The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: Bionic on January 06, 2013, 01:55:23 pm
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They always come to the bucket except when I want to do something to them. How do they know?
We only have 5 sheep and its taken us the whole morning to get them in and now I am exhausted :relief:
While they were in we gave a drench (our first time), condition scored them and did their feet. They still need to be fluked but my friendly farmer said he will bring some today so they are staying in until they have had that drench too.
Still, I feel happier that we got a lot done in the end.
Sally
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LOL.....keep getting them in and do nothing.....don't look as if you are about to drench/trim/shear/etc.....they have a sixth sense you know......and if you look as if you are up to no good they know!!! :roflanim:
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Don't they just :D
Dad's always vanish to the far corners of the fields if mum appears, since if she's there, then there must be 'jobs' to be done with them.
I brought mine in and did nothing with them the other day - gotta outwit them occasionally ;)
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Sheep are prey animals so are expert at reading the body language of their predators - which these days means mostly humans. You might think you are being totally nonchalant, but they pick up the slightest clues. Sheep are definitely not stupid, especially when it comes to avoiding being eaten ;D so we have to learn ways to overcome their doubts.
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My orphan lambs would come to me even without a bucket... it was their downfall in the end when I bought them in for the last time, they came trotting towards the gate and raced me into the shed! Poor buggers lol...
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Mine have just got their own back. They are in the stable yard until I get them fluke drenched. I just went out to get some chicken feed from the stable and somehow they managed to lock me in. One of them had sat against the stable door and dropped the latch on the outside.
Its no good shoulting as OH always has ear phones in. I'm glad he needed something from the stable as I would have had to wait a very long time if I was waiting until he missed me. :roflanim:
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:roflanim: You can just imagine them plotting :sheep: :sheep: :sheep:
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Bucket trained?(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-oc1bXStBdH0/UKlBe7HTD-I/AAAAAAAANrY/2HLFl5j8iPs/s576/IMG_8325.JPG?gl=SE)
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Ours always come running when they hear us and come to the same area to feed BUT they can work out if we are going to do anything with them. OH has to go alone, while we wait in the house for the nod that they are in. We don't dare carry any equipment down until they are safely in. They just know. Like the dog when it's time for a bath ::)
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Or a cat who is due to go to the vets :D
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Ours are a dream to move or bring in - unless Dan's there ;D If he's there, generally something bad is going to happen. Smart sheep.
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I keep the odd ram bucket trained cos they can be akward, but ewes....I just drive them into the pen, often I use an un-elecrified flexinet as a guide.
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Hi renee :wave:
Do put a post in Introduce Yourself to tell everyone about your sheep and holding.
That picture is practically a nosebag! :D
Here's one of the Swaleys where I used to farm trying the same trick - but not making such a good job of it.
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Snap! we get there in the end though.
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If theres two of you, why not get a couple of sticks and drive them into the pen? Thats how I get/have got mine in. Build the pen along the fence and drive them into the fence, making them follow the line into the pen.
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Steve, we tried exactly that, driving them down the fence line with two long sticks but they did a quick turn and broke the sticks :( Cunning little devils
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The sticks are just to make yourself look big - you hold them out to the side to prevent them dashing off one way or the other and when you have got them past the lip of the pen you hold it out in front of you as you are dragging the pen shut....
Clapping is also helpful when they need an aural 'shove'.
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If they need a bit of a push try the way they do it at livestock markets - lift your hands up to shoulder level then slap your thighs while making a sort of hissing sound. Ours need a first lambing season to get really well bucket trained - I call them every time I bring their late pregnancy feed into the field. After that I just have to shout and they charge up the field in a most satisfying manner.
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The sticks are just to make yourself look big - you hold them out to the side to prevent them dashing off one way or the other and when you have got them past the lip of the pen you hold it out in front of you as you are dragging the pen shut....
Clapping is also helpful when they need an aural 'shove'.
You havent got primitives Steve!!! Ordinary nice big placid sheep are a doddle to move like that.....primitive types however.... :roflanim: :roflanim: :roflanim:
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Wilts horns can be an absolute bugger - but al you do then is put a bit of flexinet from the open edge of the pen to act as a guide - they rareley try to push through it.
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You havent got primitives Steve!!! Ordinary nice big placid sheep are a doddle to move like that.....primitive types however.... :roflanim: :roflanim: :roflanim:
Wilts horns can be an absolute bugger - but all you do then is put a bit of flexinet from the open edge of the pen to act as a guide - they rareley try to push through it.
I'm with woollyval on this one, having worked with moorland Swales and Blackies, commercials and primitives. You can push and 'shwoosh' hill sheep, even ones as canny and wily as Swaleys, and drive them with brave dogs, too - but you can't use any of those tactics with primitives.
I've spent weeks with my dogs learning how to keep the pressure and excitement very very low in order to gently and calmly move primitives, even ones that run up to you and stick their heads in your bucket when you aren't trying to gather them. ::) Any raised voices, or raised pitch, or dogs too close, and they're OFF! :D
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I know of a feller who has about 1000 shetlands and shetland/wilts crosses on the Blackdown hills (I think). God knows how he copes.
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I'm on the Blackdowns and there is a biggish flock up the road of soays.....don't know about Shetlands :thinking:
Sally is right regarding the sheep that will run up and be all friendly until you need to catch them...We have a pet Ouessant wether who is now pretending he is a Ryeland.....but set up a catching pen and rather than being right in your face, in your pockets and under your feet is off at a rate of knots!! Luckily the Ryelands seem to ignore him and cannot be bothered to go at any speed faster than a waddle!!!
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I think the shetland/wilts crosses are to graze former landfill sites - puts them to the beltex and lambs at 150% and gathers them a few of times a year.
Dunno if its the same guy with the big flock of shetlands though - it was a longdiscussion I was having about easycare systems.
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Not got any landfill up here...Its a protected AONB!!!!
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Only a small floack of Soays and Shetlands here.....
I've got two borders (terriers) and use them. The sheep will follow the dogs everywhere, i normally walk the dogs into the hurdles and then close the hurdles behind. Terriers then ejected out of the pen.
Works for me :eyelashes:
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Only a small floack of Soays and Shetlands here.....
I've got two borders (terriers) and use them. The sheep will follow the dogs everywhere, i normally walk the dogs into the hurdles and then close the hurdles behind. Terriers then ejected out of the pen.
Works for me :eyelashes:
Love it :roflanim:
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my poodle doesn't seem to have the same effect ;D
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I bought 3 black welsh mountain last October and they move like grease lightning. No chance of turning them without a dog unlike my lovely mules and Suffolk crosses.
However, I put feeder in corner of field and after several days of putting a few nuts in, I brought 3 hurdles up to make an open pen. Works a treat. They are conditioned to go in when they see me, most days for food and when they appear with half a bramble bush trailing along, I must Close the pen and hey presto!
I don't think they will ever get tAme. Gotta pick up 3 more this month in lamb.