Yesterday we went for a walk in the Peak District. We parked up in Castleton and started walking up towards Hollins Cross. It was a beautiful day, and we were enjoying looking at all the sheep and lambs as we walked past them. As we entered the next field, I noticed a sheep laid near the wall, and she didn't move when we walked to go past her, which was very odd behaviour. I walked closer to her and I thought that she had a dead lamb with her, there was something between her back legs and stretched out next to her. I said to my husband and the kids something wasn't right here, and that I wanted to look at her. She tried to move off at that point, when she stood up we realised that her back legs were tangled up. I got my husband to stay where he was just behind her, and I went round the front and managed to grab her in a sort of gentle rugby tackle around her neck. Once I had hold of her she just stood and let us try to help her.
It was some of her own fleece she was tangled in, hanging off her back end and it was so tight round her back legs it was digging in, and one of them was wounded and had pus in it
we didn't have a knife and I knew she was going to need treating, so my husband set off towards the farm about half a mile away, leaving me bent over hugging the sheep :shock: she decided to lay down after a while so we sat next to her keeping the flies off her. She seemed to be in pain as she was grinding her teeth.
There was no one at the farm when he came back he'd managed to find a bit of broken glass and we managed to cut through some of it to relieve some pressure. In the mean time we saw a tractor in the distance driving towards the farm, so my husband set off running back there in the hope of getting help. Thankfully it was one of the farm staff, and they came back on a quad bike.
The farmer cut all the fleece free, whilst I restrained her. It must have hurt because she struggled quite a lot. My husband couldn't do much as he's just had an op on his hand! Once she was free she just laid out looking stricken and shocked for a bit. The farmer said she'd need antibiotics and painkillers etc, and he picked her up on the back of the quad and took her back to the farm. By the time we had walk to the farm she was walking around, hobbling a bit, in a little paddock next to the house. It was such a relief to have been able to help her.
We were all pleased to be able to wash our hands, it's amazing how greasy her wool was, and the stuff we cut away was covered in pus, urine and poop :shock: I said that we should always carry a knife with us in future :thumb:
Here's a couple of photos
At the scene (me hugging the sheep with my daughter)
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Afterwards on her feet at the farm
It was like being on the set of all creatures great and small
It was some of her own fleece she was tangled in, hanging off her back end and it was so tight round her back legs it was digging in, and one of them was wounded and had pus in it
we didn't have a knife and I knew she was going to need treating, so my husband set off towards the farm about half a mile away, leaving me bent over hugging the sheep :shock: she decided to lay down after a while so we sat next to her keeping the flies off her. She seemed to be in pain as she was grinding her teeth. There was no one at the farm
when he came back he'd managed to find a bit of broken glass and we managed to cut through some of it to relieve some pressure. In the mean time we saw a tractor in the distance driving towards the farm, so my husband set off running back there in the hope of getting help. Thankfully it was one of the farm staff, and they came back on a quad bike. The farmer cut all the fleece free, whilst I restrained her. It must have hurt because she struggled quite a lot. My husband couldn't do much as he's just had an op on his hand! Once she was free she just laid out looking stricken and shocked for a bit. The farmer said she'd need antibiotics and painkillers etc, and he picked her up on the back of the quad and took her back to the farm. By the time we had walk to the farm she was walking around, hobbling a bit, in a little paddock next to the house. It was such a relief to have been able to help her.
We were all pleased to be able to wash our hands, it's amazing how greasy her wool was, and the stuff we cut away was covered in pus, urine and poop :shock: I said that we should always carry a knife with us in future :thumb:
Here's a couple of photos
At the scene (me hugging the sheep with my daughter)
Afterwards on her feet at the farm
It was like being on the set of all creatures great and small
