Meet Lilith, aka: The Fire Hawk: aka Silver Lining

"JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t" (jawzx2)
03/25/2020 at 10:42 • Filed to: Sheeplopnik, Farmlopnik

This little BFL is our first cesarean baby ever. Her mother, a yearling ewe, prolapsed and on trying to reinsert the everted uterus her bladder got ruptured... There’s no coming back from that without a level of emergency vet care that VERY, VERY few sheep are valuable enough to warrant, and even then its dicey...

We knew she was close to full term, so we shot her and did a field (er... Barnyard?) c-section. This very pretty little girl is the up-side of a crappy morning.

We milked her momma’s corpse (yeah, great image there eh? Trust me, it was nearly as much fun as you might suspect :p) and filled her up with real colostrum, and at nearly three hours old all she wants is snuggles. Who can blame her, after a welcome like that?

DISCUSSION (38)

shop-teacher > JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t
03/25/2020 at 10:53

DAAWWW! So cute!

Sad to hear that her mama didn't make it though :(

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t
03/25/2020 at 10:54

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t
03/25/2020 at 10:54

Dang. What a way to come into the world. You seem to have a baby sheep infestation at the rate you are going.

gin-san - shitpost specialist > JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t
03/25/2020 at 10:58

Holy fuck that sounds like it was intense. Good to see the little guy doing well.

gin-san - shitpost specialist > JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t
03/25/2020 at 10:59

Also, I guess you got the name from Borderlands?

just-a-scratch > JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t
03/25/2020 at 11:04

The post mortem part of that sounds especially horrible. I'm glad to see the little one doing well.

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
03/25/2020 at 11:07

This makes 77, if my count is cor rect...

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > gin-san - shitpost specialist
03/25/2020 at 11:09

Yup. We were like... “she needs a good name... Like phoenix or something...?” and then we remembered we had an orphan ram lamb named Handsome Jack (who, btw, is nearly as annoying as his namesake) , and we were like “duh! Lilith!”

punkgoose17 > JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t
03/25/2020 at 11:10

Wow. Is the sheep or just lambs?

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t
03/25/2020 at 11:11

And how many house-sheep?

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > gin-san - shitpost specialist
03/25/2020 at 11:13

She seems quite good so far... A little phlegmy, which is not surprising, there's a good chance she tried to take a breath while still in the uterus before we cut her out... As soon as mom's body went into shock she would have tried to inhale... But she seems strong and should survive that, hopefully without developing pneumonia.

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > punkgoose17
03/25/2020 at 11:14

Just lambs. Add 53... Er, 52... To that for total count.

That makes us VERY small for a working sheep farm... Western ranches typically have a few thousand, and Oz and Nz consider 5000 "small".

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
03/25/2020 at 11:15

Just the one ATM. Wilfred and Handsome J ack have both successfully transitioned to full-time barn living. (as have the surviving quads from earlier)

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > just-a-scratch
03/25/2020 at 11:20

I mean, at least she didn't try to kick me, like they usually do... :/

My bird IS the word > JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t
03/25/2020 at 11:51

Wow, nice to see that farming is a fun job... Makes my suburban ass feel all warm and fuzzy

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > My bird IS the word
03/25/2020 at 11:54

Farming is Real As Fuck®

Chariotoflove > JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t
03/25/2020 at 12:06

Great field medicine. Welcome Lilith.

Chariotoflove > JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t
03/25/2020 at 12:08

Please keep posting more Sheeplopnik. I am finding that being reminded of the reality and beauty of creation is helping my mood.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t
03/25/2020 at 12:22

She is SO CUTE! Mrs. Snuze is really going to regret not letting me get a sheep when the inevitable apocalypse comes!

I’m sorry for the crappy morning, though, that’s got to be tough. But she is quite the silver lining.

I saw down below you have 52 sheep and 77 lambs now. What’s the plan for your farm? Is 50-ish head of sheep where you want to stay or are you trying to enlarge the farm?

