Was offered some sheep..

[Devonviolet]

@Girlies' Mum! We have some awesome goat & sheep people here on BYH. It seems like you may have some experience with sheep, so will be a welcome addition to our group! The beauty of BYH is that I can help others while I learn from those who are more knowledgeable than I am. WIN, WIN!!

 

[misfitmorgan]

@Girlies' Mum! We have some awesome goat & sheep people here on BYH. It seems like you may have some experience with sheep, so will be a welcome addition to our group! The beauty of BYH is that I can help others while I learn from those who are more knowledgeable than I am. WIN, WIN!!

Very true! You dont have to be a expert to contribute. An owner of only a few sheep or goats or pigs or whatever could know things that an owner of several hundred never even thought to wonder about. All info is valuable, even wrong info because then the person who believes the wrong info will get the right info.

A good example of this is large scale pig farmers, as a routine they castrate all male piglets except those destined to be breeding boars. The castrated males are sold for meat of course. This is because of the long held fear of taint in pigs. If they did research on it they would know taint is extremely rare esp in landrace hogs which are most widely used for large scale pig farms and that un-castrated males grow bigger faster. So they could save on feed, time, space, work, and increase their carcass weight by not castrating. Most never think about or research it though because they were told it is done this way and thats it. Then one day they stumble onto BYH and wow all that info is right there waiting for them. Same thing goes for most male animals, sheep, goats, cows, etc.

Point is just because you raised hogs commercially for 20 yrs doesnt mean you know a lot other then the commercial way of doing things. Generally zero knowledge on pasture raising pigs, co-farrowing, free farrowing, having hogs you can walk around with freely, etc. To be fair they would probly be experts on picking out good meat piglets and AI though!

 

[Bruce]

What sort of shelter do the 2 sheep have now? Does the current owner have any use for it without the sheep? Maybe it could be dismantled and rebuilt at your place.

 

[Baymule]

However, if I'm not mistaken, sheep can be bred year around. (Hmmmm, I wonder if Baymule has any bred ewes for sale??? Hint, Hint )

Not at this time, but I can fix you up!

 

[Sheepshape]

Sheep come in many colours and sizes.....from 25-30kg full grown to Blue Faced Leicester (tups can weigh 120kg). Smaller ewes are easier to manage, but small sheep can have much more 'attitude' than the great big lazy sheep. Even older sheep will tame down and become 'pet' sheep if they are handled kindly.(You will know that you are fully accepted if they start to rub their heads on you.....however, those heads are hard and sheep with horns positively hurt).

With regards to shelter...depends on the breed. If they have a fine, lustrous fleece (like Blue Faced Leicester)....they cannot stand the cold/wet,shiver and shake whenever there's a frost, but those with thick wool (locally we have Welsh Mountain), laugh even at blizzards and cope with very harsh weather.

Sheep,like goats, are intelligent animals. Flock behaviour can seem stupid, but individual animals show quite sharp mental abilities. Some sheep and some goats get along fine, but, as others have mentioned, they may not. Sheep and cows generally are fine together and co-graze fields well, with the cows taking the long grass and sheep nipping short grass.

If you decide to take them, I'd worm them and check their vaccinations are up to date before letting them near any of your own animals.....but I'm sure you'll grow to love them if you do decide to have them.

 

[Mike CHS]

Sheep do have a reputation for not being very smart but that is definitely not the case. We have shelters in all of our paddocks but they never use them unless it is raining. I just went out tonight to see where they were bedding down and it was in the middle of a 5 acre paddock and temps dropping down to the 20's. We had 3 lambs born a couple of days ago in the open at temps in the 20's and they have shelters all over.

 

[Baymule]

I have one ewe that always has her lambs in the shelter. I am delighted to have a ewe lamb from her this time! The rest have them in the open.

 

[Girlies' Mum]

Sheep do have a reputation for not being very smart but that is definitely not the case. We have shelters in all of our paddocks but they never use them unless it is raining. I just went out tonight to see where they were bedding down and it was in the middle of a 5 acre paddock and temps dropping down to the 20's. We had 3 lambs born a couple of days ago in the open at temps in the 20's and they have shelters all over.

Agree! The commercial farm I help lambing with, we try to get all the (2000) sheep inside in pens before they lamb (and they come in at night if possible) but inevitably we have a few surprises in the fields. The ewes most commonly lamb up against the stone wall that is sheltering them best from the wind/rain/snow. I always scan the edges of the fields by the walls for new lambs/mums first when I go out there to get them in. Clever ladies! Interesting @Baymule has some of hers lamb in the open - maybe it is usually warmer /less damp /less windy than here (excuse my ignorance, I did read about your snow!)? The yearly lambing coming up soon (few weeks) will send pics!! And congrats on your new arrival Baymule!

 

[misfitmorgan]

Our flock is mixed but most choose to have their lambs inside their shelter. It is very cold here though and i think something tells them inside is best. I did see evidence of the first time mother 310 having either started labor or having her lamb outside on/near the old hay pile. Sweetie who is a 3f now had her lamb inside the shelter.

 

[Baymule]

The ewe that lambed this morning kept close to a dead fall tree. I've noticed that a couple of the ewes have their lambs up in that dead fall. Maybe because they are prey, they are trying to hide their lambs? It was 28F this morning. I was cold. I never saw the lamb shiver. His momma did a good job of licking him clean, he got right up and got a warm belly full of colostrum.

@Girlies' Mum during our recent "snow" I had a ewe that lambed in the open either in the night or early morning. I went outside and found a new born! I carried the lamb to the shelter and the ewe stayed there for the day. The ewe this morning insisted on keeping her lamb apart from the flock and would not go to the shelter. I am still pretty new to this, the little nuances of the different ewes behavior is interesting to say the least.

2,000 ewes lambing! Wow, I am impressed. Will you start a thread on the lambing? Please tag me so I don't miss it!