Sheep Rolling

Sixty degrees and sunshine in March is a reason for celebration in Ohio.

After weeks of gray, rain and mud, I welcomed warmth and light, and made an outdoor chore list that was long and impossible to complete in a day.

I didn't care.

The sun was shining.

Riding the Gator, I went from pasture to pasture, loading up gates and panels that weren't needed. Some were being used as windblocks, some as training obstacles for sheepdog training. Lambing season is two weeks away, and I needed all of them to construct lambing pens.

While working, I delighted in watching the sheep graze and sun themselves on the hillside. One ewe, though, caught my attention. She was lying away from the others, and something didn't look right.

I walked out to investigate.

She was lying on her back with 4 of her legs straight up in the air.

Was she dead? 

She moved her head and I saw the whites of her eyes.

Not dead. Dying? She peddled her feet, but remained flat on her back.

Cast.

Sometime over the years, I'd read about cast sheep. Sometimes, they get stuck on their back and can't get up. If not helped, they'll likely suffocate and die.

This was not a small ewe. She was large, hefty and quite pregnant.

Sometimes, you don't think, and you just do. So, I knelt beside her, reached over to the top of her shoulder and rolled her onto her side.

She shook her head, struggled to her feet, walked a few steps and gave me the look that said, "Thank you, now go away."

And I did. But I was smiling, because I'd just rolled over a sheep.