[Roxy]

My neighbour came round just as it was going dark, and asked had I lost a lamb.  Er ....No.  Looked in Finlays pen and he was still there, so definitely not him escaped.  Went up to the neighbours house, and she pointed behind her car, and there was a small lamb bleating loudly.  I had heard a lamb about an hour before, but assumed the farmer had put the sheep in the fields behind ours.  Anyway, I scooped the lamb up and went and looked - no sheep in there. Although, it stretches about 40 acres, so possibly sheep are in there somewhere.  But surely, a lamb bleating like that, the ewe would be around, and calling back. even if the lamb had got through the fence or something.

There has been a farmer back and forth all week, with his sheep trailer, but not sure which fields he is going to - wondered had the lamb somehow fell off the trailer.  By this time it was dark, so impossible to see who had sheep in their field.  I had no option but to keep the lamb for the night.  Its a ewe, ear tagged and numbered on its side.

No telling how long its been away from the ewe - its no more than a week old if that.  I have managed to get it to take a bottle, and it was hungry, but did not let it have too much.  Will offer it some more in a while.

So tomorrow, I will be off up the lanes, clutching a lamb, looking for a ewe who is bleating, and hopefully the lamb will bleat back.

Failing that, I will have to ring animal health and see if they can trace the owner through the ear tag number.

Its asleep in a cardboard box lined with straw, so must be satisfied with the bottle I gave it.

[AengusOg]

If the ewe had twins she will be away with the other lamb and may not be drawn to the lost one, even if she heard it. That's one of the infuriating things sheep do at times.

I hope you get its owner. Well done for looking after it.

[SallyintNorth]

So tomorrow, I will be off up the lanes, clutching a lamb, looking for a ewe who is bleating, and hopefully the lamb will bleat back.

So many ewes will bleat at any lamb in distress, and the lambs of course respond, it can be very difficult to be sure you've got the right ewe.  If the lamb has a number on its side, presumeably its mum will have the same number on her side so you can be sure it really is mum + daughter before loosing the lamb. 

[lamb_whisperer]

Unfortunately if it has been away from its mother for a while, the ewe will reject it anyway.  Ours I must admit are terrible.  Get away from their mother for just a while, and she doesn't want to know!

[Rosemary]

Look on the bright side - it's a friend for Finlay 

[Roxy]

Lamb took another bottle last night, and another this morning, although not too much milk, as it looked about 5 days old.  This morning misty and drizzly - not ideal looking on moorland for sheep and lambs.  Left lamb tucked up in the warm, and set off to look.  Walked into the village checking all the fields, none with lambs that small, or same coloured mark on side.  On the way back, the land that backs on to ours,  way over the hillside, I saw a field of ewes with lambs - ah, small lambs, similar coloured mark.

Thought better not put lamb in in case ewe did not want it. Had to ring directory enquiries for number, spoke to farmer who confirmed lambs and ewes had been dropped off at the field yesterday afternoon.  Looks like this little one got on to the lane under the gate.  He has just been to collect it, and hoped the ewe would take it back.  He said he was very grateful I had looked after it and fed it.  As I said to him, it would be all to easy for someone to take his tags out and  retag as their own ewe lamb had they found it.  He said he had some texal lambs near the house, and one afternoon someone cheekily came in the field and helped themselves to a lamb.

Finlay is pleased its gone, he was not happy at his new lodger, although for some reason Charlie the young cat thought it was a new friend for him.

[robert waddell]

now some of you will gouge my eyes out and stamp all over me  BUT   THIS HAPPENS EVERY YEAR WITH LAMBS  WHAT APPEARS TO BE A NEGLETED LAMB IS ANYTHING BUT THAT THE WELL MEANING INTERFEARENCE OF HUMANS TO ALL ANIMALS IS NOT TO BE COMENDED LAMBS ,CALFS ,DEER ALL SMALL ANIMALS AND BIRDS ARE SUBJECT TO INTERFERANCE A NEIGHBOUR WAS ONLY RECENTLY FUMMING AT THIS VERY SUBJECT AND WE HAVE WITNESSED THIS OURSELVES WITH CATTLE AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH 
THE GOOD THING IS EVERY THING HAS TURNED OUT ALRIGHT IN THIS INSTANCE AND EVERYBODY IS HAPPY IT DOES NOT ALWAYS WORK OUT LIKE THIS

[Roxy]

Yes, sometimes humans think they are doing what is best, and it is not.  In this instance, the farmer could not understand how the lamb had walked all the way it did - I have a feeling some one in a car came down the lane, and just kept driving with the lamb running in front of the car - townies do take our lane as a short cut.

An instance of interfering - my friends mare was due to foal.  Friend is very into never interfering unless something is wrong - the mare had foal numerous times, and was an old hand.  She checked the mare at 6am, no sign of foaling.  It was raining, so she went home, had breakfast, intending to go back and check again.  She got a phone call from a neighbour by the field.  Mare had foaled, and had sensibly lay down under some trees for shelter.  The neighbour, and some passers bv had got into the field, and carried the only just born foal away from its mother.  Why is a mystery, but they said they thought the other horses in the field would huirt it.  They were all brood mares with foals of their own.  Friend got there to chaos - a still wet foal, and the mare had run off into the other end of the field.  The "good doers" got a good shouting at for interering, and my friend was left to get the mare and foal back together, fortunately successful.  But later that day she had to get the vet out as the mare had not cleansed - a direct result of the people disturbing her probably.

[ellisr]

I have the same with neighbours, at the moment I have a neighbour is complaining that one of my ewes (who has just lambed twins and one was taken by the fox) is being mistreated as she has lost a large patch of wool due to stress of lambing as she didn't have an easy time. I have tried to explain this to her and the fact the she has had antibiotics for a gash from a dog attack which hasn't helped and still she insists that the poor ewe is mistreated. I even found her one day on my property trying to feed the ewes and lambs on grass from her lawn mower when i said she couldn't she said I was stupid and sheep ate grass all the time and she just would have any of it, so I have told her if I find her on my property again I will call the police and RSPCA first for tresspassing and secondly for willfully harming my animals