HoustonRunner > JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t
03/25/2020 at 12:37

OK, so my scrum meeting wasn’t so bad today. Thanks for perspective!

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > Snuze: Needs another Swede
03/25/2020 at 12:51

We’re at a size that two people can manage quite well at this point, but for cash-flow reasons we’d like to bigger. The farm pays all it’s own bills, but we’ve mostly been living off investment income when it comes to us... However we have limitations due to owned land acreage and condition of said owned (and borrowed/rented) land. We need to enhance fertility before we can support more sheep... We’d like to see ourselves at ~80- 100 adult ewes, that would make our cash flow look much better, but we’ve got some work to do, both on infrastructure, process management and market growth before we get there. The Bobolink Yarn venture that we started this year is a step toward the market growth part, and is doing very well so far, but the other stiff still needs to be addressed too.

MoCamino > JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t
03/25/2020 at 12:58

That sounds like a very intense morning, and a rough way to greet the world for Lilith. I’m glad she’s doing well even though mama had a much different outcome. It does me good to see reminders that although my desk job can irritate me, I could have had a much worse day. :)

I’m going to point my wife toward Bobolink Yarn. She’s an avid knitter/crocheter (and all things ‘craft’, really), and she love small-batch yarns that support family businesses.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t
03/25/2020 at 12:59

That’s quite the operation, and very ambitious. Best of luck with all of that.

I think I mentioned before, my cousins raise goats, but they only have a few, it’s mostly a 4H project for their girls. Their real bread and butter is turkeys and corn. They have 200 acres they grow corn on, and lease a few additional parcels, but I’m not sure what the total acreage is. They also have 3 turkey barns sizes for up to 15,000 birds each, though I think at any one time they typically have 18,000 to 24,000 on hand.

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > MoCamino
03/25/2020 at 13:12

When people stay home they have more time to knit... We’ve actually been doing a brisk business in these strange times...

https://bobolinkyarns.com/

Also, we'll have more BFL at http://cloverworksfarm.com soon.

Thomas Donohue > JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t
03/25/2020 at 13:21

Assuming 50% don’t make it past 16 months and are sold as meat?

Nom De Plume > JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t
03/25/2020 at 13:57

T he farm tours will not be intruding on your personal or professional lives this year. Feel safe to wander around in your Union suit at will.

Nom De Plume > JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t
03/25/2020 at 14:01

In larger terms how large was the loss of a yearling ewe producing only one kid?

My bird IS the word > JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t
03/25/2020 at 14:13

Gives you a good perspective on life at least.

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > Nom De Plume
03/25/2020 at 14:32

Its a net loss. If we got two, we'd call it an even trade... At least the lamb is a ewe, so we can roll her back into the flock...

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > Nom De Plume
03/25/2020 at 14:33

Haha, still a little c old for that

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > Thomas Donohue
03/26/2020 at 09:19

Most if the transition to meat happens before 10months, but that ratio seems about right.

Svend > JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t
03/26/2020 at 10:23

Really sorry to hear about your morning and Lilith’s mother.

She really is so incredibly cute.

I hope she doesn’t shit all over the place like the last visitor.

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > Svend
03/26/2020 at 10:34

S o far her poop-spreading skills pale in comparison to Handsome Jack’s. I mean that guy... jesus, it really was bordering on a supernatural ability...

Svend > JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t
03/26/2020 at 10:41

Well fingers crossed Lilith comes through.

sn4cktimes > JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t
03/26/2020 at 12:45

So. Many. Sheep.

sn4cktimes > Chariotoflove
03/26/2020 at 12:46

The wife and I are avid followers of Sheeplopnik posts here.

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > sn4cktimes
03/26/2020 at 13:06

Its not the counting sheep that makes you tired, its working with them...

sn4cktimes > JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t
03/26/2020 at 14:29

But also cute misfit snuggles.