Easter brings spring and means a new beginning
From the perspective of Gut Aiderbichl
(written by Gisela Pschenitschnig)
Easter is also the festival when children receive many gifts. Sometimes a little bunny hops out of the gift box. Then, you have to hope that this gift was arranged with the parents to save the child the tears and the animal the "giving away".
Easter reminds us of coloured Easter eggs and freshly born lambs. The feast is also meant to remind us of spring, which will now slowly move into the country, and of the new beginning in nature. Everything will blossom, the meadows will become greener and greener and the sun will shine all day long again.
Happiness is a bird...
A few weeks before Easter, we received calls from farmers asking us to take in little lambs. The sheep mothers had abandoned them and would not let them drink from the life-sustaining milk.
Four little lambs were lucky to be born on the farms of dear people. Their names are Ben, Paul, Lia and Larry. Fate did not want them to die.
Ben - the little lamb with blue, mysterious eyes
He and his sister saw the light of day at the end of February. The mother sheep licked her sister immediately after birth and the little one was allowed to drink. Ben was not touched by her and was not allowed to drink. The farmer fed little Ben with the bottle. However, the feeding has to be done regularly and every hour. What should one do? The best thing to do is to call Gut Aiderbichl. Ben was picked up by our staff. He was not shy and looked around with his mysterious blue eyes. Now he is already a few weeks old, eats hay on his own and is looking forward to his milk bottle. Playmates of the same age would have been good...
Lia and Paul
Sometimes wishes come true quickly. The next morning, another call came from a farmer in Salzburg Land. Paul and Lia were looking for a home. Paul was already one month old and agile, and the mama sheep had not accepted him. The farmer asked us to take Paul too, so that he could have a good life. Normally, young male lambs are slaughtered at Easter and served as roasts. The farmer did not want to do that to Paul.
The small, tender, snow-white lamb Lia caused the animal-loving farmer great concern. The mother did not accept it. Little Lia was very weak and the chance of keeping her alive was 50:50. Our animal keepers accepted the challenge and wanted to do everything to save Lia's life. She was so weak that she did not have the strength to drink. Milk was painstakingly dribbled in with the pipette and finally, after hours, Lia began to pull on the teat on her own, a moment of happiness for our Eva.
Larry, the little prince
And once again the phone would ring. Larry, a young lamb, seemed to ask "Does anyone else want me?". He is a particularly handsome one, but was also not accepted by the mama sheep. Larry's coat is beige, he has tiny black hooves and dark coloured ears. Very quickly he has fitted into the small group of our young lambs.
Lia had become strong enough to smile briefly into the camera with her three friends on the Easter holidays, thanks to the care and attention of our fosterers. She is healthy, strong and has become everyone's favourite.
The four lambs still sleep a lot and prefer to lie close together in the thick hay. Slowly, they will now grow and soon join the group of black-nosed sheep and the Hungarian Zackel sheep.
I don't eat my boyfriend ...
Smiling faces and gentle words were heard from the people as they looked at the four little living balls of wool.
I think that many people who saw Lia, Paul, Ben and Larry at Easter did not eat lamb. I hope people will remember these little creatures and not put roast lamb on their plates in the future. Thank you for rethinking.
Sincerely,
your Gisela
