The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Community => Coffee Lounge => Topic started by: Womble on January 13, 2016, 10:21:04 pm
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OK, I'm stuck in a nasty plastic hotel room a long way from home, and I'm dreaming of my wee flock back home in the snow.
I have a problem though - what should I call them? No, not their names, but if I want them to come to me.
Our neighbours either whistle or yell "Meeeeh", but I can't do the first, and refuse to do the second. Equally, I'm embarassed to be heard yelling "sheeeep!!".
Any ideas? ;D
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I call them with a rhythmical 'sheep sheep' (on repeat if necessary) Sounds a bit like 'cheep cheep'. Not at all like 'sheeeeep!'. Maybe as silly, works for me though ;D
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"Come oooOOOOOOONNNNN" for the sheep, or sometimes "Come on girls"
"Lambiiieeeesss" for pet lambs
"pigpigpigpigpigpigPigPigPIGPIGPIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGGGGGG" for the pigs
"Hillie" or "Plenty" or "Katy" for the Jerseys. They know their names.
"Two dogs" for the collies. Both collies are Two Dogs, both collies are Skip, only Dot is Dot. (Skip knows he's Skip but Dot doesn't know she isn't Skip.) :love: :dog:
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I shout 'come OOOOOON sheep', repeat, repeat. Of course they don't know what the words mean, but they recognise the pattern of the words. When I yell out 'hEn-loos' the sheep don't think I'm calling them, and likewise the hens don't come when I call the sheep - unless there's an accompanying rattle of a feed bucket, in which case the hens are there before the sheep ::)
One neighbour sounds his tractor horn repeatedly, which is very annoying to all around, one shouts out cuss words, and each shepherd has his own call - doesn't confuse neighbouring flocks I suppose.
I must say I don't give a hoot what the neighbours think, but they have never objected nor laughed at my musical calls.
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I don't have sheep but the goats come to their names. The dogs answer to "Dooooogs" or Daisy or Victor or Pirate gets all three of them.
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I say come on and use the word sheeeep too. The words come on usually work though, cause the sheep know its feeding time then ;D
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No, not their names, but if I want them to come to me.
Glad you said that, mine seem to be called "Little B*ggers" and I was tempted to go for that a as a flock name.
Mine's just a variation of "come on" that came about from the acoustics of where i am and seemed to carry well.
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In your absence I can just hear your sheep :innocent:
Last night I heard womble singing a song
Oo ęe chirpy chirpy sheep sheep
Woke up next morning and Womble had gone
Of ęe chirpy chirpy sheep sheep chirpy chirpy sheep sheep chirp
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I just rattle a bucket and they come galloping over. Bella knows her name and is lead sheep, so 'Bella, Bella, Bella' will get their attention if I don't have a bucket. They occasionally get a bit of Beyonce - 'All the single ladies' - sung at them, but they're not generally impressed with that...
Next door uses 'Come on', down the road uses 'Pet, pet, pet'.
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:roflanim:
I think I'll go for come on, or maybe ooooeeee then! :thumbsup:
TBH, I've only just got used to calling them Yowes and not Ewes. Initially it felt really uncomfortable, like I was pretending to be a member of a club I didn't belong to. However, I then realised that saying Ewes was actually having the opposite effect.
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"Sheeeeep" or "Come on girls". Meg's deaf and Bryn answers to nothing not even "Get your little Welsh arse in here" ;D
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Sheepies as distinct from Ponies if I want the horses/donkeys/mules, we used to use Ho up for the cattle.
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I too use 'sheeep'.... I tell my 'normal' friends I have remote controlled sheep! and they love a demonstration!
I use 'llaaaamas' to call the llamas from a distance, but then Boudica or Nimbus if nearby.... they know their names! :thumbsup:
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I don't have sheep but my hens respond to " come along ladies" spoken of course in a posh, Miss Marple sort of voice. I am well away from our farmer neighbour's earshot!, :roflanim: but I do like the idea of a tuneful chirpy chirpy sheep sheep!
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BAAAAAA HOE, BAAAAA HOE ------- for the sheep :sheep:
PECK, PECK ........ for chickens and quail :chook:
JOEYS ........ for budgies
Dogs, cats and rabbits know their names. :dog: :cat: :bunny:
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I use "C'mon sheeeeep" - it echoes nicely across the valley so they hear it and look up, even if the wind is taking my voice in the wrong direction.
