The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: Mrs Pea on February 03, 2014, 03:18:00 pm
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First thing Thursday morning we found her in the field, badly injured but still alive and standing.
There was a lot of blood all over her rear, back and down her legs and it was very difficult to see exactly where it was coming from.
My husband works away during the week and although my two teenage boys were with me when we found her, they had to go to catch the school bus. She was a fairly large ewe (would have been 2 in April) and I wouldn't have been able to turn her over on my own, so I called a neighbouring sheep farmer we know. He brought his daughter, who also breeds sheep and when the two of them turned Meg over, none of us could believe the injury she had.
There was quite literally a hole between her back legs about the size of a dinner plate, a huge chunk of her was
missing. The wound looked quite recent as in the blood was bright red and presumably any longer and the poor thing would have died from blood loss. None of us could believe she was still standing, the pain she must have been experiencing doesn't bear thinking about. The farmer was very helpful, putting her out of her misery and arranging for her to be taken away. He initially thought it might be a dog attack but having spoken to a few people and doing a bit of research it certainly looks like it could have been a badger/s.
Anyone have any ideas because at the moment we are really worried that whatever did it will come back - we're bringing our three remaining younger sheep through to our back garden/yard every night - can't bear to think of the same happening to one of them.
Lisa
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I would have thought it highly unlikely that a badger would attack a healthy large ewe, sounds more like dogs to me. I have badger prints in my fields every morning, plus fox tracks too and except for loosing one lamb (very young and probably separated from its mother) we never had any problems with badgers/foxes. We have a badger set (probably shared with a fox judging from the smell...) right on the edge of our main sheep field.
Now hounds and dogs is a totally different story....
Even if it was a dog unless you catch him/them in the act and have witnesses, there is nothing you can really do.
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My first thought would be dogs as they are generally the more likely culprit for sheep attacks, but Badgers do sometimes, as strange as it sounds, chew off a ewes udder. Although we have badgers and have never had a confirmed problem. We id have one ewe a couple of years ago that had the entire skin off her face removed in one clean piece. Never really worked out whether it was badgers, dogs or people that did that.
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One of my Shetland ponies was attacked by a badger a few years ago. His face was a mess. it was the vet who said badger as my first thought had been a dog. He went by the claw marks. We are over run by badgers and have lost quite a few chickens to them.
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We lost a ewe and another injured and people thought it was badger but subsequently very close by two dogs were seen killing lambs so I concluded that was more likely in the end.
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I don't know what it would be, but just wanted to say how horrible and how sorry I am for you :hug:. I hope you manage to keep the others safe.
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I have seen badgers take lambs but a full grown healthy ewe would be almost impossible for a badger to catch
An injured or old ewe unable to get up may be a different matter but it would still have to be a pretty desperate badger I think
Dog/dogs can be a right nightmare. I suffer at least 1 serious attack every year and very rarely find the dog responsible
Good luck
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At one time I had 4 badger setts and they killed the odd sheep if they found it stuck ,the sheep had blood all over, no wool pulled as fox does and meat taken from the thigh's . one ewe had her gigot eaten while standing up stuck in a bog, plenty of badger foot prints and still alive . one ewe had one side of her udder neatly removed and lived also seen lambs taken all that was left were skins inside out attached to the head we got permission to shoot and the guy shot an old badger when he heard a lamb screaming . so very possible ?
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Thanks all for your replies, doubt that we'll ever know for sure what did it, still bringing the other 3 through at night just to be on the safe side.
Lisa
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One of our neighbours pound a downer cow recovering from calving had her udder chewed off by a badger during the night. Claw marks clearly those of a badger. When Kenneth Graham wrote Wind in the WIllows and made Badger a pleasant if slightly grumpy fellow he gave very good press to a creature that's red in tooth and claw!
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I've put the idea of a problem of the badgers onto a site I use .
The active & retired game keepers on it say badgers chewing milking ewes and cows is not unusual .. Several say they have shot offending badgers doing it . They also talked about hedgehogs doing it as well .
One guy said he and his underkeeper staked out a small flock that was being got at.
On day four one of them observed it was the sheepdog from a neighbouring farm that was the culprit suckling off and chewing the ewe ... it was shot there and then .
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Badgers will kill a fully grown ewe or ram that is in uts track only taking the brain or the heart!!!
They dont tend to go back and scavange on the carcass after like a fox will etc.