Water in stall

mystang89

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Quick question. Does anyone have a trough of water in their sheep pen for their sheep to drink at night?

Our sheep have access to water during the daytime though I rarely see them going to the water. Nothing seems wrong with them and I didn't know if it was necessary to have a trough in there with them.
 

luvmypets

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You always want to make sure your sheep have access to clean, fresh water.
 

mystang89

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I didn't think it necessary since it would be getting dark when they came in and didn't think they could see it.
 

Mini Horses

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:hide I will relate a past conversation -- DH & I were visiting his blind Aunt, who had raised him for several years in his young life. We had taken her grocery shopping, came home & helping put away. DH asks if she wants to put some type of label on either the gallon of milk or gallon of orange juice as they were in the same type container. She chuckles and replied, I'm blind but I still smell and taste.

So....the animals also have better night vision than we but they will smell the water. Yep, a bucket of it would be nice.
 

goatgurl

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I keep my ewes in a small pen at night with access to the barn. I keep water in the pen but never in the barn. if I leave it in the barn 9 times out of 10 someone poops in it. i'll go ahead and answer the question you asked about shelter from the rain too. first I have hair sheep not woolies and they may have a different attitude about rain so take this with a grain of salt but the only time my girls go in the barn for shelter is right after they lamb and want their lambs safe or if there is a horrible storm. other wise they pretty much ignore the rain and keep on grazing or chewing their cud. third thing is that last year I had a lamb break his front leg. splinted it, put him and his mom in a small pen to keep him from running jumping. this year he is doing fine, leg healed a little crooked but he gets around just fine. has grown nicely and will be my lamb chops for the year. I sure hope this has helped.
 

Baymule

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I keep water for my sheep in every pasture and in their night pen. My sheep also eat hay at night, so a drink of water is appreciated.
 

mystang89

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Thanks everyone. Really shows how much I have to learn. I'll start keeping there water filled up.

Thanks for answering those other questions as well goat girl. Sorry there are so many but I don't like making decisions about something important without having input from people with experience.
 

goatgurl

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kiddo, that's why you're here, to learn and we are all happy to give you our knowledge of what works for us. just remember that for every question you ask you'll get several different answers. just weed thru them and use what works best for you. and we are still waiting for pictures of your sheep. hint, hint.
 

Mike CHS

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There are many of us haven't been handling sheep much longer than you have and as you have seen there are many different answers to the same question. We provide shelters more for shade than for weather. We have trained our dogs at several sheep farms and if they have ample shade and wind break they don't seem concerned about weather. We always bring in lambs immediately after they are born and nursing but I know of many people that tag and/or band the day after lambing since they can be caught so easily. Not so much after 3-4 days which is why we contain them for several days.
 

Sheepshape

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Sheep aren't big drinkers normally, but should always have access to water. All our fields (that sounds grandiose....we only have 6) have water troughs and we have automatic water dispensers in the sheep shed for when they are indoors.

Sheep drink more during hot weather, much as we do, and much more when they are lactating and just after they have given birth.

As goatgurl says, most of us have had to ask these questions at some stage in our animal-keeping lives, and all animals have different needs.
 
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