point we had lost all hope for the lambs, and now we figured we couldn't save the ewe. She was suffering badly.

I went up to the house and had DS2 load his .22 and come down to dispatch the ewe. DS1 moved her out of the barn onto loose dirt on the hill so if the bullet went through it would not ricochet off the cinder block walls. We spread a tarp and DS1 and DH walked her onto that. DS2 got ready to shoot her. When he was 14 he had to shoot his favorite dairy doe for the same reason. I heard him say "I hate killing our animals like this" and remembered how traumatic it was for him with Kiwi. He had also seen a lot of action in Afghanistan and come home with mild PTSD. I told him to give me the rifle. I put 18003 down.

DS1 and DH tried to get her into the wheelbarrow as I tipped it and steadied it. DS2 finally took over for DH. Then DS1 took the tarp wrapped carcass into the barn so the dogs wouldn't bother it. Then while we gathered the lambing paraphernalia up DS1 called large animal pickup for the next morning. 18003 was a Grade 5, one of my best.

At that point, I noticed that Snowflake (P1) was lambing. The lamb's head was all that was out and appeared to be stuck. One leg was back, and one leg and the head were forward. I pulled it out and it was a large ram lamb. He was covered in orange meconium showing a stressed birthing, but right away he started struggling and moving around. Snowflake immediately took care of him. She was still big enough for a second lamb and remembering OR9 who was slender having a second lamb about an hour later, DH and I waited in the barn for another hour to see if she would have another. Nothing. At last, a bubble appeared. After waiting for another half hour with nothing happening, I removed the lamb since sometimes this will hurry the process. Still nothing. Finally, DS1 came in and held Snowflake while I checked inside. No lamb. We returned her son to Snowflake and dragged ourselves up to the house for a shower. We had started working on 18003 at 7:00 pm and it was now 11:00 pm.

Finally clean we went to bed where I felt my back starting to seize up, along with my shoulders. Even my hands started cramping. Surprisingly my knee on which I had been kneeling in the barn for several hours didn't hurt. Apparently, it was numb. I can't take aspirin since on Thursday I have an appointment for an echo cardiogram, so I lay suffering for a couple hours wondering if I am too old for this. After 2 hours trying to get comfortable, I got up and went to check on Snowflake in the barn. I love having our barn 30 feet from the house and 4-5' below grade since I can just peek through the windows at the jugs. Snowflake had a second lamb! I went down and iodined the cord. He was still wet but on his feet. Another large ram lamb. Snowflake looked a bit surprised at this new lamb arriving 3-4 hours after her first one. She kept going back and forth as if she thought she was seeing double and was not sure where he had come from.

Like DH said, it was good that they did not go into labor after we left. 18003 would have suffered for a long time before the family realized she had to be put down. This was 18003's 3rd lambing. On the other occasions she had no trouble. I have a daughter from her same breeding as this) who graded 5 as well. That daughter BL14 has a 3-month-old ewe lamb that the inspector really liked out of my Lewis ram.

I hate being away from the sheep when they are due to lamb.

I guess I should go to bed and try to sleep. I better make sure that Snowflake is taking care of the new arrival first. I don't want to be traveling with a bottle lamb.

 

[Baymule]

I’m so sorry about 18003. You gave her your all and tried your best. My heart goes out to you. You lost one of your best ewes and her lambs too. I’m so sorry. Sometimes you have to ask yourself if it’s all worth it, and the answer is yes. Snowflake presented you with 2 lambs. We have our failures, our losses, our hearts get broken, but we have many more successes, many more precious little lambs and our hearts are healed. Big hugs.

 

[farmerjan]

Sorry about the loss of the ewe and her lambs. Sometimes it doesn't seem to be worth it. Been there, done that enough times.
At least the other ewe surprised you with a second, LIVE lamb.

Are these the last that are due to lamb before you leave for Texas? Hopefully no more to worry about for a bit.

