Farmer Rob arrived at 8.30 this morning.  He was holding a cat basket in which was a two week old orphan ewe lamb.  He gave Pinky a thorough check and a shot of antibiotics and then he removed the dead ewe lamb from the barn.  She was cold and rigor mortis had set in but her little pink tongue was protruding from her mouth and her eyes were mercifully closed.  Rob took a sharp scalpel from his bucket of tools and deftly skinned the dead lamb so that its skin came away in one piece.  Then he opened the cat basket and dressed the orphan in the skin of the dead lamb, stretching it in places to cover most of its limbs and torso.  Then he carried the dressed lamb into the barn and introduced the baby to its foster mother who sniffed it, licked it and then allowed it to suckle vigorously for several minutes.  Amazing.

The dead ewe lamb

Putting the Jacob lambskin on the orphan lambe

Introducing Pickle to Pinky

Bonding

I am checking on Pinky and Pickle (as I named her) every hour and will keep them in the barn for the next few days.  Rob will come and “let out” the little sheepskin coat on Wednesday and then a few days later as the skin will not grow with the lamb and will become too tight as the lamb feeds and grows.  So the orphan has a mother and the mother has a beautiful foster lamb.

Settled