I feel so bad

[Mom]

I am happily settled back in the no sheep reality. Hat off to you being able to do that. It was the right thing to do!

Me, I am the saver of life, went to extraordinary lengths to save new born lambs, been midwife more times than I ever want to, buried baby lambs (once they were my babies) chucked others down the offal pit. Meh....tis nature!

[rossi]

i think the farmer is going to let us know how the wee bugger got on but he looked good when he left so heres hoping

[NotaGoth]

Good on you for having a heart...

I have a huge heart when it comes to animals.. But when it comes to putting one out of its misery I just can't do it...

I mean.. I'm the girl who passed out on the floor at the vets... Fat lot of luck I'd have....

You did the best you could.. Most would have just turned a blind eye from the start...

[swbarnett]

i dont know how farmers can do this sort of thing.
god im soft

You're not soft. You're warm hearted.

Farmers are conditioned to not looking at a food animal as anything but meat. I grew up every other weekend on a pig farm. I was present as a young lad at some of the killings. To this day I will never see a pig as anything other than a nice cut of pork. Although I do eat venison I don't see deer this way and I don't think I could ever kill one.

[Beemer]

I know the feeling well. The first year we had sheep one was having twins and needed the vet's assistance. That was fine, but about October one of the sheep we didn't know was pregnant had a lamb. It had a deformed front leg and seemed very weak and she kept pawing it to try and get it to stand. I put them in a small holding pen and tried to get it to drink but it was too weak. I got some colostrum from a local farmer and fed it myself for three days but it wasn't getting any better. The attached shot is of him while he was looking like he would make it. We are too soft to put them out of their misery ourselves so I took it to the vet to be put down. Unfortunately the young vet had trouble finding a vein and then had to give two doses as the poor thing just wouldn't die. I tell you, I was just as upset as I was when we took our old cat to be put down. Then last year the same sheep that had trouble the first year had twins again. They arrived okay but she rejected the second one. I wasn't up to being its mother for months so we offered it to a local school kid for lamb and calf day. (It won!) A few months ago our ram had to be put down so we got a neighbour to shoot him as it would be quick. Unfortunately he used a .22 and despite three shots, he was still alive so he had to rush home for his .303. As animal lovers, you can imagine how upset we were - we'd tried to put him out of his misery quickly but the poor thing suffered for about 10 minutes. It still haunts us today.

So I can totally sympathise, despite it all you do become attached to them if you only have a few animals and I know I wouldn't have the strength to be a farmer and deal with that kind of thing on a larger scale.

[jrandom]

Unfortunately he used a .22 and despite three shots, he was still alive so he had to rush home for his .303.

Dear me.

Where did he shoot the poor thing? A .22 behind the ear should do for just about anything.

[Beemer]

Dear me.

Where did he shoot the poor thing? A .22 behind the ear should do for just about anything.

He has cattle so we figured he would know where to shoot as he'd said he'd put some of his own animals down when they were suffering. We don't own guns and have no experience with them but apparently you have to shoot sheep through the back of the head if using a .22. He shot him through the front and of course that only caused pain and suffering but didn't kill him. We got someone else to shoot the last sheep we needed putting down and he used a high calibre weapon and killed it with one shot. My husband was so upset and we both felt bad for weeks after the incident with the ram. He was a really gentle animal and he didn't deserve to die like that.

Having animals sucks when they are sick or dying!

[ynot slow]

They raise about 250-350 calves each year,after my seperation I stayed with them,helped with calves.Most of the sick ones recovered,but a few also died naturally as he couldn't deal with them.One night he said if I could shoot a sick calf,did so and he buried it.They had an old cat put down by vet and bought it home to bury,but left it in a box on deck for couple of days,talk about stink lol.Agree it's not nice to do but is humane thing.

[rossi]

beemer i know what thats like.when i knocked thelamb on the head he just cryed sadly it took 5 blows to put him out and i think thats what made it so bad.i remember when we had our dog put down we brought him home to bury and me tears in my eyes carring him up the path (he was very heavy) he sliped out of my arms and straght on to the concrete.that made me feel bad too

[terbang]

Business as usual down on the farm eh. We used to skin the dead lambs and make a coat out of it for the mismothered ones. It's the smell that the mother recognises and after wearing the rather gruesome coat for a day or so, they had a new mother and all were happy again.