MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
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over the last week I've stayed in a cottage in wales, behind which was a small sheepfold. Most of the week it was empty, but yesterday it had a sheep and a lamb in it. Th lamb was in some distress, bleating away at another sheep outside the sheep fold.
The sheep outside was in some distress, trying to get to the lamb. I guessed it was the lamb's mum.
The sheep in with the lamb was not interested in the lamb at all, shoving it away whenever it came close.
I was tempted to put the lamb outside with it's mum but guessed it had been put in there for a reason (all the gates were shut).
Has the farmer just got the wrong mum? Why would it be in there?
Lamb might be one of triplets, and its mum might be struggling, possibly.
The ewe in there might have lost all its own lambs with the cold and rain etc, so it might be the lambs only chance.
Could be that the mother ewe had run dry or was being treated for mastitus or something; intention being to try and orphan the lamb to the penned ewe (if her own lamb had died during birth etc). However, from my experience with my fathers flock - orphaning a lamb works best if the ewe/orphan are penned up pretty tight for a while (so she can't shove the lamb away) and the original mother is away so the lamb can't hear the maternal bleating call. Or maybe the farmer just got it wrong...
Load of rubbish from the above replies. Farmers just enjoy being cruel to animals. After you left the farmer came round with a bottle of shampoo to spray in all the little lamb's eyes.