We have two new lambs, but came very close to losing one of them.

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Last weekend twin girl Gotlands were delivered to us.  Both were on the small side, but particularly ‘Winn’ or ‘Winner’, (the reason for her name will become clear).

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Our twins were born near the top of the Takaka Hill, so you’d expect them to be robust.  To be blunt, however, they are both runts.  With a weather bomb sweeping up the country, belatedly, on Sunday I put together a shelter, part of which was a dog house, big enough to house the smaller of the two lambs.  The larger one would have to make do with a corrugated iron roof.  I slept soundly, confident that both lambs would be fine.

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 It was lunch time on Monday before anyone noticed that the dog house was on its side.  The wee lamb was trapped inside; cold but still alive.  I was sure she was a gonner.  A vet once told me that when a sheep’s head is locked over on one side, it is beyond saving, and it’s head certainly was.   Her body was half covered in poo. 

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Annette, my wife and a nurse, put her straight in a warm shower.  Having once been revived from hypothermia in this way, I can personally vouch for its efficacy.   But I still thought there was little hope.

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We then got busy with a hair-drier and towels; rubbing and rubbing. 

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Dehydration was the next issue to address.  I fetched a large syringe to feed warm water into its mouth.  When it accepted the water, I had the first thought that there might be a happy ending.  We were still working to raise its body temperature, but Annette said we needed to get some energy into it.  I googled ‘ and learnt that a treatment for hypothermic new-borns was injecting 20% dextrose solution straight into their stomach.

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We didn’t have Dextrose, but we had honey, which, when mixed with water, our lamb would take by mouth.  Things were looking more promising by the minute.

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When I went back to work our lamb was comfortable in a large box by the fire and eating grass.

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When I returned two hours later, Annette had taken her back to the paddock because Winn had started wandering about the house looking for her sister.

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Winn is scrawny.  She’ll never be large, but having survived thus far, we hope to grow her into healthy, albeit small Ewe.