Mini cheviots

Looks like the lambs made a good trip home, in spite of the heat. Nice looking
Cheviots! They look quite happy, having hay to jump up on. Light color wool is
a nice color against the green pasture grass.

Are they getting friendly to you? Cheviots seem quite happy with each other,
so any extra time you can handle them should improve their ease to work
with. I hate it when the sheep see you and run the OTHER way!

You might want to mow their pasture now and again, to keep the weeds down,
encourage new grass growth by removing old long leaves they don't eat. Just
like lawns, the more you mow (at a taller height) the more the grass grows.
Keeps your pasture producing well. Then come Fall, you let it grow as it will,
to go over the winter.

They are CUTE!

Bridgemoof said:

We got Beatrix from a farm in Maryland, outside of Baltimore. Her and 3 little devilish Shetland sheep, which have been roaming around the entire farm ever since they got here. They come and go right under the electric wire like it's nothing! They do stay in the areas that we have the electroweb fencing though.

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No one around here has miniatures and I had a hard time finding white lambs. Well worth the trip to Alabama tho!

We have 4' woven wire no climb horse fencing (made in the USA of course!) which is also attached to our gates. We blocked any small spaces, anywhere I thought they could get their heads thru, between gates and posts with some 2x4s. It is pretty secure. I hope it is enough to deter other critters from getting in as well.

goodhors said:

Looks like the lambs made a good trip home, in spite of the heat. Nice looking
Cheviots! They look quite happy, having hay to jump up on. Light color wool is
a nice color against the green pasture grass.

Are they getting friendly to you? Cheviots seem quite happy with each other,
so any extra time you can handle them should improve their ease to work
with. I hate it when the sheep see you and run the OTHER way!

You might want to mow their pasture now and again, to keep the weeds down,
encourage new grass growth by removing old long leaves they don't eat. Just
like lawns, the more you mow (at a taller height) the more the grass grows.
Keeps your pasture producing well. Then come Fall, you let it grow as it will,
to go over the winter.

They are CUTE!

Click to expand...

Yes, and thanks to your suggestion of adding ice to their bedding all the way home, the trip was a bit less stressful for them! We stopped every couple hours to check on them and add more ice from the coolers. They never stopped eating...which was a good sign to me. It was 9pm and dark out when we got home so I think it was also less stressful moving them in the dark into the barn.

Well they are not as afraid of me as they were a few weeks ago... but they don't come to me. I can get about 10 feet from them then they take off. They go back in the barn at night on their own so for now I go out and close the door. I go out in the morning and gather them into a wire expen I keep in the barn (I used when I showed dogs), put a halter on and handle them. They still fight me on this but they are a wee bit better. So far they snub their nose at any treat I offer them, lol! I am not expecting them to tame down like a puppy dog...just calm down and not be so afraid of being handled.

Thanks for the tip on managing the pasture! I have a decent riding mower I cut our grass with. If I leave the deck up I think it will leave the grass about 6 or 7" long. Will that be a good enough height to leave it? How often should I even it out? Every couple weeks or is that too often?

I really appreciate the suggestions!

bluebirdsnfur said:

Thanks everyone! Lol, that hay pasture right behind our fence belongs to a local farmer...I wish it were mine! It's a beautiful 7 acres! Cait and Duglas's little pasture is only half an acre. We have a haf acre in front of the house we hope to fence in next year. Yeah, the grass is pretty green and lush right now because we have had so much rain. Very unusual for August. :/

Bridgemoof...where did you get Beatrix from? Love her name! Mine are from Terry Babb in Alabama.

Pearce...you are right down the road from me. I am in Valpo. You're welcome to come visit anytime! I love your little goats!

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WOW that is so fun!! I would love to! And you are welcome to come play with goats too.

Would love to visit sometime and play with the goats! We love the Scarecrow Festival Wanatah has. We try to go every year since we moved to Valpo eight years ago.

We are really enjoying Cait and Duglas and sometimes invite them into the back yard. They do have fun climbing on and off the deck and will even talk to their reflection in the sliding door. The little pen they are looking into is where our greek tortoise, Kramer Dude, lives during the summer.

