Inflicting pain

~

Inoculating and tailing lambs – both easier

than I expected and also far harder.

Easier because

I trialled my own maiden method.

Harder because... well...

I had to...

mete out pain.

~

Stalling up

~

First, yard up the mob,

then identify untailed lamb – strangely,

those with tails intact are pristine

while the others are alarming – what does

that imply? Push thought aside.

Slip hand under chin and lift to prance forelegs,

Lemur-dance to stall, there release palmed throat,

so hooves float to slatted boards,

now, nutcracker with legs,

tweak open heavy gate, unpincer lamb,

ewe-bunt with shunting knees,

in yer go, please.

~

Tailing

~

Reach under lamb

with right hand grip shank of far leg,

left hand Phantom masks face,

tucks lamb's consciousness

under wing –

the lamb rolls, obliging.

While legs prong, stiff-astounded,

ease knee into belly.

Load tight green ring onto tool fingers,

squeeze grip to create tautly spread square,

thread tip of tail in, pull through, then

check you have left enough tail

to combat sunburn of delicate bits.

Now, quick flick of wrist, ring asserts death grip –

small sacrifice to duck

savage fly attack.

~

Inoculation

~

Took time

to nut out how to load needle.

Then, more to locate correct treatment,

decipher directions,

practise expelling air, delivering dose.

I was nervous

and the blasted syringe-thing would not

stop leaking.

I would have to inject, triage-efficient, fast,

inure self to process,

focus on minimalizing stress – both theirs

and mine –

so, now inoculate

mind.

~

One last thing

~

Wasn't tails, alone, that needed to be ringed.

Sick, I felt, knowing I had to neuter

several.

One well-endowed lad struggled distressed,

so big he had grown and so testosterone-fuelled

that he leapt twice his height

to attempt escape.

I briefly considered a ring for each but settled on

squeezing – left – right –

into place.

Yes,

farming can seem cruel, what can

I

Say?