[piggy]

Some of you might remember my post nearly 3 weeks ago about my shock lamb,tonight i go out to feed them(only a handfull to keep them tame) and its gone i am totally gutted,searched round everywhere for last couple of hours but nothing,i just dont get it there is no way it could of escaped out of the field plus i dont see why it would have left its mum,it was 2 days short of 3 weeks and although small it seemed a strong little thing,im gonna search again at first light as the last hour of searching has been in the dark,there are 7 other ewes,2 ram lambs and my tup in with them,could a fox still have taken it or any ideas? and then to top it off me and the OH have just had a massive row.

Karen

[robert waddell]

is its mother still there is she distressed     why have you fallen out         you cant fall out because of a lamb

[jaykay]

Firstly   about the row. And even more   about the lamb.

I think a tup would see off a fox.
What are your field borders - hedge/fence/wall? Lambs can get through/under remarkably small gaps and do, just because they can   Any ditches, rabbit holes?

I hope you hear him yelling in the morning and find him  

[piggy]

Mum is fine no calling doesnt seem worried,the whole boundry is fenced with green wire that looks like chicken wire if that makes sence so it couldnt have got off our land although we looked in the neighbours field just incase,they are in a field with stock fence,the fox is around at the moment as my very silly neighbour informed me yesterday that he didnt shot it as it had a rabbit in its mouth and not one of his chickens,it did concern me that it wasnt yelling as it was quite a vocal little thing.
The row was him and his teenage boy who then buggered off but of course it was my fault for not backing him up.

[andywalt]

maybe he is tucked up somewhere out of view? surely the mother would be calling for the lamb? wow I cAnt believe whats happened !!!! please let us know what you find in the morning!!

[Roxy]

I know foxes (and badgers) are said to take lambs - but I think that is only new born, weak ones?  I know my female goats would die themselves before allowing anything to take their kids, and would say a ewe would do the same.  They would chase off a fox surely?

In the Spring I found a tiny lamb outside our field gate just as it was going dark.  No more than a couple of days old.  I popped it in with the goat kids as it was too dark to go searching for ewes with lambs. I was amazed when I traced where it came from next day - it had squeezed under a field gate, and walked down the lane, quite a long way for such a tiny lamb. Farmer was surprised too.  So, lambs can stray.

Hope you find your lamb.

[Corrie Dhu]

When did you last see it?  If it died something could have carried it off I'm afraid.  Hope you find it.

[Sandy]

Life sends things to test us, but realy its just nature, we cannot watch things 24/7 so do not kick yourself, nature IS cruel!!!

As for a row, these things also happen all the time, take 2 people and put them together, add stress, finances, children, problems and what you end up is 2 people that do not know what the other one wants!!!! I think its hard to live without rows, all part of the colourful people we are, only dull people don't argue!!!

I would be very upset too but just have to keep saying to yourself that you are not to blame!

[marigold]

Seems really strange that the mum is peaceful. I wonder whether its playing tricks on you. I hope so.
With regards to your row - i find that my tup is very understanding. When me and OH fall out I take a cup of tea into the field and tell Bob the Ram all about it. As long as i am scratching his ears, he'll listen for ages.
Hope tomorrow brings a better day

[piggy]

In the daylight this morning i did find the lamb but it was dead,dont know how we missed it last night but im thinking it was dead then,at least it was not a fox,next question as to why it died clean bum,feels a good weight and not a mark on it.

[jaykay]

Our vet says those 'drop dead' young ones are often clostridial. I think you're probably right about it being dead last night, which is why it wasn't yelling and why mum had stopped calling it too.

I'm really sorry 

[andywalt]

ahh thats such a shame im really sorry to hear this news !!!

[suziequeue]

Aw - so sorry 

[Corrie Dhu]

I would have said clostridial before you even knew it was dead.  They die very quickly without warning and it's usually the best lambs as they are growing fast and don't have the reserves to fight off the clostridial infection.

[Rosemary]

Ah, shame