As a farmer, you often struggle between seeing your animals as a business and getting emotionally attached, the truth is you cant help but get attached.
People always laugh at my pets because they are lambs or cows but love comes in all ways shapes and sizes and they love you unconditionally!
I remember doing my shepherd thing and saw that one of my Sheep had lambed 3 little darlings, unfortunately one was a still birth, one was fine and the other very week.
Since this was some distance from my house I laid the dead lamb to rest, took up the two remaining lambs wrapped them in the hem of my skirt while guiding the mother back to our farm.
I immediately got to work on the sick lamb. We got some colostrum from the mother, this is vital for new born babies of any species as it contains essential antibiotic properties to help the lambs fight infections. We did round the clock feedings, kept the lamb warm and safe were my top priority.
After days of this, very little sleep and full of worry, the lamb that couldn't stand, shallow breaths and not a sound finally struggled to her feet. She stood for about 20 secs before falling but this was a great sign!! Then after a few hours she stood for about a minute until finally her first steps.
The next day i heard a small bleat. I cant tell you how amazing that sound is. Six months later she is strong, mischievous and down right darling!
Being a farmer is one of the most rewarding jobs ever!
Note: This breed of sheep is a Black Belly Sheep indigenous to the Caribbean mostly Barbados
Her name is Keys