goats&sheep19
Loving the herd life
So some of you may know that I got my first very small flock of sheep a little while ago; three ewes and a wether.
The wether was going to be a meat sheep, but now I'm thinking I may need to keep him, as he is the only one who is a bit more trusting, and makes moving them between paddocks so much easier.
A farmer we know has offered us a good, but older, ram to start out with, as I really want lambs next year.
My question is, I would like for the flock as a whole to be easier to handle, i.e. not so wary of anything on two legs, to make it easier when moving them between paddocks, hoof trimming, shearing, worming, you get the idea, and also as I want to use the wether lambs for meat, I don't want them to be scared of me when slaughter time comes around.
But I'm thinking the ewes will just pass their wariness on to their lambs...
I really like these sheep, and its just that they haven't been handled much as they grew up, but I don't want it to be passed on by example.
Any thoughts?
The wether was going to be a meat sheep, but now I'm thinking I may need to keep him, as he is the only one who is a bit more trusting, and makes moving them between paddocks so much easier.
A farmer we know has offered us a good, but older, ram to start out with, as I really want lambs next year.
My question is, I would like for the flock as a whole to be easier to handle, i.e. not so wary of anything on two legs, to make it easier when moving them between paddocks, hoof trimming, shearing, worming, you get the idea, and also as I want to use the wether lambs for meat, I don't want them to be scared of me when slaughter time comes around.
But I'm thinking the ewes will just pass their wariness on to their lambs...
I really like these sheep, and its just that they haven't been handled much as they grew up, but I don't want it to be passed on by example.
Any thoughts?