I’ve been sharing a series of pictures of ewes in the flock to help show people the individuals in the web of stories in the flock. I am enjoying sharing these images – I want people to know how we see our ewes as singular beings with their own personalities.
We have two ewes who are a little extra-special, though.
Their names are K and J. They are twin sisters, 10 years old, and just as darling as they surely were as lambs. They are smaller in size than their herdmates. I am not sure why – they do fight for their fair share of food and they aren’t underweight. They’re just smaller of frame. Both are down a few teeth here and there – this will be an issue down the line.
J has a serious look. She’s all business and doesn’t really want to be friends. She trundles right into the middle of the largest Border ewes intent on her share of feed.
K has a gentler face. She is less competitive, more tired, with a broken ear that no longer shows the BFL perkiness it once did.
In 2020, I will need to make a tough decision. As K and J slow down, I need to consider their place here. Can I give them a safe and sequestered place if they become uncompetitive? Each only raised one lamb last year, leaving us to raise an orphan from each. My heart wants to keep them forever, but functionally, we can’t afford to. The other temptation is to give them to a pet home where they could live out their days. Sadly, I have too often seen other people with older animals who fail to recognize when it is time to let a sheep go. I sympathize – it’s hard to recognize a discrete point in a slow decline when it is time to let an animal go. But my responsibility is to the welfare of the sheep, fundamentally, and I must adhere to that. With luck, they’ll keep chugging along and I can keep them here a little longer.