Tamara
Chillin' with the herd
- Joined
- Nov 21, 2013
- Messages
- 19
- Reaction score
- 8
- Points
- 31
I have a four year Ewe names Sophia. She is a chunky girl who I am trying to help loose weight but it is difficult because she lives on a pasture alone at the moment. I am in the process of finding a place for her to stay coming this winter. I live within the city of Philadelphia and as much as I would like to have her in my backyard that is not a possibility. For one I do not own my backyard I am currently renting apartments. I live with my boyfriend who works downtown in Philadelphia at a restaurant. He is required to be at the store as early as 4:30 am to open the restaurant and has to be close. So at the moment until one of us finds another job we can not move outside of the city like we would like. But I have my sheep whom I care for. Currently she lives in Vilanova about 40mins outside the city. But the place is being sold and the owner would like me to find another place for her before the winter.
I found a space that is even closer than where she is currently staying. I took Sophia there for a trial run and i don't think it went well. The owner has two small young ponies, one older horse, and three sheep. The ponies chased and snapped at Sophia the entire time. Chasing her into the older full size horse who then became annoyed and bit Sophia on the back. The three sheep seemed to live inside their stalls as to stay out of the way of the wild ponies. The sheep also were not fans of Sophia and stomped their feet and would not let Sophia take shelter with them from the ponies. Sophia is currently overweight ans twice the size of the three sheep. The entire time she tried to hide behind me and I was sending the ponies away. I tried to bring her and the other sheep together which is silly. I don't have very many options for spaces for Sophia. The woman who owns the property is the nicest lady in the world. I would be able to come see Sophia whenever I wanted as often as I could. I do worry that I would not be able to get close to her because the ponies would try to suck up all the attention.
My question is should I have Sophia try this space out. I took her there about three different times with the same results but only for a couple hours at a time. Should I worry about her safety and increased stress levels. She grew up with two Boer goats from a lamb who were three times her size. They bullied her and one had a horn who would head butt her. She learned to headbutt but not generally people. Only me once when she thought straw was hay and I swear that annoyed her. I know I probably sound silly but she is really important to me. Also anyone who has any advice or other leads for possible spaces in the surrounding Philadelphia areas I would love the help. I have checked all surrounding sanctuaries, animals shelter, and dozens of other spaces. My clock is ticking with the change of the weather. I wish they had places to board sheep like they do for horses. Please help. Thank you farm friends.
Tamara and Sophia xoxo
I found a space that is even closer than where she is currently staying. I took Sophia there for a trial run and i don't think it went well. The owner has two small young ponies, one older horse, and three sheep. The ponies chased and snapped at Sophia the entire time. Chasing her into the older full size horse who then became annoyed and bit Sophia on the back. The three sheep seemed to live inside their stalls as to stay out of the way of the wild ponies. The sheep also were not fans of Sophia and stomped their feet and would not let Sophia take shelter with them from the ponies. Sophia is currently overweight ans twice the size of the three sheep. The entire time she tried to hide behind me and I was sending the ponies away. I tried to bring her and the other sheep together which is silly. I don't have very many options for spaces for Sophia. The woman who owns the property is the nicest lady in the world. I would be able to come see Sophia whenever I wanted as often as I could. I do worry that I would not be able to get close to her because the ponies would try to suck up all the attention.
My question is should I have Sophia try this space out. I took her there about three different times with the same results but only for a couple hours at a time. Should I worry about her safety and increased stress levels. She grew up with two Boer goats from a lamb who were three times her size. They bullied her and one had a horn who would head butt her. She learned to headbutt but not generally people. Only me once when she thought straw was hay and I swear that annoyed her. I know I probably sound silly but she is really important to me. Also anyone who has any advice or other leads for possible spaces in the surrounding Philadelphia areas I would love the help. I have checked all surrounding sanctuaries, animals shelter, and dozens of other spaces. My clock is ticking with the change of the weather. I wish they had places to board sheep like they do for horses. Please help. Thank you farm friends.
Tamara and Sophia xoxo