I was "tongue in cheek" about being glad that I am single and no one to answer to about the "travel route".... I am sure he is a great guy and you just "roll your eyes" and go with..... .
Sometimes would like someone to have the roll the eye's situation...... but better to be single and content, that to be with someone you are at odds with all the time.

 

[SageHill]

Just read your posts (albeit years old posts ). A fellow So Cal person. I competed in herding trials in San Fernando / the San Fernando Valley about 30 or so years ago. Drove through the area about a year ago or so and
wow it has changed A LOT. As with many of those I trialed with we got our own ranch and now have sheep but really don't trial much any more. We're in Valley Center a couple/few hours south of you.
LOL - hot day so I'm perusing the boards here before I head out to the feed store.

 

[murphysranch]

I'm sooooo sorry. I'm sure it hurts really badly, and takes a while to get over. You tried your best!

 

[Bruce]

We're in Valley Center a couple/few hours south of you.

That puts you about 15 miles SE of my younger sister in Fallbrook

 

[SageHill]

That puts you about 15 miles SE of my younger sister in Fallbrook

Practically neighbors!!
Does she have sheep?

 

[Ridgetop]

I am sure he is a great guy and you just "roll your eyes" and go with..... .

Sometimes I think I'm getting eye strain from all the eyeball rolling. A cold cloth over my eyes and a quiet lay down with the blinds drawn is sometimes necessary!

Yes, it's rough to lose animals but that is part of being a rancher or farmer. Most people don't understand the risks and the monetary losses it means to farmers and ranchers. We are lucky that this doesn't affect our main income stream. August has not been a good month though. One ewe and about 4 lambs lost. But many people have lost a lot more to this drought and to flooding in different parts of the country.

A couple more need to lamb still. P5 and P9 show as due September 6, and 8174 did not mark but has giant udder and should be lambing anytime now. We moved her up and she is sharing a small pen with lots of shade with the young ramling. DS1 says he will try to get her into a jug in the barn tonight when it cools off. If she lambs where she is at it will be fine as long as she stays at the top in the shed or near the water and feed where it is level. Otherwise there is a lot of hillside - don't want those lambs rolling away. Hopefully she will lamb before Sunday. P9 is due 9/6 with a definite marking, but P5 did not mark. She seemed to have been overlooked when everyone was moved to the breeding pen. I don't know how she shows as being in the breeding pen since she is on the large field. I also don't know how she got on my calendar with a lambing date! She will go in with the next group to be bred.

Super hot here - 111 degrees yesterday and 91 degrees at midnight. Today supposed to get to 112 degrees! This is one of those summers that California occasionally has that are off the charts hot and it does not cool down at night. This is not gobal warming since I can remember some years like this from childhood on. When we moved to this house with no AC, we had at least one summer like this and the kids slept on the patio on cushions to catch whatever breeze there was. Also had a couple in our old house where we only had AC upstairs. That house had 10' ceilings and stayed bearable downstairs with ceiling fans.

Governor Gruesome has figured out how to reduce pollution and vehicle congestion on our California roads. He passed a law that no gas engines can be sold after 2035, that at least 35% of all cars to be sold must be electric after 2025 BUT NOW SAYS THAT WE SHOULDN'T USE ANY ELECTRICITY BETWEEN 4 pm AND 9 pm! No AC, no appliances, and no EV charging. All electric car drivers will be having issues with this. Since it is voluntary compliance how many do you think will obey? I bet Pelosi, Gruesome, and our rulers will all have AC. They don't have to drive either, they can take their private planes.

On a happy note, Abbott is now sharing Texas' wealth of illegals with Chicago. Having declared Chicago a "sanctuary city" and continually stating her support for the illegals crossing the border, Lightfoot now is screaming about the havoc this will cause to her city. Apparently sending people to her city is racist and cruel. Not so sure about racist but with all the murders in Chicago is it cruel to send people there? I say, keep those busses rolling!

