The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: pgkevet on June 15, 2017, 11:03:35 am
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My pet sheep have 15 acres of hillside between the four of them 'cos wifey thinks restaining them to just the 10-acre field is cruel. She's nuts of course. We stroll down every evening with a few nuts and pet them except this year they have been less interested in coming down and we missed day before yesterday.
The chap that sheared them for me the last few years has a fatal C but still doing OK and said he was still game to shear this year. He decided to take a long holiday - who wouldn't - and I've been waiting for him to come back.
A few days ago I thought i caught a whiff like flystrike from Twiglet but under her tail etc looked OK. Wifey is hopeless at holding sheep and I have arthritic back problems and not as fit as I used to be so instead of arguing her into helping me shear Twiglet i let it slide.
Yesterday Twiglet was a mess. She actually used the sheep shelter we call Gray's Inn for shade...flies buzzing everywhere so at least there was no argument from wifey. Out came my unused cheapo chinese clippers and we had a go. They actually work very, very well... for half the sheep untill the blade flew off.
Now, if you've never tried to shear a second half of a sheep with kitchen scissors... yes you can do it but it takes time and you end up with very sore fingers; and a cramped back, and stiff knees... but you have no chance of clipping off the maggoty ooze and wet soiled tail wool. I borrowed some clippers from the sheep dealer down the road - and a promise that he'd get a couple of his lads to shear the other pet sheep for me for whiskey in the next few days.
So- Twiglet was sheared, rinsed and sprayed with crovect but still lots of wrigglers about and flies. A few hours later - just before dusk we went to look for her and check over. A very unhappy sheep and some tooth grinding but she was standing and trying to follow the flock. One thing I hate about being retired is no more instant access to a pharmacy of meds. Rumen issues were my worry with all the time it took me to shear her and having her on her sides to do it. teeth grinding is never a good sign.
This am only three sheep came out of the top scrub to start grazing. I took the quadbike up to recover Twiglet's corpse. The grass is waist high, there's some large bracken patches and overhanging hedge and tree row all round. The flock usually sleep at the top under the trees behind the brambles. I searched it all. No sign of twiglet. I started criss-crossing the field looking for the body. It's hopeles with grass that high. I get it mowed once a year but it's too steep for my courage to do it myself and too steep for baling. OH won't let me let it out for grazing (cos she's against meat production, vegan etc).
After a fruitless hour searching I dropped by Gray's Inn on the offchance - where Twiglet was lying down looking half-decent and wondering what the fuss was about.
She's still a worry and there has to be toxic depression from the wounds and heavy crovect spraying but fingers crossed.
OH just came back froma visit.. took a bucket of water, some salt and soem nuts. Twiglet only drank the water when it was salted but wouldn't eat the nuts, did eat a hazel leaf. One of the barn cats followed wifey down and went to see Twiglet. That intrigued Twiglet who got up and has stolled off. Twiget quite likes meeting other pets. This daft cat often walks down to see the sheep if wifey goes without me and dog. Silly watching a cat following wifey across two fields and the bridge.
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Well, I'm sure it's happened to us all - where there's sheep there's maggots. :poo:
Anyway, I'm so glad you found Twiglet and she's ok.
I've got a few observations to make though, about maggot treatment and use of Crovect (Permethrin)
Like you've mentioned, heavy and repeated use of Crovect on wounds can cause depression - after all it is a nerve poison. I've found however, that after the initial application to kill the maggots, you can dilute the Crovect up to 10 x and it still prevents further fly strike and kills off any maggots you might have missed. In fact, if you don't have shears or kitchen scissors with you and discover a case of fly strike, then you can apply the diluted crovect over as much of the animal that's affected (and then some). Even without removing the wool it is really effective and you will find that in a short time all the maggots are dead. The advantage of using the diluted stuff is that in the case of extensive maggot attack you are not having to apply large amounts of undiluted permethrin and risk poisoning the sheep as well. But this dilution still kills the maggots and the sheep seems to perk up a lot sooner.
I usually dilute with diesel as I think the smell probably deters further fly attack. At first I was worried that this might irritate the damaged skin but it doesn't appear to, and like I say the animals are up and looking better in a matter of minutes as the maggots stop moving and die off. You can also dilute with liquid paraffin which I find equally effective, or probably cooking oil or similar. I find that using an oil, as opposed to water means it sticks to the fleece better and also helps keep the damaged skin flexible.
