In a similar vein, I'd been privately gloating about how trouble-free lambing has been this spring; I'm now being severely punished for such premature thoughts. A ewe lamb, not yet one year old, came down with coccidiosis two days after delivering her own lamb. Initially thinking that her hay was too rich, I switched her feed to grass hay, to no avail. After consulting Google and our vet, the ewe is being dosed with Albon, a sulfa bolus, and now, two days later, is starting to firm up and feel better. (As a testament to how scours-free our calves have been, it should be noted that 1993 is the expiration date on our container of Albon.) All my sources of information suggest that coccidiosis is resident in all sheep, that wet unsanitary conditions are triggers for disease outbreaks, and that eggs are totally resistant to all disinfectants. Because this ewe lambed in a dry, freshly-bedded jug that had not been occupied for nearly a month and then was moved with her lamb into a similarly dry, bedded, unused mixing pen, I am inclined to think that lambing stress can be a trigger. The ewe and her so far healthy lamb are now shifting back and forth between two isolated jugs that we are cleaning and liberally liming every twelve hours. Perhaps spreading lime is a futile gesture, but I'm sticking with it and hoping that colostrum will protect her lamb.
As for trips, I escaped for the better part of yesterday and joined my two sisters for a brief presentation at the quarterly MT Historical Society Board of Directors meeting in Helena. We shared the nature of the family collection that we donated to the MT Historical Society--diaries, letters, photo albums, etc.--the steps we took in making our donation, and our intention to provide funding for an intern to digitize the collection. Though I initially felt guilt or remorse at losing personal control of our family story, particularly Mom's 60+ years of diaries, I am now relieved to have our documents safely housed and eager to make them researchable and available to others.
It's time to upload the picture of our newest triplets into this lengthy blog post, and then check the barn. My latest painting, a limited palette version of our matriarch tree with Square Butte as the backdrop, is calling to me on this wet cold afternoon.