Buddy!

Buddy was born on September 5th, 2022, and was violently rejected by his mother. Sometimes it just happens, unfortunately. He was badly bruised, quite lame on his right side, very little and extremely weak.

He arrived at my door in a tiny box and I gently slipped a warm hot water bottle below him and kept him quiet in a sunny spot of her lounge room. My first attempts to feed him some milk failed as his face and mouth were badly damaged – he was too weak and too sore to suck from the bottle. Night one was a quiet one and the next day was almost as grim as the first for the poor wee fella.

I’d sit by his little box, watch him breathing and gently stroke his tiny body. “Aww little buddy” I would say quietly as I worried about his ability to heal.

I’d been told not to name him as his recovery seemed like a long shot. So ‘my little Buddy’ was what I used when I talked both to him and about him.

By night 2 he had taken some milk and managed to stand for short times in his little box – it was incredibly encouraging. On day 3 he was gently lifted into the car and taken with me to the Dunedin Polytech where I was starting day 1 of a bee keeping course. He was the model student sleeping peacefully at the back of the classroom in a portable play pen and then enjoying the sunshine in the garden during the classroom breaks.

Day 3 was his turn-around day. He managed some very wobbly steps and took the bottle more easily. He was healing! His swollen, floppy and bruised little ear started to recover but his back leg was still troubling him. He found it so difficult to sit down once he was up as he couldn’t bring his hind leg beneath him. He would try and try and try and then eventually just flop sideways onto the carpet in the lounge room, exhausted from 30 minutes of trying to sit ‘lamb’ style.

From day 4 onwards he continued to improve, little by little and by day 6 he was cautiously bouncing around the lounge room – often returning to me for a chin rub where he’d really lean into my hand, close his gorgeous wee eyes and pause for a little gentle love and attention.

From the day 5 he was travelling with me morning, midday and evening, 3 kilometres down the road to the building site – at first he sat in his little box in the passenger foot well and then later on he’d travel on the passenger seat. When he heard and felt the car engine start he would sit down and until we’d arrived. When the car engine stopped he would pop up, gaze out the window and become very impatient to get out and play on the grass under Rex (the big old oak tree).

Before long he was racing around the property and exploring the various areas – one of his favourite spots was the studio floor, where he seemed to love the sound of his tap-dancing hooves on the old Rimu floorboards. He’d bounce from one side to the other and back again.

During one of his tap-dancing performances, he bumped into a green bucket and knocked it over sending it on a slow circular roll. He was so fascinated by this new toy! He started pushing the bucket around and discovered he could push it over the edge and this became a regular new challenge. He’d find a bucket, nudge it over and then push it off the edge, where I’d pick it up and put it back – and the process would repeat again and again. Each time he manged to push it off the edge he’d do a little jump for joy at his clever achievement.

He explored the garden and found the sorrel which was one of his favourite treats. Sometimes he would leap straight from the car seat and jet straight over to the sorrel patch. One of my all time favourite times was when he found the little green cherry tomatoes. He munched every one of them off the tomato plant and green seeds were squirting out of his cheeky little mouth in all directions.

When he was 6 weeks old and keeping a nappy on him was becoming a real challenge, he was moved to a piece of land close to the Glasshouse project. I managed to find a cheap, second-hand dog kennel that was lined with carpet inside and was a good size. As soon as we put it on the ground, he immediately jumped in and it’s still remains his favourite hut today.

I would go and get him 3 times a day on my way to check the building progress. He’d follow me the short distance from the yard to the glasshouse project to have his bottle and a play. I’d return later in the evening to give him his night-time bottle and would often spend an hour or so with him, just sitting in the quiet and watching him nibble on the various trees and shrubs in his new yard. Sometimes he’d be full of beans and he’d race around entertaining himself and me. This routine continued for 3 months.