By the way, some years ago I mentioned diluting the Crovect with diesel and how effective it was. I was slagged off by someone who considered that the residual diesel in the fleece was putting the shearer at risk. I would consider that coming into contact with the undiluted nerve poison, ie Crovect, applied in some cases in copious amounts, could constitute a much greater hazard. :thinking:
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Professionally (or retired professional) I don't think I'd be comfortable recommending diesel althpugh there's obviously some spirit/alcohol base to the crovect. It's cypermethrin so related to but not permethrin and i have no idea re relative toxicities betwen the two. I was never a large animal vet so haven't had need to look into it in the past.
I'd speculate it penetrates the skin fat layer and since heavy use is toxic it obviously goes systemic to a degree.. albeit again I don;t know if that's at a level to have an all-over antiparasite action. Again note that there are spot on SA permethrin products supposedly having overall flea control effects... but again sometimes that's cos it gets groomed around the body.
It may well dissolve into a fat base like liquid paraffin but whether it then locks away from being as effective.. don't know. I'd be more inclined to guess at using surgical spirit as a base if I had to - or propylene glycol.
In this case initial application ovet the affceted areas was by misting everywhere..so spread pretty thin while grooming and cleaning off the obvious wrigglers and sponging her off.. then I sprayed her using the t-bar and went to about double book dose in all - as in pushing it but not going silly.
Just now Twiglet is reported still skulking in Grays Inn but drank some more sugar/salty water, ate a very few nuts and some more hazel - got up for a walk about and then went back. With the breezier day there's no flies on her so I'm hopeful.
The other point was re the cheapo chinese clippers..apart from the blade coming off which was probbaly my not checkng the screws/tension they did work very very well for £60 plus an inverter on the car battery.
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Jab with ivomec - Not had a problem with flystrike can't get crovect or other such pour on. if its good (bad) for nose bots its got to be effective against flystrike albeit it not instant.
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While the avermectins certainly work for a lot of skin parasites and likely would kill the maggots it'd be slower and wouldn't keep the flies away - they'd be all overt the stinky mess and tissue ooze laying more eggs I'd expect. Twiggy's lesions are drying nicely and no more live maggots - just a depressed sheep though she did nibble a bit more hazel for me just now.
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I am sorry about what happened to your sheep. I think this post is very disrespectful to your wife. You could have told this story without insulting her several times.
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While the avermectins certainly work for a lot of skin parasites and likely would kill the maggots it'd be slower and wouldn't keep the flies away - they'd be all overt the stinky mess and tissue ooze laying more eggs I'd expect. Twiggy's lesions are drying nicely and no more live maggots - just a depressed sheep though she did nibble a bit more hazel for me just now.
You had already treated her with crovect which would work as a repellant, treatment with an avermectin would avod risking toxic depression and continue to mop up any stragglers. Just a thought.
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I am sorry about what happened to your sheep. I think this post is very disrespectful to your wife. You could have told this story without insulting her several times.
Ive just reread the post looking for the insults ??? ??
Apart from the first paragraph which I take it is gentle fun.
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I am sorry about what happened to your sheep. I think this post is very disrespectful to your wife. You could have told this story without insulting her several times.
Wow! There's something wrong with a modern society that needs to find fault, insult and criticism at every opportunity, however slight. My wife is perfectly capable of standing up for herself should she need to. Oh, and it so happens that today is our 41st wedding anniversay - we think. For sure it was either the 5th or the 15th and since we both forgot the 5th we decided to assume it was today.
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I observed that you wrote in a disrespectful manner to your wife three times in a post. I didn't say you didn't love her or that you don't have a solid marriage.
I wish you the best with all your endeavors--with sheep and in your own health. I hold no malice toward you. You feel I am insulting or criticising you because I saw that you were disrespectful toward a woman you call "wifey". Perhaps instead you should consider the manner in which you refer to your wife and how it may come across.
We are generations apart.
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I get called 'the wife', I'd much prefer wifey,
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HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!!! :excited:
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PC gone mad. I assume that I can no longer take my doggy for walkies either? ;D
I had assumed that referring to 'the missus, the old ball and chain, 'er indoors, the gender that eats forbidden fruit, she that must be obeyed, the diminuative half' as 'crazy' for insisting my 4 sheep had the whole 15 acres was the 'insult'. Wifey? What's wrong with 'wifey' or are wives no longer allowed to be wife-like?
Is 'hubby' also banned?
Anyhoo... Let's forget the world gone mad and get back to the story:
Last night Twiglet made her way up the hill and rejoined the flock and this am I can see her with the other three. They've all come out of their night nesting spot and are a third down the hill as a group. I'll go up shortly and check if she's grazing properly and the tooth grinding has totally stopped.
