[pgkevet]

We can put this thread to bed now. Twig and the rest of the flock were happily grazing in Oaktree field this afternoon when I chased them onto the bridge by quadbike to corral them. Wynn and his son rocked up half an hour later and sheared the remaining three.. all maggot free and while they were captive they all got wormed, vaccinated and the three sheared got crovect(ed). Once released they all dived for the cover in the thick top left bracken and rocks corner.

Most important shearing supply today was lavish amounts of bug spray to keep those horseflies of us and Rebel - my dalmatian - went back to puppyhood by snatching lumps of fleece through the gate and rushing round the field shredding it and having a high old time. He really likes the stinky bits but then again this is the dog that found a dead badger last month and raced over daily to check on it and marinate it in more urine; not a hobby I wish to take up but he enjoyed it.

[YorkshireLass]

Glad the flock are okay.


Marti had some very valid observations, we all subconsciously say and do things that are worth actually looking at again.


Personally I'm more concerned about the difficulty in seeing to the flock that could be eased by adjusting management (e.g. more frequent "manhandling" should accustom them to being "manhandled" and thus make it less stressful when they need interfering with) - but we all have different styles.

[Marches Farmer]

Marti had some very valid observations, we all subconsciously say and do things that are worth actually looking at again.

....but I thought this was supposed to be about sheep....

[Womble]

Marti had some very valid observations, we all subconsciously say and do things that are worth actually looking at again.

Personally I'm more concerned about the difficulty in seeing to the flock that could be eased by adjusting management (e.g. more frequent "manhandling" should accustom them to being "manhandled" and thus make it less stressful when they need interfering with) - but we all have different styles.

Indeed. Perhaps that's something we should all think about, the next time we are personhandling our sheep  .  You've just got to be so careful what you say these days, don't you? 

[Foobar]

On a serious sheep note (I can't be bothered wasting my life commenting on other peoples comments, no matter how much I want to...) .... you do need to find a better way of inspecting your flock.  Also, if you think something is wrong then it usually is, so act immediately, don't put it off, no matter how inconvenient it is for you (we've all been there, and wish we'd acted sooner).


What I would suggest is that you teach your sheep to come when you call.  It's a bit like teaching them to come to the shake of a bucket of nuts but works over a longer distance - also you can ride on the quad to get a bit closer to them if you need to, to call them in.  Then have a small handling area into which you can easily funnel them.  If I recall there is a thread on here about teaching sheep to come when called - its easy to do, especially if they already know you have nuts for them.  Now would be a good time to start, especially if you've recently lost your "lead sheep".

[Me]

[/quote]

Indeed. Perhaps that's something we should all think about, the next time we are personhandling our sheep  .  You've just got to be so careful what you say these days, don't you? 
[/quote]

Eerm I believe they prefer to be called non-human mammals