We are relieved to share that Joseph the lamb is doing very well after the coyote attack Tuesday afternoon.
PHEW.
He is recovering amazingly quickly–physically at least. The vet stitched him up and he has five days of penicillin, pain meds, and this anti-fly spray stuff once per day. He’s now on day #4 of treatment.
Joseph had a definite hobble the first day, but each day his limp has gotten better and better. It was hard watching him trying to run the first day or two because he was so gimpy (and slow), but now he’s a lot better. I don’t think most people would even notice that he has a little hobble when he walks now.
In terms of personality, though, he’s still not entirely himself. It’s actually pretty funny. The first morning or two after the Awful Coyote Attack, Ron let the sheep out of Fort Knox around 6 in the morning. Several of the sheep tend to wander by, pause, greet Ron, and get a few pets before moving on to graze.
[OK, think about this for a minute. Sheep greeting their shepherd and wanting pets!?!?]
The first few mornings, Joseph wandered by and stopped for pets. After a pet or two, he suddenly stopped and then dashed off. It was like the cartoon bubble over his head said, “Good morning, Ron! Ahh, pets… Wait!?! I’m not supposed to like you right now because you held me for over an hour while the vet stitched me up and now you are giving me a shot, pain meds, and spraying that strange stuff on me…”
That said, we’ve been able to nab Joseph pretty easily to give him his daily treatment. He’s a pretty resilient and sweet lamb. Ron grabs him, flips him over on his butt, I’m the nurse’s aide and hand Ron the syringe and pain pills, while trying to help keep Joseph from wiggling too much. I’ve been getting a handful of corn and putting it my pocket for after his little medical regime. Joseph seems to really like the corn treat. He often doesn’t get much, if any, because the adult sheep are much bigger and more motivated.
Two more days of post-attack treatment and then hopefully he’ll keep recovering without any issues.
And hopefully we won’t have any more coyote attacks thanks to Tio Diego who is now integrated with the flock.
More on that tomorrow.
white pine farm 