I do need to herd them into the other field so i can pen them to get the rest sheared but Twiget needs to be fully recovered before I start stressing them with a quad-bike chase over the hillside.
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When I have time later today, I will go through the original post and try to show you where your wife was being demeaned and insulted. It isn't PC gone mad at all. You've been thoughtless and insulting to women generally, in my opinion and I am pointing it out, as it seemed gratuitous and unkind.
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We had 2 which got flystruck badly this year. Sadly both died, although we tried the best we could to let them live. One of them had suffered badly from a terrible birth and I don't think she healed properly from that, as she was always weak and then she got flystruck and I got rid of them all and made sure she wouldn't get it again, but you know blowfly once a sick sheep always back to it. Anyway they got her again and I got them all off again but the sheep was rather weak. I tried to nurse her back to health but sadly she passed away, I was so upset. The other one was an older ewe, tbh they never did any damage, we sheared her rear and put on engine oil mixed with citronella, she never got them again but she died a week or 2 later, for no apparent reason. Age I expect or bad weather. I guess though these things happen and you can only do the best you do. I do hope that twiglet makes it, you have done an excellent job with her. Can I just say though some things you could try? Cleavers chopped into grass and some chopped nettle leaves, very good blood cleansers/purifiers, can help fight infection. Also plenty of warm honey and water with some cider vinegar in, as electrolytes, to keep her hydrated. Maybe also some molasses and honey, for energy. :) Hope this helps and sorry for the long post ;)
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We've had 2 very old chickens struck in the last couple of weeks.
Never known this in many years of keeping hens!
They were ancient and both a bit mucky at the back end but otherwise pottering around and keeping going.
Dispatched as they were about 8 years old and didn't want them to suffer at that age.
Is it a bad year for flies? There seem to be more insects in general up here this year.Lots of bees which is lovely but so many flies!
Hope Twiglet makes a full recovery.
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I promised to explain more about the way in which your original post was disrespectful toward your wife, and I will try to do so here. I will also point out that the manner in which you wrote the post was generally insulting to women.
The story is about how your sheep got fly strike. It begins with this sentence:
“My pet sheep have 15 acres of hillside between the four of them 'cos wifey thinks restaining them to just the 10-acre field is cruel. She's nuts of course.”
This first sentence sets up reason the sheep went unnoticed. The blame will soon be placed squarely on your wife for putting a small number of sheep in a large enclosure, making it difficult to find them. The sentence makes clear to the reader that the cause of the problem originates with your wife's poor judgment.
You write “restaining” but I am sure that is a typo for “restraining”. This verb is used to emphasize the extent of her poor judgment. To imagine that 10 acres would “restrain” that few sheep is silly, so your wife is made to look silly. In case the reader does not pick up on this notion, you underscore the problem by saying “She is nuts.”
Being called “wifey” is a diminutive. I would not allow myself to be called “wifey” but it is possible you see it as an endearment. So, we’ll leave that aside for now.
You then go on to write this:
"Wifey is hopeless at holding sheep and I have arthritic back problems and not as fit as I used to be so instead of arguing her into helping me shear Twiglet i let it slide."
So, not only has your wife’s poor judgment in pasturing four sheep caused you to overlook one, she is also not good at handling them. Her handling them is so “hopeless” you decided not to examine a sheep you thought might need further investigation for possible flystrike.
The sentence also makes evident that you would have liked to examine the sheep but did not think it was worth “arguing her into helping”. The statement makes you appear long-suffering in your willingness to forgo examining the sheep in order to avoid arguing. You place all blame on your wife.
You then write that the condition of the sheep became so poor that not even your wife prevented you from taking the actions you wanted to take from the outset. Again, you take on the role of the long-suffering husband, writing as follows:
"Yesterday Twiglet was a mess. She actually used the sheep shelter we call Gray's Inn for shade...flies buzzing everywhere so at least there was no argument from wifey."
To me, this makes it clear that your wife is an argumentative person who you have to work around. Twiglet was in such a mess that your wife did not argue this time, but the implication is that she usually would argue. You are finally able to do what you had wanted to all along (attend to the sick sheep) as your wife no longer presents the obstacles described earlier in the post.
Now, you feel I’ve insulted you for pointing out the ways in which you blamed and ridiculed your wife in this post. You feel it is “PC gone mad!”.
I would like to point out that your post was also full of politics. Your politics may not sound mad to you, but to me they sound very objectionable .
