Good morning, dull, pouring with rain, yet even so, this is turning out to be a pretty good day.
Last weekend I found a ewe stuck on her back, which is not that unusual. Often they only need righting and holding steady for a short while, when released they generally take a few steps followed by a massive pee, then walk off. Not this one, after a few attempts I had to give up and go for the tractor to take her home with me. The transport box was already on the 3pt, so I was only away for 5 minutes. As I drove back into the field I could see 2 crows, positioned either side of her head. They were hopping and flapping their wings, each taking it in turn to distract her. Fortunately I got there just in time to stop them taking her eyeballs for breakfast.
I put her under cover in a pen close to the house. This pen is rarely needed this time of year, she had to share it with 3 builders bags of firewood, not that she complained, they were ideal for keeping the wind from further chilling her soaked body. I hoped she would come round as she warmed up and after a couple of hours she was quite alert, lifting her head at the sound of my footsteps. When a sheep wants to die it will, although this one though looked at me as though she genuinely wanted to live a little longer. I brought 3 other sheep into the adjacent paddock for company (sheep are even more inclined to die if left on their own).
The ewe did not recover in the following days, still unable to stand and almost all the food and water by her side were left untouched. A friend who knows everything about sheep had a look at her and said to give it one more day, after that she would have to be shot. There was no improvement, I would shoot her in the morning. I checked the pen at first daylight before going to the gun cabinet in case she had died in the night and was amazed to see her standing, with all the food eaten, most of the water drank. Now she is out walking as good as ever.
My wife always says that when you get to the end of a tube of toothpaste, there is always a little more left. Running out of hope seems much the same.