The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: Buffy the eggs layer on August 03, 2012, 08:08:01 pm
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Hi Folks :excited:
I have 3 paddocks for my sheep and each one has some shelter created by builings, conifer trees, hedges etc. Will I still need a field shelter in each field and can I make one ???
Photo examples apreciated .
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Will be interested to hear what others say here. Our sheep are out in all weathers but have a densely packed orchard with some pretty huge tree's which they use as shelter. They've lived here for a year and a half with no problems (the older ones) and the lambs survived flooding, frosts, hot sunshine (yep, I think we did have a few days of that this year ;D )
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Sheep are designed to live out in all weathers.....eg on islands, moors and mountains......they appreciate a good hedge or trees to shelter under but otherwise really need no shelters unless lambing when they appreciate a bit of security and comfort....and you will too.
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Our 3 paddocks have thick hedges with mature trees so plenty of natural shelter.
Hubbie built a wooden shelter in one field that we can stand up in ...... very useful if lambing. Most of our ewes went in there to lamb.... of their own free will ..... pretty smart we thought. ;) ;D
In the other field we have a simple shelter made from those curved corrugated sheets that you can buy. Plan to make one for the third field also. When lambing this shelter was portable enough to bring into the lambing field as extra accomodation.
Although they have hedges etc. they do use their shelters a lot.
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Well my sheep are big softies and they love their field shelters. Gives them a break from the flies and the rain. I tend to leave my old livestock trailer out in exposed fields for them.
It is quite easy to make one using box profile tin sheets, cut a half round out of ply (like pig ark) use 4x2 or similar lengths front to back and screw the tin on. It curves well, is cheaper than curly tin and expect quick to take apart again. You could do it with straight sides.
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Two of our paddocks have access to a field shelter and the ewes do use it if given the chance. At lambing time, we put the livestock trailer in the field with the ewes and lambs and left it open and the lambs did use it.
I've built a wee shelter for lambs with straw bales and a sheet of wriggly tin on top but they seemed to prefer playing on it than going in.
Not much help, I'm afraid
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No shelter for the sheep, except for first time lambers coming in for lambing. Everyone else (unless I think there is a problem) lambs in the field amd is then brought in for a day or so.
Works fine, some of my fields have hedges, but not all...
They are fine... they are sheep!
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Thanks for the replies,
I do have buildings to fold them in if lambing or if the weather gets too bad. The orchard paddock has lots of trees and a hawthorne hedge but all will loose their leaves in winter. The others have conifers that they can shelter under and all have buildings they can shelter in the ley of.
It sounds like they can manage without it but would use it if its there. ( even if its just to climb on ;D )
Perhaps I should just buy them all dog coats ;)
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We have field shelter in one paddock and a pallet wind/shelter in the other. Everytime the weather becomes unfavourable the sheep always use them. yes i'm sure they'll be fine without shelter but I think if yoou give them a choice they will use it get out of bad weather!!! We as people can sleep if made to on floorboards, give us a matress and we would choose that.
I amaware this is not a solution if you have 200 sheep, but you could do it to make a small number a little more
comfortable.
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Field shelters in summer?
That sounds like a loveley place for disease to fester/flies to hang about......
I have a field with one in (by chance) and I block it up with hurdles. It gets used occasionally at lambing with mismothering probs etc, but I aim to get them out of it as soon as possible in april.
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We had no natural shelter here but plenty of driving rain and deep snow, so we put up small shelters in each paddock. With the heavy rainstorms we have been having this season the shelters have seen a fair bit of use, but they don't stay in them once the rain stops, and if it's persistent they go out to graze as usual. Mainly they are used at lambing time when some of the ewes choose to lamb under cover, whereas others lamb outside.
There is a problem with disease as stevehants says, so when you build your shelter, factor in good drainage, have it facing away from the prevailing wind to stop rain getting in, and change the straw as you would in a barn. We have found it's best to have the entrance facing down hill which reduces the tendency for the area outside the entrance to get boggy. You could sprinkle lime on too. We dumped some left over bottoming outside one shelter and it works very well - the sheep were not too keen until it compacted down a bit but it has solved the mud problem.
Buffy - there are a couple of our shelters on our website. Basically they are four stobs or strainers, sarking for the sides with gaps between to keep the air moving, and a well pinned down tin roof (it really is windy here). The upmarket model has guttering to direct water away from the entrance, and this is collected in a bucket as a drinker. We also have a roundy tin shelter which was originally for pigs, but inherited by the sheep and currently occupied largely by hens during the day, who love to scratch in the straw.
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Fleecewife what an interesting and informative site :)
I do love the names of all your lovely sheep and the field shelters are very substantial. I suppose they have to be up where you are.
I was wondering about making a couple of polly tunel type ones which could be moved about. We do get some strong cross winds occasionally being in a rather flat part of Yorkshire but there are enough wind blocks for me to site them in sheltered spots.
They wouldnt be much use in summer though as they would be a bit stuffy and humid I suppose ???
Only two more sleeps till sheep day :excited: :sheep: :excited:
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Could you make some moveable shelters on a heavy base (recycled pallets?) with skids which you could tow to move? The top could be curved tin, although there's a limit to how acute you can make the curve, and they could be open at both ends as you could park them sideways to the wind. It would be best to have them open at both ends anyway as sheep tend to block the entrance to keep out lesser sheep if they can, so some poor mug gets left standing in the rain ::) Having a base would make them easier to keep dry and to muck out.
Don't forget pics when sheep arrive :excited:
ps - thank you for liking our website :wave:
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These are mine (scroll down to see pics of pre bend shelter with lambies in)
I have natural shade also but some of my cades were indoor reared for first 3 weeks by farmer i bopught them from so they loved a bit of shelter. I have a few of these dotted around. Simply 3 pieces of pre bend bolted together and a strip if 4 x 2 wood baton along each length at the bottom and through the arch for stability and strength, I can lift it to move it or use the landy to pull it! A few I have put a front and a back on for winter seasons for added comfort so I can straw it and big enough for me to get in with during lambing - all my ewes lamb in these by choice.
http://mallowsflock.weebly.com/ (http://mallowsflock.weebly.com/)
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I have a pallet and tin shelter in each field. Mainly for the rain here ::)
They are made two or three U shaped bays, each bay being 3 pallets, tied together with baler twine ;) I push steel rods down through the pallets to help keep them from taking off. And then put a tin sheet over the top.
I make them facing the wall about 3ft away from it.
The sheep definitely use them - after all, why be wet if you don't have to be.
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I am going to show your ideas to OH and see what he can come up with.
Just been to Tockwith Show and met the breeder and some of her lambs :D
Only one more sleep to go :excited: :excited: :excited:
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Field shelters in summer?
You can't have seen what's passing for 'summer' up here :o ;D . We are getting a series of really heavy, pounding rain and hail storms running through, with thunder and lightning - with no natural shelter and for shorn sheep, a manmade shelter to keep off the worst of the rain is good. :thumbsup:
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Field shelters in summer?
You can't have seen what passes for 'summer' up here
Quite ::) I feel mean enough making poor animals live up here with all the midges anyway, without them being wet through for weeks on end, in the summer (substitute months for weeks in any other season :P)