The term, “wifey” , may be an endearment to you, but the term also generalized your insults toward “the wife”, who could be any wife, and she is described so ungenerously, in turns as “nuts” as one who unnecessarily argues and who is incompetent (“hopeless”).
In a further post you write, “I suppose hubby is also banned”. You may have written this because you assume that the only problem with the post was the word “wifey”. But as you can see, that is not the case.
Very little speech is “banned”. You can write posts that some people will find insulting toward your wife—there is no law against that.
However, you may receive a response like mine in return. Free speech works both directions. My response is as a woman who found the persistent ridicule of your wife unnecessary and insulting. It was disrespectful to her, specifically, but also to women generally. That is why I felt demeaned and ridiculed reading. It reminded me of those old stand-up comics who used to tell wife jokes on stage and I pointed out that the story could have been told without so much ridicule and blame. You may have thought it was funny, but to me it was insulting and sexist.
Other people will have a different view. Some women have bought into the idea that men can insult them with impunity. They just roll their eyes and look away. They may have grown so used to it they don’t even notice anymore. To them, the notion that women will be ridiculed has become a fact of life.
Again, I wish you and your family the best. I hope your sheep thrive. I don’t wish any ill upon you at all. It may be worth reviewing your language in your post and just asking whether it was necessary to write it as you did. I think you know it was insulting and are just angry that someone pointed it out. You also know it was easy to write the story without insulting anyone. In fact, you conclude the story of Twiglet in a manner that seems to be about caring toward your sheep, not ridiculing another person. I hope Twiglet makes a full recovery!
Marti
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HAPPY ANNIVERSARY :wave: :wave:
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For heavens sake Marti - wind your neck in :sunshine:
In spite of my username I am female. But I am the farmer in the family and hubby is fairly useless with animals, (before he had a stroke). To have praised his stock handling abilities would have been nothing less than ridicule.
I can perfectly sympathise with pgkevet for not dealing with the sheep when his animal useless wife is there. I would have done the same. It is invariably better to go back and deal with the problem in a calm way later than to have to deal with an unwilling animal and an incompetent spouse at the same time.
It was perfectly obvious that pgkevet was relating to us an incident that most sheep farmers have experienced in one way or another. He was making what could have been fatal for Twiglet, more lighthearted by his humorous references to his wife. She must be perfectly aware of her inadequacies in sheep husbandry and has probably been teased about it several times. It's what you do in a stable marriage you know :innocent: . You can get at each other in a friendly way without causing in the least offence. (Maybe you should try it some time - might open up a whole new dimension :eyelashes: ). Anyway, I don't recall anyone appointing you to criticise (in such mind boggling detail :rant: ) what was a perfectly genuine and entertaining post. I imagine you were possibly bullied at school. But you really do need to get over it. :thumbsup:
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Mmmmm, I wasn't bullied at school ::) but I can understand where Marti is coming from.
I still remember being really cross as a teenager at being referred to as 'the girlie' at gundog training classes and have told off my OH when he referred to me as 'the wife'.
I chose to believe that this post was written in a humourous way but I can see that others may read it differently.
Maybe it is partly a generational thing and also different depending on the community that you're in.
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guys, guys shouldn't we try to keep on topic here? Let us not go into who said what or whatever, at the end of the day this is about twiglet and her progress. I am finding this thread very interesting/sad/happy at the same time. I hope you don't mind me saying this [member=171105]Marti615[/member] if you do have an issue with the manner in which he was talking about his OH wouldn't it be better to private message [member=16228]pgkevet[/member] and make your point via that? Or indeed set up a new topic? After all this thread is really about the sheep and how the situation has been resolved... Ok point made am outta here... :coat:
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Having been brought up with my father using wifie as an endearment to my mother I could not see anything wrong with the term.
I bet most of us at some time have left a sheep that should have had a closer inspection for one reason or another, the important thing is that you go back and have a proper look sooner rather than later, not three days hence. Here it is usually because we cannot catch it and have to lug hurdles ect into place and feed them all to pen them up and then have a look see. Nothing wrong with that as something out of the ordinary has been noticed.
I have had two cases of maggots this year and the shearer found another that showed no symptoms. He said that there is a lot about. I had been holding off with the crovect until he had been but he said next year do them anyway. Not sure that the hand spinners would be so happy though.
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Lets make a few things clear here. I'm thick skinned so if you all want to criticise my terminology or vocabulary then please go ahead - enjoy yourselves. There's very little I'm going to bother defending and I doubt I'll change. Nor do any of you know my wife to be able to judge but believe me we've both had a chuckle over this thread and she has no resentment over my posts.
