The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: Pundyburn Lynn on June 14, 2014, 09:02:58 pm
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Hello folks,
I was horrified this evening to find our Pet Soay lamb with a ripped ear. Seems that her tag has become stuck somewhere. She is not distressed in any way, and actually approached me to be hand-fed for the first time. However, her ear is ripped almost all the way across, and is a bit bloody.
I have a couple of novice questions - Firstly, should I be applying an antibiotic or spray to her ear? Secondly, how do I catch her to do this?
Lynn
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She'll probably be fine, but if you do get hold of her a bit of antiseptic spray (not antibiotic unless it is actually infected) and, depending on where you are, you may decide to use a bit of fly repellent too.
In terms of catching her - well, how do you catch them normally?
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We've had them two-and-a-half weeks, and they were from a wild flock. They're now hand-feeding, which is great, but I'll need to rig up some kind of trap in return for treats ...
Lynn
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You can stick the ear back together with superglue.
To catch her, bring the whole lot in and be as calm and gentle as possible. No chasing them about as they just get stressed and you'll never catch them.
We have a pen permanently set up (hurdles) and funnel them towards that. We use electranet, not electrified, but I wouldn't advise it unless they've been used to it before. You get the idea though - they'll go into a wide area, but not directly into a narrow one such as a small pen, so you need your system to start wide and narrow down towards the pen at the end. If you have a spare hurdle, put it over the top of the catching pen to stop them jumping out.
If you have a building they will go into readily, get them into that, then set up the pen in one corner. Failing that, get them in the smallest paddock you have before aiming them at the pen.
Really, you will have problems catching wild Soay, so it's best to get them accustomed to feeding in an open pen, then being used to people milling about amongst them, before you shut them in with a gate across. This takes a few weeks - sorry no help with how to catch your one with the damaged ear.