The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: Marti615 on June 14, 2017, 11:50:40 am
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Hi,
I have 4 Ryeland lambs (born in February) arriving on Saturday and am planning to pen them during the day but bring them into one of my horse stables at night because we have a woods behind us with LOTS of badgers and foxes. I am also taking on a dorper wether cade lamb when he comes off the bottle in a few weeks, so he'll be very small.
I'm not worried about badgers during the day but I am worried about foxes. Should I be?
I know none of you have crystal balls but just wondered what you thought.
Thank you!
Marti
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I would think the older lambs would be fine, they should be plenty big enough for a fox or badger not to take a second look at them. We have a lot of badgers and some pretty brazen foxes on our farm yet the lambs this year have been fine, they went out at a couple of days old and stayed out day and night, no problem at all. Just run them in at night for the first few weeks if you're worried.
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If the lambs haven't yet had a fly pour-on I'd do them straight away. Flystrike can be hard to spot and will bring down a lamb very quickly indeed. Foxes and badgers won't normally go for a healthy, well-grown lamb but they'll pinpoint ailing ones with unerring accuracy.
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Is it okay to put Clik on young lambs, Marches Farmer? They are about 4 months.
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Dosage is by weight of animal - lowest shown is for 10kg lamb.
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Badgers are evil animals and will eat a ewe alive if shes in difficulty.
I have seen the resutls and I have seen them attacking a ewe with her head stuck in a fence.
Best thing is good fencing, make sure any holes are filled in quick, and ideally the most powerful elexctric fence single line around the woods you can find.
Badgers are the dementors of the animal world, Ive seen one badger get into a lambing shed before and it just ate brains, dozens of lambs just for brains. They are evil, wicked creatures.
Fence
Fence
Fence
Fence
Speak to your neighbours.