What i shall defend is any suggestion that my sheep were or are neglected. We both go down every evening to pet them and feed them some nuts. For some reason this year they've stopped rushing up as readily - partly 'cos the pasture is particularly lush but probably because we lost Blue a few months ago and he was the greedy one that always rushed down and the rest followed.
So when I 'thought I caught a wiff of flystrike' I wasn't certain and V hates to see them man-handled. While i did manage to catch twiglet i couldn't hold her and see the bottom of her tail properly and just managed a glance under to the perinuem which was clean. They then didn't come to us the next day so 48hrs passed.. and anyone who has seen flystrike knows how fast it progresses.
The days when i could pick up a 70Kg sheep have long, long gone.... about 20years ago with a spinal vertebral abscess. Now I have trouble just tipping them over onto side or bottom and not enough strength to hold them as well as do stuff to them. Once it was obvious that Twiglet had a problem then it just had to get sorted irrespective of discomfort to me or V.
We can see their field across the valley and wqtch them go up to bed, come down in the morning and so forth from the sunroom.
Current state of play is that Twiggy spent the day in Grays Inn and drank salty/sugary water when we carried it to her. She ate only a few hazel leaves but this evening she was standing outside Grays Inn carefully selecting the youngest grassy undergrowth to graze a little of and took a whole handful of nuts so i expect her to be fine. The lesions have dried.
Also with the panic over I've examined and re-assembled the clippers and they work well. Sheep clippers I wasn't familiar with - compared to the brands i used on SA work they're unsophisticated and the worries that were going through my head re whether there was a blade spring missing or difficulties with tension adjustments etc weren't there. Indeed these ebay cheapo sheep clippers are well worth the money if you only have a few sheep..just make sure it's all tightened up before use and spend the extra to buy an inverter for field use off a car battery.
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Wifey (correct spelling) should start her own TAS account - if she is allowed ;) ......
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Wifey (correct spelling) should start her own TAS account - if she is allowed ;) ......
..you think i'd get to voice an opinion about that? ::)
This am twiggy was with the other three as a flock. I bumped into the farmer friend that's sheared them in the past .. he's back from hols and was 'down't pub' and happy to do them again - he's still feeling quite fit despite his illness. He plans on coming tomorrow and my job will be to get the flock onto the bridge over the stream- gates each side.
I chased them from the 10-acre hillside to the 5 acre field today. That is no fun. The large field is a 30degree hillside and thick grass and a scattering of trees. The flock got away from twiggy early on and I didn't want to stress chase her so left her behind. Herding the sheep solo on a field like that is 'a challenge'. There are some steeper bits and when they break sideways I end up racing across the horizontal and i hate being on 2 wheels on a quadbike; age and reflexes.
From the 5-acre to the gates is always a lot easier.. it's a clear field with only a 20 degree even slope. I'll get them on the bridge when Wynn rings before he comes. He's a good friend, usually brings one of his lads along as well.. and i've just come back from a supplies run including bottles of thank-you booze.
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Glad to hear Twiglet is doing well and shearing is imminent. :relief:
I hope you will forgive me, pgkevet, for continuing the side conversation.
As a woman now in her sixties (just!), I can well remember the strain of being always the only female engineer, being assumed to be the secretary, hearing other working women referred to as 'the girl', constantly having to decide whether to correct and inform, or allow the sexism to go unremarked.
So I applaud Marti615 for having the guts to stick up for her beliefs and taking the time to explain where she felt the perfectly normal husband-and-wife banter could be taken as disrespectful to women.
These days, I believe the underlying sexism is all but gone from large swathes of western society, and agree with several posters that we could just as likely have been reading a post written by a female smallholder being equally derogatory about her non-animal-oriented husband.
But where someone has a deeply held belief, and is of the opinion that a wrong has been done, I would always rather hear that view expressed than risk the result of when 'good people say and do nothing' (to paraphrase and de-genderise a well known saying!)
And respect to you, pgkevet, too, for openly describing a situation we can all find ourselves in, for restraint and good humour in responding to Marti615's comments - and for 41 years of marriage, which is no mean achievement these days.
Now can we please all get back to loving each other, and, more importantly, hearing more of the Further Adventures of Twiglet :D
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I was sure i saw twiggy near the top on the right at lunchtime so walked (climbed) up the hill to pet and reassure her. Could i find her? No chance. The garss is wasit high that side plus a boggy area with high reeds and bushes and some bracken. I found and empty sheep nest under the bush. After a half hour of plodding around the field i gave up. I hae it booked to be topped next week but you could trip over a sheep up there and not see it.
