Joy comes to Villa de Micaela

Last Wednesday evening, I went down the hill to feed the sheep. Bella didn't come to eat. She stayed in the small sheep shed, just lying there. She was quiet and not moving anything more than her head. She tried to stand, but couldn't seem to get her legs under her. She just didn't seem strong enough.

I brought her some hay and she began eating, so I knew she wasn't too bad off. Later on, Rueben helped me get her on the sled and drag her up the hill to the shop where we made her a bed in the kennel. We thought she might be in labor, but she was so quiet. She looked great except that she couldn't get up by herself and couldn't stand.

On Friday, Rueben called the vet since Bella still had not gotten up. She was eating and drinking and was also peeing and pooping just fine, but she couldn't get up. The vet came and told Rueben that Bella was definitely not in labor, but she couldn't tell us if Bella was pregnant or not. She took blood and a fecal sample and told Rueben she would get back to him on Saturday.

Rueben had to run some errands and when he got back, he heard a ruckus down the hill with the other sheep. Corina was making all kinds of noise like she was really hurt. Rueben rushed down the hill and realized at once that Corina was in labor. He got the camera and took lots of pictures and videos. At one point, Corina was lying on the ground, not moving, not making a sound. Rueben went a little closer and saw that the lamb was half born. It was breach. The back legs were out, but the shoulders, head, and front legs were still inside. He had to help. He pulled the lamb out and cleared its face of the placenta and it took a breath! Then, he backed off and began filming again.

After I got home from work (yes, I missed it ALL!), we brought Corina and the lamb up the hill also to the kennel in the shop. It got down to freezing (or lower) Friday night and we didn't want the new baby to freeze. Though Corina is a new mother, she has turned out to be a great mother. She seems to know all the right things to do. It's amazing how God made mothers know just what to do!

We tossed around several names for the new lamb including Sunshine, Spring, and Blossom. We decided on Joy since she has brought Joy to Villa de Micaella!

On Saturday, the vet called about Bella. She is very weak, has a low white blood count and bands in the white blood cells. She has some kind of infection going on so the vet gave us some antibiotics to give her for seven days. Hopefully, this will make her well.