Well they sure are CUTE, so I guess worth the drive to get them! Glad the ice helped
them travel easier in that summer heat, one less worry for you.

They "look" quite friendly, how do they work in real life? We kept bells on our lambs
too, easy to locate fast, horses knew where they were all the time. Just looking at them makes
me want to sink my fingers in the wool. SUCH a nice feel to Cheviot wool! Daughter
used to graze her lambs in the yard, before I put in so many bushes. Not sure which
might give them a bad reaction, so they usually got grazed in the horse paddocks on
plain grass.

Turtle corral sounds interesting, have only heard of folks who did that. Never saw any
in photos. I never knew turtles dug so much until folks wrote about trying to keep them
confined! What kind of turtle do you keep in there? Is it quite elderly or just a young one?
We would keep a turtle for a week or so as kids, painted turtles we found near the river
or picked up in the street. Then we returned them to a wet place. Sometimes we
found box turtles, but again, just kept them for short times, released them near where
they were found if it was a safe place. Anyway, sounds cool having a turtle that needs
his own corral.

goodhors said:

Well they sure are CUTE, so I guess worth the drive to get them! Glad the ice helped
them travel easier in that summer heat, one less worry for you.

They "look" quite friendly, how do they work in real life? We kept bells on our lambs
too, easy to locate fast, horses knew where they were all the time. Just looking at them makes
me want to sink my fingers in the wool. SUCH a nice feel to Cheviot wool! Daughter
used to graze her lambs in the yard, before I put in so many bushes. Not sure which
might give them a bad reaction, so they usually got grazed in the horse paddocks on
plain grass.

Turtle corral sounds interesting, have only heard of folks who did that. Never saw any
in photos. I never knew turtles dug so much until folks wrote about trying to keep them
confined! What kind of turtle do you keep in there? Is it quite elderly or just a young one?
We would keep a turtle for a week or so as kids, painted turtles we found near the river
or picked up in the street. Then we returned them to a wet place. Sometimes we
found box turtles, but again, just kept them for short times, released them near where
they were found if it was a safe place. Anyway, sounds cool having a turtle that needs
his own corral.

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Lol, no...I would not call them 'friendly'. If I come out with a small bucket of corn they do come up to me. I walk around and make them follow me for awhile. Then I stoop down to their level with my back to them. When they come in front of me I feed them a little by hand and rub under their chin. When they stick their head in the bucket I can rub theirs heads and necks. Then I dump the rest in a pan and walk away. I always walk away first. That way I feel they know I am not a threat. I leave them always wanting more. And, yes, since they are my first sheep ever...I do love sticking my fingers in their wool!

The bells sound really nice, not offensive at all, and let me know where they are. I had also read that bells can help deter preditors. Funny...the collars and bells never bothered them from day one. Never rubbed or scratched at them like a puppy would.

Kramer is a desert greek tortoise... about 6" or 7" long. He is a vegetarian and eats an assortment of plants, fruits and vegetables. We have had him for 6 years now. He is sort of a rescue case. He had an URI and was loaded with worms when we got him. His outdoor pen used to be my flower garden. It is 8' x 15'. There is hardware cloth all around the inside perimiter on the ground covered with dirt and mulch so he cannot dig out. All the plants are safe and edible. He loves the sun but has plenty of shade as well. He LOVES strawberries! They are his favorite treat! He also really enjoys the red hibiscus flowers when they fall on the ground. He has to come in the house for the winter. We keep him in a 3' x 4' tortoise table with a heat/sun lamp. He is soooo not happy in there!



Cait and Duglas nibble on all the bushes and plants in our back yard. It's like watching kids in a candy store! The only one I worry about and shoo them away from is the cherry tree. They actually seem to favor the leaves on the birch tree. I love inviting them into the back yard...they are a hoot!

Sheep girl- I just joined and read an old post where you spoke nicely of mini cheviot. You mentioned 'toy'. Who breeds those? I haven't been able to find them

I bought mine from Terry Babb in Selma AL.