Lucy Lamb is given a helping human hand after early arrival
A lamb arrived earlier than planned in the hills above Loch Tay, leading Karen and Alistair Meikle to step in for the baby’s unwilling mum.
The couple moved a year ago to a property at Bolfracks near Kenmore. They have some Highland cows and around two dozen pure bred sheep from several breeds.
Recently they took on some Ryeland ewes that were in lamb.
On Thursday, January 21, after assistance from the vet, a lamb came prematurely but the mother and baby did not bond. So Lucy Lamb, born in the cold and wet, needed human help to survive.
Photographer Karen - of Hoose on the Hill Photography - got her through the first few days when her life was in the balance.
Her husband, retired farmer Alistair, milked the ewe to get the essential first feed of colostrum and they fed Lucy with a syringe.
Karen described needing“coffee and matchsticks”to get through the constant feeding regime and the disruption to home life of the early days:“She was hanging onto life by a thread, so we brought her into the house,
“I would stay with her, trying to get her warm and dry and basically willing her to live.
“We have her in our lovely sitting room it’s the posh dog-free room and has a cream carpet, but that’s where she has taken up residence. Fortunately we had a playpen, so she’s in that for now.
“She still isn’t fully out of the woods yet, but she has fought on and keeps improving.”
This week Lucy is stronger and they have tried to gradually reintroduce the lamb to its mother for a little time each day before bringing her back to the house.