Monday evening - notice that one of the number 8 lambs looks very slightly lame after jumping off the ruined building. Make a mental note to have a look at her again in the morning to make sure she's better.
Tuesday morning - number 8 lamb still limping, no better, no worse. Take a bit of video and message Experienced Farmer Friend to see if she thinks it's a sprain or joint ill. (Joint ill is an infection lambs can get from tick bites and it's been a bad year for ticks here so far). EFF messages straight back to say looks like joint ill, give 2ml of antibiotics and if I pop over to hers she'll give me some painkillers as well.
Tuesday afternoon - collect painkiller from EFF, who is up to her ears in yelling lambs because she's dosing hers, go home, take sheep over the road to communal pens without losing too many of them off down the road, fail in an epic manner to catch lamb in the big grass entry pen (they're still flipping fast even when they've got a sore leg), so run them through the pens into the narrow race where I trap the two 8 lambs and their mum. Pick up a lamb, check it has a brown patch on its left foreleg, matching the one in the video, administer two injections, put it back down. Think I'll just have a look at the other one....who also has a brown patch on its left foreleg, but unlike her sister, has a swollen right knee. Yes, I injected the wrong flipping lamb. Ring EFF and confess, go back to her place (she was still laughing when I arrived), get more painkiller, inject correct lamb, give her a blob of blue spray on the head so I can pick her out easily and take them back over the road.
Wednesday morning - go to the field with some trepidation, as last time I had a joint ill case it took nearly a week to clear up and got worse before it got better. Find number 8 lamb pinging around happily, totally sound, and breathe a huge sigh of relief.
Thursday morning - notice that Badger is very slightly lame. Swear. Lots. Watch her for a bit and it's intermittent, so decide to leave her for the day and have another look at tea time.
Thursday afternoon - load up quad with crook, antibiotics and sheep food, thinking that if I take everything I need down with me, Badger will be sound and I won't need it. Get to field, Badger comes racing up the field with her mum. Hooray. Go to quad to grab feed bucket and notice that Badger is standing on three legs and doesn't want to put the fourth one to the ground. Not hooray. Take sheep over the road to pens, losing quite a lot of them off down the road this time, get Badger and mum in the feeder pen to the race, which is nice and small, have a lovely big Badger cuddle while I give her the injection, get everyone back in the field and then go home and confess to Mr F that his beloved baby has a sore leg.
This morning - one very happy Badger literally bouncing around the field on all four legs. Phew.
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. The practice doctor (not my own doctor) then told me that I should just have a healthy diet, take some exercise and do some light volunteering and I'd feel much better. Like that during the past 40 years hasn't helped, including being told that I was one of the fittest people in the ship due to the amount of exercise I did as a naval reservist while simultaneously volunteering for years as a Cub scout leader. Head, meet brick wall.