When he was 5 months old, he was relocated to the builders small farm to be with 4 other hand raised lambs his age. He wasn’t incredibly impressed but was very well looked after and although he was now 25 mins drive away, I’d go and pick him up every weekend or every second weekend and bring him back to the glasshouse for a ‘playdate’. At this stage he was too big for the front seat and would happily jump into the back of my little hatchback car (really turning heads in the cars travelling alongside). He travelled most of the way standing up and after a good few hours hanging with me we’d head back out – and he’d sleep all the way, tuckered out by his adventures.

When he was 1 year old he was moved to a friend’s lifestyle block with other sheep and again he protested for days before he settled in for just over a month. I’d go and spend hours and hours with him until we both eventually moved into the finished glasshouse project – our forever home – in September 2023.

Buddy now has the backyard where his beloved dog kennel sits and the front yard where his new fancy ‘big boy’ hut sits below the entry deck. He’s rotated around them both to give the grass time to rest and recover. He’s fed the best sheep nuts and lucerne mix money can buy to supplement his grass diet. He gets diced carrots a couple of times a week, loves to steal cherries from my morning tea plate (and the occasional shortbread biscuit) and recently I discovered he absolutely loves dehydrated oranges.

Now that he’s a little older, his natural ramming tendencies have emerged. While I can touch him all over, he reacts instantly when anyone else touches him on or near the head – it’s a real trigger point for him. So we’ve had some interesting encounters with others over the past few months that have lead me to make up a couple of signs to hang on the fence to warn people about not patting his head.

He’s an inquisitive little fellow and is as bonded with me as I am with him. He’s carried me through some very trying times and I find great inner peace spending time with him. He thoroughly enjoys his evening massage and will ‘baa’ relentlessly if I’m late. He’ll sidle on up to me and let out a huff if he feels I’ve not spent long enough on one side and then will turn around for me to massage the other.

I’ll never forget those early days and his journey back to life. He is simply the most gorgeous thing and the best companion I could have hoped for. I pick up his ‘doodies’ every day and use this on the garden, his massages keep my gardening hands in perfect condition, his wool is kept for my mother to spin, he keeps the lawns perfectly trimmed and he’s incredibly fun to watch and be around.

Buddy was born on September 5th, 2022, and was violently rejected by his mother. Sometimes it just happens, unfortunately. He was badly bruised, quite lame on his right side, very little and extremely weak.

He arrived at my door in a tiny box and I gently slipped a warm hot water bottle below him and kept him quiet in a sunny spot of her lounge room. My first attempts to feed him some milk failed as his face and mouth were badly damaged – he was too weak and too sore to suck from the bottle. Night one was a quiet one and the next day was almost as grim as the first for the poor wee fella.

I’d sit by his little box, watch him breathing and gently stroke his tiny body. “Aww little buddy” I would say quietly as I worried about his ability to heal.

I’d been told not to name him as his recovery seemed like a long shot. So ‘my little Buddy’ was what I used when I talked both to him and about him.

By night 2 he had taken some milk and managed to stand for short times in his little box – it was incredibly encouraging. On day 3 he was gently lifted into the car and taken with me to the Dunedin Polytech where I was starting day 1 of a bee keeping course. He was the model student sleeping peacefully at the back of the classroom in a portable play pen and then enjoying the sunshine in the garden during the classroom breaks.

Day 3 was his turn-around day. He managed some very wobbly steps and took the bottle more easily. He was healing! His swollen, floppy and bruised little ear started to recover but his back leg was still troubling him. He found it so difficult to sit down once he was up as he couldn’t bring his hind leg beneath him. He would try and try and try and then eventually just flop sideways onto the carpet in the lounge room, exhausted from 30 minutes of trying to sit ‘lamb’ style.

From day 4 onwards he continued to improve, little by little and by day 6 he was cautiously bouncing around the lounge room – often returning to me for a chin rub where he’d really lean into my hand, close his gorgeous wee eyes and pause for a little gentle love and attention.

From the day 5 he was travelling with me morning, midday and evening, 3 kilometres down the road to the building site – at first he sat in his little box in the passenger foot well and then later on he’d travel on the passenger seat. When he heard and felt the car engine start he would sit down and until we’d arrived. When the car engine stopped he would pop up, gaze out the window and become very impatient to get out and play on the grass under Rex (the big old oak tree).