I have finished packing and loading our clothes into the trailer, DS1 has gotten the stuff we are taking to store in TX out of the shed and it is ready to load. However, looking at DH is still tracking storm patterns and weather. Maybe we will travel back in heavy rainstorms instead of intense heat.

Hard to judge which would be worse or better. I have decided to wait until Saturday to discuss our route since weather and temps may change.

 

[SageHill]

Sometimes I think I'm getting eye strain from all the eyeball rolling. A cold cloth over my eyes and a quiet lay down with the blinds drawn is sometimes necessary!

Yes, it's rough to lose animals but that is part of being a rancher or farmer. Most people don't understand the risks and the monetary losses it means to farmers and ranchers. We are lucky that this doesn't affect our main income stream. August has not been a good month though. One ewe and about 4 lambs lost. But many people have lost a lot more to this drought and to flooding in different parts of the country.

A couple more need to lamb still. P5 and P9 show as due September 6, and 8174 did not mark but has giant udder and should be lambing anytime now. We moved her up and she is sharing a small pen with lots of shade with the young ramling. DS1 says he will try to get her into a jug in the barn tonight when it cools off. If she lambs where she is at it will be fine as long as she stays at the top in the shed or near the water and feed where it is level. Otherwise there is a lot of hillside - don't want those lambs rolling away. Hopefully she will lamb before Sunday. P9 is due 9/6 with a definite marking, but P5 did not mark. She seemed to have been overlooked when everyone was moved to the breeding pen. I don't know how she shows as being in the breeding pen since she is on the large field. I also don't know how she got on my calendar with a lambing date! She will go in with the next group to be bred.

Super hot here - 111 degrees yesterday and 91 degrees at midnight. Today supposed to get to 112 degrees! This is one of those summers that California occasionally has that are off the charts hot and it does not cool down at night. This is not gobal warming since I can remember some years like this from childhood on. When we moved to this house with no AC, we had at least one summer like this and the kids slept on the patio on cushions to catch whatever breeze there was. Also had a couple in our old house where we only had AC upstairs. That house had 10' ceilings and stayed bearable downstairs with ceiling fans.

Governor Gruesome has figured out how to reduce pollution and vehicle congestion on our California roads. He passed a law that no gas engines can be sold after 2035, that at least 35% of all cars to be sold must be electric after 2025 BUT NOW SAYS THAT WE SHOULDN'T USE ANY ELECTRICITY BETWEEN 4 pm AND 9 pm! No AC, no appliances, and no EV charging. All electric car drivers will be having issues with this. Since it is voluntary compliance how many do you think will obey? I bet Pelosi, Gruesome, and our rulers will all have AC. They don't have to drive either, they can take their private planes.

On a happy note, Abbott is now sharing Texas' wealth of illegals with Chicago. Having declared Chicago a "sanctuary city" and continually stating her support for the illegals crossing the border, Lightfoot now is screaming about the havoc this will cause to her city. Apparently sending people to her city is racist and cruel. Not so sure about racist but with all the murders in Chicago is it cruel to send people there? I say, keep those busses rolling!

I have finished packing and loading our clothes into the trailer, DS1 has gotten the stuff we are taking to store in TX out of the shed and it is ready to load. However, looking at DH is still tracking storm patterns and weather. Maybe we will travel back in heavy rainstorms instead of intense heat.

Hard to judge which would be worse or better. I have decided to wait until Saturday to discuss our route since weather and temps may change.

Sorry about you ewe and lambs. Never easy - highest highs and lowest lows in this.
Dang - wish I'd been here earlier - you are a wealth of knowledge.
I'm slowly adding more sheep - and always looking for Dorpers. Having come from the dog world of herding I've switched over to having sheep rather than only trialing my dogs (huge different between working and trialing).
Fingers crossed for cooler weather - 105 here and mid 80's at night - ugh from San Diego.
Safe travels to your TX ranch.