I went to the barn this morning and the first thing I do is scan the sheep and the scene to make sure all is well; everyone alert, their coats intact, nothing seemingly in disaray. You know leaving a flock of animals unattended for 12 hours can prove problematic at times. This morning I instantly spoted this area of blood in the snow. My heart skipped a bit…with no real reason, blood just does this! The flock was quite chipper and happy. So as I fed them and cleaned I kept thinking what could have caused it. Did an owl swoop in on a bluejay? No feathers. The area itself was not broken down as if a sheep had laid there…no blood on any hind ends or noses. No one coughing or sneezing. hmmmm. I took the dogs for a walk and on the way back there were a few sheep eating snow. We have a nice crust now after the rain storm this past week. I went back in and watched as some ate the snow. Low and behold Wetherby, for one, had bleeding gums. Akin to a dog chewing on a rawhide bone, I decided this was not life threatening and even perhaps good gum therapy. Certainly one thing I know for sure, there is nothing that I can do about it! After Wetherby ate some of the snow he went right back to the hay rack to eat. On with the day!
