RIP Cupcake

Cupcake

April 2009 - February 2016

Below is the story of Cupcake & how she came to be the famous sheep that she is today.  It's amazing how attached you can get to an animal whether it is a cat, dog or a sheep......

Unfortunately, we loss Cupcake last night due to birthing complications but her baby is with us & we will raise her (Sprinkles) and love her just like we did Cupcake.

Cupcake will be missed.

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Originally posted on April 9, 2009

If you are on Facebook you know all about Cupcake the Lamb but for those of you not on Facebook here is Cupcakes story:

Lee decided that we needed to add lamb to our Farmer's Market fare so we bought 3 bred ewes (moma sheep) about a month ago- I'm pretty sure I posted about that.

They have all had their babies now. The first was a little black lamb which Charlie named Blackie. Next came a set of twins which for some reason have not been named and lastly Cupcake & her twin brother Brownie (Rosty named them).

Cupcake & Brownie were born last Friday/Saturday. For whatever reason Cupcake's mom has rejected her and will not let her nurse. In order for Cupcake to nurse without being butted by her mom we would have to halter the mom and make her stand still. We were doing this at least twice a day. Cupcake was able to drink to her little heart's content and was thriving.

Let me back up here and say that on Sunday night/Monday morning Rosty came into our bedroom saying he had just thrown up & Lee was also not feeling good. They both had a stomach bug which I got by Tuesday.

We have had some really nice weather here until Tuesday.

Since Tuesday was going to be such a cold night we had a moma pig that decided to farrow. She had 9 babies. Animals always know when it's going to really, really cold or when you are going to be out-of-town!

Lee had made sure that Cupcake had eaten and then went to check on the pig.

I had been in the bed all day long sick and really did not think about Cupcake and how cold it was going to be on Tuesday night.

When Lee got to the farm on Wednesday morning Cupcake was not well. I guess her mom would not let her sleep near her and be warm but there was plenty of straw in the barn for all the animals. Lee called me and said she wasn't doing well. I said to bring her to me at work and I would nurse her back to health.

Cupcake did not look good when she got to me. Lee brought her in a laundry basket along with a bag of electrolytes and a makeshift bottle (water bottle). A co-worker did not think she would make it through the morning. There were 2 other people in the office and they helped me fill bags with warm water. I took some rags and lined her laundry basket and then wrapped her in my coat, we then took the warm bags of water and put them around her. The big concern was that her mouth was cold and she was not eating/drinking because of this. I took another smaller bag and filled with warm water and placed under her mouth/chin.

I continued to check on her and check the water bags. She was very lethargic and would not move, at one point I thought I had lost her. After about an hour I checked her mouth and it was warmer. Then a short time later my co-worker (a female who is a mother also) came back to check on her and when she lifted the coat from over her head Cupcake raised her head and tried to stand. We were so excited! We tried to feed her the bottle but she wasn't interested.

She eventually took some of her bottle & actually relieved herself on me when I had her out of the basket. I was so excited! She continued to get warmed up and show some signs of life. Later in the afternoon we had her on the floor so she could stretch her legs. This is when Lee came in with the milk replacement. He made her a bottle & she chugged it down!

She came home with us last night and slept in the bathroom and I am happy to say is bright eyed and bushy-tailed this morning.

I was concerned that she would keep us up all night along but I fed her before bed and she slept all night long. I checked on her once during the night and she was snoozing. This morning when I went in the bathroom she was trying to nuzzle me so I made her a bottle that she chugged once again.

She is at the farm today in a pen by herself . I will go over at lunch and feed her. We will let her stay with us a few more nights and bottle feed her. Then we'll just see how it goes from there.

I have decided that she is a permanent resident at the farm now and her mother will soon be mutton!

Lee told me that he never thought she would have made it through the day. I told him a mother's love......

A Mother's Love

Helen Steiner Rice

A Mother's love is something that no on can explain,

It is made of deep devotion and of sacrifice and pain,

It is endless and unselfish and enduring come what may

For nothing can destroy it or take that love away . . .

It is patient and forgiving when all others are forsaking,

And it never fails or falters even though the heart is breaking . . .

It believes beyond believing when the world around condemns,

And it glows with all the beauty of the rarest, brightest gems . . .

It is far beyond defining,it defies all explanation,

And it still remains a secret like the mysteries of creation . . .

A many splendoured miracle man cannot understand

And another wondrous evidence of God's tender guiding hand.