This evening V went off to look.. with OO the black barn cat waking to heel behind. I got whined into taking Rebel for a walk and we followed a way behind. Rebel stays this side of the bridge gates and when i got there i could hear V talking to Twiggy who was eating nuts and hazel and sniffing OO. Twiggy is always interested in cats and dogs. OO took it on her toes when i rocked up but re-appeared a couple of minutes later torturing a mouse.
I petted Twiggy and then just walked behind her and coaxed her into oaktree field where the other sheep are invisible; either over the far rise by top gate or in the rocky bracken corner top left. Twigs was cropping grass well. V has just gone back with more nuts to try and reunite the flock.
I pointed out to V that someone suggested she join the forum. Her reply was that she'd really wind folk up unless you have a section for retired hunt sabateurs, animal rights activists and strict vegans with a fiery irish temper, strong personal views and a penchant for written scatology... ;D
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V sounds great fun, get her on here. It's ages since we've had a good debate... :stir: :stir:
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Perhaps the Coffee Lounge rather than the Sheep section is the best place for tirades on feminism?
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I was sure i saw twiggy near the top on the right at lunchtime so walked (climbed) up the hill to pet and reassure her. Could i find her? No chance. The garss is wasit high that side plus a boggy area with high reeds and bushes and some bracken. I found and empty sheep nest under the bush.
Really good news to hear that Twiggy is ok. :thumbsup: Though I can't help feeling that some time in the near future, with all this food she's letting you persuade her to eat, you might need to change her name to something more voluminous. :sheep:
But I was really intrigued by the "sheep nest." Was it beautifully lined with wool? :knit: Hopefully you hadn't disturbed the inhabitants and they will return in time. ;D
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We can put this thread to bed now. Twig and the rest of the flock were happily grazing in Oaktree field this afternoon when I chased them onto the bridge by quadbike to corral them. Wynn and his son rocked up half an hour later and sheared the remaining three.. all maggot free and while they were captive they all got wormed, vaccinated and the three sheared got crovect(ed). Once released they all dived for the cover in the thick top left bracken and rocks corner.
Most important shearing supply today was lavish amounts of bug spray to keep those horseflies of us and Rebel - my dalmatian - went back to puppyhood by snatching lumps of fleece through the gate and rushing round the field shredding it and having a high old time. He really likes the stinky bits but then again this is the dog that found a dead badger last month and raced over daily to check on it and marinate it in more urine; not a hobby I wish to take up but he enjoyed it.
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Glad the flock are okay.
Marti had some very valid observations, we all subconsciously say and do things that are worth actually looking at again.
Personally I'm more concerned about the difficulty in seeing to the flock that could be eased by adjusting management (e.g. more frequent "manhandling" should accustom them to being "manhandled" and thus make it less stressful when they need interfering with) - but we all have different styles.
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Marti had some very valid observations, we all subconsciously say and do things that are worth actually looking at again.
....but I thought this was supposed to be about sheep....
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Marti had some very valid observations, we all subconsciously say and do things that are worth actually looking at again.
Personally I'm more concerned about the difficulty in seeing to the flock that could be eased by adjusting management (e.g. more frequent "manhandling" should accustom them to being "manhandled" and thus make it less stressful when they need interfering with) - but we all have different styles.
Indeed. Perhaps that's something we should all think about, the next time we are personhandling our sheep ;D . You've just got to be so careful what you say these days, don't you? :innocent:
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On a serious sheep note (I can't be bothered wasting my life commenting on other peoples comments, no matter how much I want to...:)) .... you do need to find a better way of inspecting your flock. Also, if you think something is wrong then it usually is, so act immediately, don't put it off, no matter how inconvenient it is for you (we've all been there, and wish we'd acted sooner).
What I would suggest is that you teach your sheep to come when you call. It's a bit like teaching them to come to the shake of a bucket of nuts but works over a longer distance - also you can ride on the quad to get a bit closer to them if you need to, to call them in. Then have a small handling area into which you can easily funnel them. If I recall there is a thread on here about teaching sheep to come when called - its easy to do, especially if they already know you have nuts for them. Now would be a good time to start, especially if you've recently lost your "lead sheep".
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Indeed. Perhaps that's something we should all think about, the next time we are personhandling our sheep ;D . You've just got to be so careful what you say these days, don't you? :innocent:
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Eerm I believe they prefer to be called non-human mammals