What to do with dead sheep

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Awwwww... So sorry Sheepshape. :hugs This has been one heckuva tough year for you.
 
RollingAcres

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Sheepshape said:
Mid Wales.......land of 12 million sheep and 3 million people. Sheep prices are quite low (but lamb remarkably high in the supermarkets!)

This thread must have caught my eye for all the wrong reasons. My seemingly healthy and beautiful Blue Faced Leicester ewe, Marilyn, aged just 2 dies suddenly on Saturday. In the morning she was in the field 'holding her usual conversation' with me (answered loudly to her name), I went into town for a few hours and came back to find her dead in the field. I have no idea what she died of.I hadn't expected to be going through the process of dead sheep removal with her.
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Sorry for your loss...
 
goats&moregoats

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Sorry for your loss Sheepshape. I had one year that was terrible..a couple years ago. A few kids died day after they were born, Dwarf Nigerians..those were small enough to burn. Had one larger kid I had to bury. However, I wrapped it up in some old chicken wire, some old goat fencing, a piece of old tarp, then another layer of fencing. Before burying it and covering the hole over with rocks.
 
Donna R. Raybon

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Mini Horses said:
I bought a backhoe.[/QUOTE

A backhoe!
EEEEEEEEKKKKKK! OMG don't like the sound of THAT! Over the years we would have an acre of 'cemetery' if we had a backhoe!!!

But, dh says he would LOVE to have one!!!! He got to use one of those cute mini backhoe on a landscaping job. Another good thread along with this one is how to safely put an animal down if vet unable to make it out to do the job.

I think it was in a recent issue of Hoard's Dairyman that talked about using shotgun and lead shot to put down cow. They noted to NEVER use steel shot as it can ricochet off dense bones in cow skull (not to mention what sheep/goat skull density is like.) They also cautioned that a rifle is not good to use because the velocity of the slow just as it leaves the barrell. BTW, on a sheep or goat you never shoot between the eyes, as skull is amazingly 'bulletproof.' On them you go behind the ear.

Personally we use a .22 pistol and make at least three shots in quick succession to put down goats. And, yeah, you tie up SECURELY whatever you are trying to put down. Nothing is as traumatic or embarresing as animal getting up and running away!!! Or even worse, attacking you!!!!!
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greybeard

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=Mini Horses:
I bought a backhoe
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Donna R. Raybon said:
A backhoe!
EEEEEEEEKKKKKK! OMG don't like the sound of THAT! Over the years we would have an acre of 'cemetery' if we had a backhoe!!!

But, dh says he would LOVE to have one!!!! He got to use one of those cute mini backhoe on a landscaping job. Another good thread along with this one is how to safely put an animal down if vet unable to make it out to do the job.

I think it was in a recent issue of Hoard's Dairyman that talked about using shotgun and lead shot to put down cow. They noted to NEVER use steel shot as it can ricochet off dense bones in cow skull (not to mention what sheep/goat skull density is like.) They also cautioned that a rifle is not good to use because the velocity of the slow just as it leaves the barrell. BTW, on a sheep or goat you never shoot between the eyes, as skull is amazingly 'bulletproof.' On them you go behind the ear.

Personally we use a .22 pistol and make at least three shots in quick succession to put down goats. And, yeah, you tie up SECURELY whatever you are trying to put down. Nothing is as traumatic or embarresing as animal getting up and running away!!! Or even worse, attacking you!!!!!
Click to expand...
I have a backhoe/loader combo. Comes in pretty handy for all kinds of things, tho it is very heavy and I don't use it in wet weather. In dry weather tho, it's the thing to have instead of a shovel. I'd not look forward to digging a hole large enough to bury a good sized calf or mature cow with a shovel.
I am not at all sure what the following means:
"They also cautioned that a rifle is not good to use because the velocity of the slow just as it leaves the barrell."
'slow' is a relative term when it comes to rifle ballistics.
Altho a rifle round does pick up velocity between the muzzle and about 50 yards, it's not a heck of a lot of gain.
I've read Dr. Biagiotti's article and another from American Association of Bovine Practitioners that quoted from it.

Both are contradictory, considering velocities and energy at the muzzle of the different firearms mentioned. Energy is important...it is the biggest contributor to knockdown/penetrating power and it's always highest at the muzzle because virtually no energy has been expended propelling the projectile to max velocity.
.
They caution not to use a .22 on a mature cow. It's muzzle velocity is virtually the same as 12 ga 00 shot shell. Winchester .22lr solid point=1070-1125 fps and around 100-140 ft lbs of energy--depending on barrel length.
Muzzle velocity of a standard 12 ga 00buckshot is around 1200fps and energy of 1413 ft-lbs. HOWEVER, each of those 9 pellets has only 157ft lbs of energy.
(in comparison..A really good air rifle pellet ..14.66 grain H&N FTT .22 caliber pellet....leaves the muzzle with 14ft lbs of energy and at around 645 fps)

Captive bolt pistols by the way, the bolt is moving at about 79fps with energy approx 131 ft lbs.
(for you metric folks, that is 24 m/s impact with energy @ 178 joules for the captive bolt pistol)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7463537
ALL bullets, regardless of whether it is a rifle or handgun, gain a little velocity right after they exit the muzzle as the bullet stabilizes from barrel twist, but at a loss of energy.
That added velocity is extremely short lived and drops off rather quickly in low power rounds and firearms.

The only realistic downside to using a higher energy higher velocity round is not ricochet, but the likelihood that the round will exit the backside of the skull. You want the bullet to do it's work and stay confined within the skull. The chances of something like a .270 or even a 7.62x39 round ricocheting off the front of a cow's skull is so low to be virtually non existent tho the former would not be my choice to do the job. It's simply too powerful..
 
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Latestarter

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9mm works just fine in most cases. Could also use one of my other handguns. 357 mag with a .357 or .38 special cartridge, .44 mag, etc... Lot easier to handle in close quarters as well rather than trying to swing a rifle or shotgun around.

Sure wish I had a backhoe with a bucket... or a tractor with a bucket... Any heavy machinery would do for some good... A dozer would be helpful as well. <sigh>

Come to think about it... @Mini Horses didn't you purchase a hay making set up for your tractor? Seems I recall someone on here was talking about doing so. How'd it turn out?
 
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