Before long he was racing around the property and exploring the various areas – one of his favourite spots was the studio floor, where he seemed to love the sound of his tap-dancing hooves on the old Rimu floorboards. He’d bounce from one side to the other and back again.

During one of his tap-dancing performances, he bumped into a green bucket and knocked it over sending it on a slow circular roll. He was so fascinated by this new toy! He started pushing the bucket around and discovered he could push it over the edge and this became a regular new challenge. He’d find a bucket, nudge it over and then push it off the edge, where I’d pick it up and put it back – and the process would repeat again and again. Each time he manged to push it off the edge he’d do a little jump for joy at his clever achievement.

He explored the garden and found the sorrel which was one of his favourite treats. Sometimes he would leap straight from the car seat and jet straight over to the sorrel patch. One of my all time favourite times was when he found the little green cherry tomatoes. He munched every one of them off the tomato plant and green seeds were squirting out of his cheeky little mouth in all directions.

When he was 6 weeks old and keeping a nappy on him was becoming a real challenge, he was moved to a piece of land close to the Glasshouse project. I managed to find a cheap, second-hand dog kennel that was lined with carpet inside and was a good size. As soon as we put it on the ground, he immediately jumped in and it’s still remains his favourite hut today.

I would go and get him 3 times a day on my way to check the building progress. He’d follow me the short distance from the yard to the glasshouse project to have his bottle and a play. I’d return later in the evening to give him his night-time bottle and would often spend an hour or so with him, just sitting in the quiet and watching him nibble on the various trees and shrubs in his new yard. Sometimes he’d be full of beans and he’d race around entertaining himself and me. This routine continued for 3 months.

When he was 5 months old, he was relocated to the builders small farm to be with 4 other hand raised lambs his age. He wasn’t incredibly impressed but was very well looked after and although he was now 25 mins drive away, I’d go and pick him up every weekend or every second weekend and bring him back to the glasshouse for a ‘playdate’. At this stage he was too big for the front seat and would happily jump into the back of my little hatchback car (really turning heads in the cars travelling alongside). He travelled most of the way standing up and after a good few hours hanging with me we’d head back out – and he’d sleep all the way, tuckered out by his adventures.

When he was 1 year old he was moved to a friend’s lifestyle block with other sheep and again he protested for days before he settled in for just over a month. I’d go and spend hours and hours with him until we both eventually moved into the finished glasshouse project – our forever home – in September 2023.

Buddy now has the backyard where his beloved dog kennel sits and the front yard where his new fancy ‘big boy’ hut sits below the entry deck. He’s rotated around them both to give the grass time to rest and recover. He’s fed the best sheep nuts and lucerne mix money can buy to supplement his grass diet. He gets diced carrots a couple of times a week, loves to steal cherries from my morning tea plate (and the occasional shortbread biscuit) and recently I discovered he absolutely loves dehydrated oranges.

Now that he’s a little older, his natural ramming tendencies have emerged. While I can touch him all over, he reacts instantly when anyone else touches him on or near the head – it’s a real trigger point for him. So we’ve had some interesting encounters with others over the past few months that have lead me to make up a couple of signs to hang on the fence to warn people about not patting his head.

He’s an inquisitive little fellow and is as bonded with me as I am with him. He’s carried me through some very trying times and I find great inner peace spending time with him. He thoroughly enjoys his evening massage and will ‘baa’ relentlessly if I’m late. He’ll sidle on up to me and let out a huff if he feels I’ve not spent long enough on one side and then will turn around for me to massage the other.

I’ll never forget those early days and his journey back to life. He is simply the most gorgeous thing and the best companion I could have hoped for. I pick up his ‘doodies’ every day and use this on the garden, his massages keep my gardening hands in perfect condition, his wool is kept for my mother to spin, he keeps the lawns perfectly trimmed and he’s incredibly fun to watch and be around.