Lessons from sheep

I don't know how much I've shared here about our animals, but we have some.  My husband grew up having animals for 4-H projects as well as dinner.  We are continuing with this tradition for our family.  His eventual goal is to be a full-time farmer but until he's at that point, we're moving steadily towards it.

A year ago, we had one dog.  Six months ago, we had a few animals--the dog passed away over the summer, but we added 5 sheep.  And then 2 pigs.  Followed by a dog to protect the sheep and 2 cows.  We then added another dog because Aaron needed a buddy that would be a pet as well as help him herd the sheep. 

The pigs are doing their job--eating, getting fat, fertilizing their pen for a future garden.  They will also be filling the freezer soon.  The calf, T-Bone, is also doing his job in growing to fill the freezer soon.  His mom, Bessie, is pregnant and will give us a calf at some point. 

As of yesterday, our sheep count is up to 11 sheep.  In farming terms, these are great advances. We have 6 lambs.  Allow me to share a bit about these little wooly boogers.  The breed we have isn't at all maternal.  The moms don't seem to care a bit about their lambs.  It's very odd and almost troubling to me.  I'm having to learn that not all creatures on this planet are the same and accept that fact.

The truth is that the boy lambs, 2 are boys, will only be with us a few more months and then they'll head off to be sold for meat.  This is the way a farm makes money, and we are farmers.  I'm having to get my head around this.

One of the dogs, Hank, is a protection dog.  He lives full-time with the sheep is his sole purpose is to protect them from coyotes.  The problem is he's a puppy and a doofus.  He plays too rough with the lambs and has injured their knees.  Very irritating.  Blaze, one of the lambs, is not healing very quickly and Aaron has had to doctor her up a few times.  She isn't nursing and acts like life is just not good.  She lays away from the other sheep.  And does her mom stay with her?  Nope.  She ignores her.  Tears my heart out.

So, last night when Aaron asked me to bottle feed her I was happy to do it.  I thought it would be sweet but it wasn't.  She wasn't interested at all and wrestling with her was just awkward.

Last night, I had her in a leg lock--she was in between my legs as a bent down over her, giving her the bottle.  Aaron had been more assertive with her and I could tell she preferred my gentle approach.  Awkward as it was, son #3 stood beside me and said sweet things to her as I coaxed her to take the bottle.  Such a precious moment for us.  As we did this, I could hear #2 in the pig pen literally chasing the pigs around, asking them to fight him.  It was very humorous to listen to.  #1 was off digging holes somewhere for some imaginary project.

Farming is so much more than I thought it was.  There's a softness to it when the animals need care.  There's a toughness to it when the animals have to be fed even when it's cold outside and we don't want to go.  And there's a beauty in realizing that God created nature to have seasons--seasons of birth, seasons of death and seasons of laughter and tears.  There's not much cuter in this world than watching a baby lamb bound across a field just loving life.  It's also heartbreaking to watch a baby lamb hobble after her mom who isn't even noticing her. 

But they're not people.  They don't have our level of feelings or emotions.  There are lots of things I could complain about with the farming.  I won't go down that road today.  What I love the most is being on this adventure as a family.  Celebrating that Blaze stood near her mom yesterday and that the other lambs are doing well.  Laughing with the boys and Aaron at the silly sounds the pigs make.  Watching Aaron teach the boys how to be men who love the land and work hard. 

As the fabric of our family weaves together to create who we are, it's really beautiful to step back and see that those carefully made stitches are coming together to form a beautiful tapestry.  Maybe not the one I had planned out, but one that is uniquely us.  One I'm proud to be a part of.