Molly, The Sheep, Overcoming Great Odds And Filling Our Hearts With Joy (19 Images)
This is Molly's story as told by jaderbug12 on Imgur.
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1
Meet Molly!
"This is Molly and her mom, all of us exhausted after a really hard birth. Molly was born to a first time mom- she was a really big lamb and needed a lot of help coming out."
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2
Afterbirth
"After a really hard pull she was totally exhausted- I decided to let her rest for a while but after about an hour she still had not tried to get up and was starting to get chilled"
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3
Getting Molly some needed warmth
"I brought her in the house, set her up with a heating pad and her own space heater to get her internal temperature back up- her body was about 10° cooler than it should have been. I tube-fed her some colostrum to help her get going. She was really slow to show any signs of improvement so I was getting myself prepared to euthanize her if she continued to decline."
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4
Molly the fighter
"I came home from work and she was bright-eyed and awake. Unfortunately, all the pulling to get her out made her shoulders and front legs incredibly weak- they really weren't functioning. I helped her to sit up for this photo. I think she managed to break some ribs during her birth as well. Again, I resolved to euthanize if she didn't show improvement faster."
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5
Small improvements
"A little more time passed and she was able to right herself while still laying down, tube fed her some more colostrum."
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6
Bigger improvements
"The next day while at work I decided if she wasn't trying to stand on her own I would put her down. Wouldn't you know it, I came home and she was wobbling around on her front knees. I kept setting little goals for her, ready to throw in the towel if she didn't make them, and every time she would persist. This was when she got her name, Molly, for the Unsinkable Molly Brown."
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7
"Unsinkable Molly Brown"
"I had some empty paper towel rolls nearby and decided to see if bracing her legs would help her to stand upright, they kind of helped keep her knees straight but her last joints kept buckling over. But it gave me a new direction to try."
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8
Molly get's upgraded braces
"So, her braces got upgraded. Using pipe insulation and vet wrap provided quite a bit of stability for her- they helped her keep her legs straight, helped her walk and gain strength."
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9
Ready to train!
"New workout buddy!"
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10
Brand new world
"A few days after her birth she was up and wandering around and SO MUCH FUN!! She was ready to go back outside with the other sheep but unfortunately, we got some bad weather, I didn't want to put her out with no one to help keep her safe. I tried to introduce her back to her mom but unfortunately, too much time had passed and mom wasn't interested anymore. So, I officially had a bottle lamb."
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11
Hanging out
"She got to hang out in the house waiting for the weather to improve...."
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12
In good company
....which my dogs just LOVED
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13
Letting Molly outside
"But the day finally came where the weather was nice and she was strong and healthy- so she needed to become part of the flock. I was not a big weenie at all about it..........."
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14
Making friends
"Fortunately she made new friends pretty quickly. She knew her name and would come running when I came out with her bottle... Dinner time!"
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15
Saying hello
"She still enjoyed coming out of the sheep yard and play with us from time to time"
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16
Living the life
"Molly made training my dogs more difficult since she decided she didn't need to stick with the rest of the flock when the dogs were out- she decided she'd rather graze by me instead of being worked..."
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17
"...which often made my dogs stare at me like, "she won't move!"
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18
Good girl Molly
"She would often come running from all the way across the pasture if she heard me calling her name... which she slowly quit after weaning her from the bottle. Unless I was out working the dogs- then she was just fine with hanging out next to me."
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19
The end!
"Anyway, that's Molly's story!"
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