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we shout "come on" then then everyone emerge, any species. lol
"shep shep shep" also in high pitched girly tones, probly wakes the neighbours too. :innocent:
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One goat left so she comes to Baaaaabbbbyyyyyy - thats her name :goat:
One pony left he comes to a whistle :horse:
The ewes and lambs come to giiirrrllliieeesss :sheep:
The tups come to coooome on boys
Having said that when l whistle they all lift their heads and know something occurring :excited:
Must be food ! Stampede................... :love:
Best feeling ever :thumbsup:
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I use "C'mon sheeeeep" - ....
ditto
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So you mean HOW do we call them?
Apart from using their individual names which about half of them recognise, I use sounds and signals mainly for sheep as sheep only have a limited vocal range but do have acute hearing and respond to movement and body language. So I only have one word that I call which is lambies! I use this along with clapping or waving to catch their attention. Then I either clap, slap my leg, rattle a bucket or run away if I want them to come to me. If I want them to go ahead of me I say whoosh whoosh and wave an arm forward if I want them to stand still I hold both my hands up to stop them then lower my hands to gather them around me.
Years of training horses and I guess but it works for me. Last year OH and I lost our voices but the sheep were brilliant at being gathered, shed and moved about without a word. :hugsheep:
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The girls respond to sheep sheep sounding like cheap cheap... The boys don't respond to anything as theyre grumpy except rocky my tup who knows his name and comes running for tickles...
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Ewe ewe ewe !!!!
Lambies!!!!
C mon boys !!!!
Or just shake a bucket
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Friends of mine used to have Jacobs and Hebs - their Brittanys and English Setters were all trained to a whistle (HPR level 211.5), so Pete trained the sheep that way too - dogs were on one Peep for stop, Peep Peep for turn, and Peep Peep Peep for come here; sheep got one long blast and came to the fence in a micro second with the dogs not far behind(all of them usually in the same field together too) - it was the highlight of my year to go down to visit them. :excited:
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I've only just got used to calling them Yowes and not Ewes. Initially it felt really uncomfortable, like I was pretending to be a member of a club I didn't belong to. However, I then realised that saying Ewes was actually having the opposite effect.
Perfectly put, went through the same thing myself. Now my southern friends just have to translate when I'm talking to them!
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i had to smile whilst reading this….i only have 4 sheep at the moment, but two are right characters ;D
one is simply lovely and will eat out my hand, i named her Darby after my dear old nan, the other has two lines coming down her face, so she is called Teardrop…..Teardrop is the escape artist ;D
each morning she will be the other side of the electric fence….i walk up to the feed bin and shout TEARDROP,,,,she gives a big MEEEEE and comes running down, Darby leads the other two down to the fence,,, ;D i lift the fence up and Teardrop runs back in…i think they have me trained ;D
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I shout come on the baas, rest of the village think I'm nuts :hugsheep:
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no sheep of my own but I call anything in with "Hup hup hup C'mon" (think jamaican for the mon) - sometimes a bucket shake as percussion is needed but it seems pretty universal :)
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Mine come to "Hey Sheep!" but if I had a bucket I could really be saying anything!
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I have a name for the bees but it's not repeatable on here :roflanim:
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For the shetlands, I shout "Quality!". Sounds random, but in fact is the name of everyone's favourite sheep, she knows her name, and where she goes, the others follow.
Kerry Hills I shout "Kery, Kerry, Kerry," seems to work.
Cheviots, I don't shout, it's a dog job.
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Today, Caldi proved she does know her name and isn't simply following Pom. My friend and I had taken her to a little get-together with Beeducked's boys (second time but last time she had just finished being in season). My friend had hold of her collar when she made a bid for freedom. It was quite entertaining watching friend and Beeducked careering round the house trying to catch her. When she reappeared I simply called, "Caldi, come on." and she did. She then decided that the boys were ok after all and the business was soon concluded. Three weeks to wait now to find out if she's taken this time.
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For the shetlands, I shout "Quality!". Sounds random, but in fact is the name of everyone's favourite sheep, she knows her name, and where she goes, the others follow.
Bless. :love: :sheep:.
Cheviots, I don't shout, it's a dog job.
Love it :roflanim:
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My 11 year old grandson is now the shepherd and his call is "Coooooon ooonn my lovelies" What I call them is not so polite!!
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I yell sheeeep.....and they come running. And Fynne and Maximus, the two rams know their names. Females are all named, but too long winded shouting out all their names morning and night.