The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: moprabbit on August 16, 2020, 02:21:38 pm
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I had 4 much loved pet sheep all 10 and a half years old. Sadly 1 has now died. At the moment the other 3 are fine but I know the inevitable will happen and another will die, leaving just 2. At that point I know eventually there will be just 1 left. Before that happens I need to have got some company for the remaining sheep. I don't want any more animals of my own so I would be looking to 'borrow' maybe 2 or 3 sheep from some else until eventually my little flock have all gone. Where would I 'borrow' sheep from? I just wondered if anyone else has been in this position and what they did? Any thoughts appreciated. Thank you
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RSPCA or some other animal charity ?
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I think in your situation I would probably see how the sheep coped on its own. If its lived as a group of four for 10yrs I'm not sure it would be fair to introduce a new sheep at that stage of its life. I think i would let them get down to two, then one and see how it copes on its own. It would be very familiar with its surroundings so shouldn't be too distressed. You might find that doesn't happen till the last sheep is 15 or some grand old age!
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Were you to add two or three new sheep once you were down to one, they would not mix together as a flock, but the new ones would probably gang up on the original sheep. The reverse would happen if you added one new sheep to two remaining originals - the new one would not be accepted so would effectively be a miserable lone sheep.
I think what I would do would be to wait until you are down to two, then when one of the remaining sheep becomes frail, get them both put down together. I think that would be kinder than leaving them both to waste away and die naturally, with one doing so on her own. I would be most comfortable doing it that way, perhaps you would too. You probably have a couple of years at least to think about it, and if you know that's the plan then it's not too hard and you will be confident that you have done the right thing. Whatever you do, winter is a hard time for old sheep, so for timing get them put down at the end of a long lovely summer, before their winter struggle begins.
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Thank you all for your replies. I certainly have a lot to think about and I hope I've got plenty of time to do it in!