Written by Leanda Daniels, who also supplied the photographs
It was supposed to be just a quick stop after travelling over 1200km, but it turned into much more than that…
My two sons, two of our cats, our African Grey parrot and I were on our way to the West Coast for our December holiday. We stopped in Namaqualand in my hometown, Springbok, to rest at my parent’s house before continuing the last 140km to McDougall’s Bay.
The lamb was too weak to get up
At around 9am, my dad had received a phone call from his neighbour on the farm next to his. A ewe had given birth early that morning but had left her lamb and didn’t return. The tiny white-and-black lamb was lying in the sun, too weak to get up, and the temperature was climbing rapidly.
It was already over 30 degrees Celsius and the lamb desperately needed milk, or he’d soon be totally dehydrated and die.
My dad and I jumped into his bakkie (pick-up truck) and went to look for the lamb. It wasn’t long before we saw crows circling in the air. We followed them and found the poor lamb lying in the sun. He was too weak to walk, so I scooped him up and took him into the front of the bakkie.
His mouth was hanging open and he was panting excessively. I tried to give him some of my water from a “squirting bottle” and he drank!
We searched for his mother but she was nowhere to be found. We took the poor soul home and started to make him a mix of egg, milk and glucose that resembles more or less the colostrum that he was supposed to get from his mum right after birth. He gulped everything down in a few seconds.
I quickly went to buy him infant lamb milk while he fell asleep on my son’s lap. It was quite obvious that we were going to have another little soul joining us on vacation at the West Coast!
We needed a name
My youngest son decided that he resembled Shaun the Sheep from the hit TV show, so we called him Shaun the Sheep!
We travelled with little Shaun on a blanket and in front of the aircon all the way to the sea. He drank his formula milk like a champ, but all of a sudden, we had a massive setback: he developed severe diarrhoea. By nightfall, he was too weak to drink anything and I was losing hope of saving him. I started giving him Malkosan (an excellent probiotic) as well as infant baby medicine to stop the diarrhoea.
He was sleeping in front of my bed. Right through that night I just kept on giving him little sips of water through a syringe and probiotics.
By daybreak I tried giving him a little bit of lamb formula milk and, although he had enough strength to drink a few millilitres, his stomach was still a disaster. We kept on hoping and praying that he’d pull through, because by now we’d all become very fond of Shaun the Sheep!
Miracle number 2
Over the next 24 hours it was a toss-up between whether he might pull through or he might not…
By the next morning, Shaun the Sheep was beginning to ask for milk, and he was in a much stronger state than in the previous 48 hours. His stomach was settling down and he was building up strength. Little by little he was recovering and becoming quite a character.
He followed my sons and me like we were his mom. If he didn’t see us, he’d holler until we answered him, and then he came running like crazy! He followed us everywhere. The cats began to settle down as well and there was a lot of sniffing going on. When they finally decided he wasn’t part of the “dog species”, he was allowed to lie on the bed with them. Shaun the Sheep quickly figured out that a bed or pillow was a much more comfortable option than the floor!
I bought him baby nappies for the oopsies and soon it was absolutely natural to walk with our lamb on the beach, drive around in the car, and even go on daily trips around town. People stopped us everywhere and took photos whenever they saw him strolling on the beach with us. Everybody loved him, and by the end of the two weeks at the coast, Shaun thought that white beaches and waves were what all sheep experienced daily.
It was amazing to see how he craved love and attention. He’d jump and butt heads with my sons and race up and down the corridor. He slept right next to us, in bed, and if you dared move, he went with us wherever we went.
Late afternoon was his favourite time of the day, because then we’d go for long walks and run on the beach. He was an absolute darling and none of us could get enough of him. Life was surely a treat with Shaun the Sheep!
A very big decision – and a long road ahead
By the end of the holiday, we had to make a very big decision: are we leaving him with my dad so he can in time become the new ram on the farm, or will we be taking him from Namaqualand all the way back to Hartbeespoortdam, a trip of over 1350km?
Of course, we took him with us, because who can resist all that charm?
We started the journey that took us two days to get back to Hartbeespoortdam. My sons were filling up bottles of milk every two hours and changing nappies while I was driving. When Shaun wasn’t sleeping, he was gazing out of the car’s window trying to make sense of what was going on. It seemed as if travelling was something he’d done numerous times! After more than 850km, we stopped and had a sleep-over at a Vryburg lodge that was quite used to all our animals travelling with us. Once again, Shaun the Sheep was an excellent guest and slept right in front of my bed on his blanket.
The next day we finished the last part of our journey. Shaun the Sheep was very inquisitive when we finally got home. He snooped around the house and found the swimming pool very interesting.
Everything continued more or less the same as the first two weeks at the sea. He drank his milk every two hours, slept in front of my bed, and followed us all around the house.
Until Shaun the Sheep decided to eat the WiFi cable… We immediately had to start hiding all wires!
By now he was reaching three weeks of age and began nibbling on everything edible and non-edible. Toilet paper seemed to be on the top of his list, followed by shoelaces. Shaun waited patiently for the boys to return from school in the afternoon and would then play with them on the lawn, and in between, take his naps on his favourite red couch while nibbling on some carrots.
He’d jump into the car the minute he saw an open door. He took trips with us almost every day. By February, it became apparent that Shaun the Sheep needed more activity in his lifestyle. I took him to the stables where my son rode his horse in the afternoon and Shaun loved walking around the stables and just doing “sheepy” kind of things. He met Stoutgat, a baby goat about his age, on the farm. It was decision time again…
The next Chapter in Shaun the Sheep’s life
Jeandre De Lange, also a passionate animal lover and rescuer, immediately agreed that Shaun the Sheep could come and live with all her rescue bucks, dogs, cats, donkeys and pig as soon as he was weaned off his milk bottle. Shaun would be in a farm environment and would have a safe life with them while being a real sheep – and we’d still be able to see him every week.
Moving to the farm
The day finally came when I had to take Shaun the Sheep to the farm. It was bittersweet. I cried litres of tears, but, once I saw him walking around and eating, exploring and being a proper sheep, I knew it was the right thing to do. He was happy and content after a week and growing into a massive lamb!
He loves his new freedom. He most probably would like his red couch in his stall, but I’m sure Shaun the Sheep will improvise in the meantime and use a cosy bale of hay as his new couch. Each week we visit him. Of course, he gets his carrots and lots of kisses and hugs.
