The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: Graemscifi on December 11, 2014, 04:33:23 pm

Title: update on Castlemilk sheepies
Post by: Graemscifi on December 11, 2014, 04:33:23 pm
Some of you may remember my joy a few months ago at finding and aquiring 4 Castlemilk ewe lambs, well heres an update.

They are just lovely, such a pretty animal, so sweet looking, they have atracted a lot of comment localy and much finger and camera pointing from the popular path that runs beside my bottom parks. i did make a point of telling the local keeper that the wee brown horned beasties in the strath where sheep not deer, so no shooting them pal. As for behaviour, when i was heptivacing them i found them to be cuddly and very funny, funny cos when i got in the pen with them they put thier heads down and hid from me, arse in air "I cant see you so you cant see me!" more of this trait in a moment.

I write today cos of todays hillarity. In the months since they joined my Cheviot Ewe lambs they have been easy and straightforward, like the white blobs (they are brown blobs so the cheviots are now the white blobs to my glassless eyesight). Today in the snow was the first time they behaived diffrently. In the snow they hid head first in a crack in a wee cliff in my bottom park, a crack only large enough to get your hand in and no more, all four, one on top of the other, in a heap. So they had thier arse out in the snow but thier face was in the crack, so that seemed to be ok. That was funny enough, but when i went down to feed them this afternoon they had displayed the first sign of thier Moufon sheep/goat ancestry. They were half way up the cliff, the 4 of them on a coffee table sized patch of green. how they got up there is beyond me, (not beyond them though). they just looked down at me in a way that reminded me of a Manx ewe my neighbour used to have, she habitualy ran with lambs up the side of the barn and stood on the pinnicle of the roof when dreching guns or heptivac needles were around. The brown blobs appeared like magic when the bucket  came out, though i did not see how they got down. this could be a sign of things to come.

Got to say though even by sheepie standards they four wee brown blobs are brilliant, thier  entertainment value alone make worth the money.
Title: Re: update on Castlemilk sheepies
Post by: Bionic on December 11, 2014, 04:38:40 pm
Awww, thats a lovely story. Glad you are getting so much enjoyment from them  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: update on Castlemilk sheepies
Post by: Fleecewife on December 11, 2014, 04:45:05 pm
Brilliant  :thumbsup:  :sheep: :sheep: :sheep: :sheep:
Title: Re: update on Castlemilk sheepies
Post by: SallyintNorth on December 11, 2014, 05:00:02 pm
:love: :sheep:

I'm so glad you are enjoying them so much.  Thanks for sharing :)

Title: Re: update on Castlemilk sheepies
Post by: Rosemary on December 11, 2014, 05:52:52 pm
Ooh, I do fancy some CMs. Great story  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: update on Castlemilk sheepies
Post by: trish.farm on December 11, 2014, 06:14:39 pm
Awww, lovely to hear, have fun with them!!   :sheep: :love:
Title: Re: update on Castlemilk sheepies
Post by: waterbuffalofarmer on December 11, 2014, 09:34:44 pm
Really nice story. I always wanted to buy them, however I was told I would have to find the market for their meat and where I live everyones really tight with money, so I have to keep lleyn or other breeds. Maybe one day I'll buy some.
Title: Re: update on Castlemilk sheepies
Post by: nimbusllama on December 12, 2014, 09:05:28 am
Great to hear you are enjoying them so much.... I too got my first ones at the end of June and I love them! I can relate to the ostrich behaviour, they are very comical as well as beautiful.  Here is Arthur and his 'court'.
Title: Re: update on Castlemilk sheepies
Post by: waterbuffalofarmer on December 12, 2014, 09:46:00 am
Great to hear you are enjoying them so much.... I too got my first ones at the end of June and I love them! I can relate to the ostrich behaviour, they are very comical as well as beautiful.  Here is Arthur and his 'court'.
They're beautiful
Title: Re: update on Castlemilk sheepies
Post by: SallyintNorth on December 12, 2014, 09:56:54 am
Ooh, I do fancy some CMs. Great story  :thumbsup:

Get some!  Get some!  Get some!   ;D
Title: Re: update on Castlemilk sheepies
Post by: devonlady on December 12, 2014, 11:10:38 am
I would love some but can't find any (sensibly) locally.
Title: Re: update on Castlemilk sheepies
Post by: nimbusllama on February 18, 2015, 08:33:50 am
Devonlady.... is Somerset too far? as there as some in lamb ewes for sale on the society website..


http://www.castlemilkmooritsociety.co.uk/Pages/TheMarketplace.aspx (http://www.castlemilkmooritsociety.co.uk/Pages/TheMarketplace.aspx)
Title: Re: update on Castlemilk sheepies
Post by: Beeducked on February 18, 2015, 06:21:02 pm
when i got in the pen with them they put thier heads down and hid from me, arse in air "I cant see you so you cant see me!"


My original CMs were 5 years old and very skittish when I got them. They are much much better now but still a little nervy round me. Will come to the bucket but couldn't touch them without bribery.
The 2 cades from last year are a different matter. They will follow me round, sneak into the house and generally get under my feet but their favourite game is to chase the ducks causing frantic flapping and quacking. They hide in the orchard behind a tree (that is a maximum of 4" in diameter) as if they can't see the ducks... They then jump out on the unsuspecting ducks to general chaos.


The funny thing is that ducks are even more stupid than sheep and it works every time! :roflanim:
Title: Re: update on Castlemilk sheepies
Post by: SallyintNorth on February 19, 2015, 12:36:00 pm
I was going to ask you if you could make a video, but actually your description is so graphic I can see it in my mind's eye no bother!   :roflanim:  :love: :sheep: :love: :love:  :&>