The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Community => Introduce yourself => Topic started by: Lorrie66 on August 12, 2013, 01:34:07 pm

Title: Which breed for grass munchers and horse pals?
Post by: Lorrie66 on August 12, 2013, 01:34:07 pm
Hi - I am new on here today :wave:

Looking for some top tips, advice and experienced opinion !

I need to get sheep to eat grass and run in with 2 horses.

I would like to get a rare breed if I can and currently considering :-
Grey Faced Dartmoor
Southdown
Ryeland
Plus are ewes better or are castrated ram lambs also easy?

My CPH number is underway and I should have next week so I can then start the process to get going  :)

There are some GFD castrated ram lambs nearby and wondered are these a good sort for what I need?

Many thanks in advance....
Title: Re: Which breed for grass munchers and horse pals?
Post by: lachlanandmarcus on August 12, 2013, 01:40:26 pm
You might want to borrow a few first as some horses (one of mine included) will try and stamp on and kill sheep if sharing a field, tho most are fine, so best to test then first, at minimum tape off a triangle in the field corner for the sheep to escape to....:-))

Title: Re: Which breed for grass munchers and horse pals?
Post by: Lorrie66 on August 12, 2013, 02:02:01 pm
You might want to borrow a few first as some horses (one of mine included) will try and stamp on and kill sheep if sharing a field, tho most are fine, so best to test then first, at minimum tape off a triangle in the field corner for the sheep to escape to....:-))

ah hah! Yes I have seen a neighbours mare chase a poor sheep around relentlessly - poor thing. Well that's a good point and I think ours will be OK but fortunately we can always alternate paddocks between them and fence off various areas if there is a problem. Ideally we want them to eat down the grass in advance of our two native horses as, yes you'v e guessed it,  they just pile on the pounds  :(
But I will pay attention when sheep do arrive.

Cheers


 
Title: Re: Which breed for grass munchers and horse pals?
Post by: sabrina on August 12, 2013, 03:26:15 pm
One of my ponies has always chased the sheep. We have fencing that the sheep can escape into the next paddock which they do for a bit then creep back in with the ponies.