The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: Womble on May 10, 2014, 03:23:28 pm
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Ok, after a none too subtle hint from Sally on the Hebs thread, here are some pics of our new girls.
Arriving....
(http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j216/Blutack/TAS2011/Sheep/1.jpg)
Exploring
(http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j216/Blutack/TAS2011/Sheep/4.jpg)
Checking us out
(http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j216/Blutack/TAS2011/Sheep/2.jpg)
and meeting the boss, before settling in
(http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j216/Blutack/TAS2011/Sheep/3.jpg)
First impressions? My heart says "love them!". My head asks will I ever cope with animals who seem to be 1/3 sheep and 2/3 deer? ;D
We're learning that they have a very wide 'scare' radius, so no sudden movements within about 3 miles of them please ::) . Sally is absolutely correct on the Hebs thread too - if you're going to pen them, it has to be very tight indeed, or they will soon teach you the meaning of "sheep hurdle". Of course getting them INTO a tight pen in the first place is nigh on impossible :innocent: . Once caught though, they soon calm down and are quite willing to let you check feet etc. (BTW, for the observant amongst you, we have now double tagged them - the seller couldn't find the right applicator to do the EIDs before we picked them up.)
Our plan for this year is to buy some Lleyn ewes with tup lambs at foot, to give us some meat this Autumn, prior to running both the Manxs and Lleyns with a Lleyn or similar tup lamb in November, who will then become our Christmas Dinner (tough love, but at least he'll go with a smile on his face!). That should give us experience of keeping something a bit more commercial as well as the primitives, and of seeing how well they cross out, as well as lambing in the spring.
So our thanks to Fleecewife and SallyintNorth for giving us the confidence to go for it and finally get some sheep. We'd held back on it for several years, mainly because we are surrounded by professional sheep farmers here, and I didn't want to make an arse of myself! So whilst our Manxes could hardly be more different than the Beltex across the fence, I definitely know which I prefer! :thumbsup:
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BTW, Perhaps due to the move, or the warm weather lately, they have actually started shedding their fleeces already, so we caught a couple last night and roo'd the easily parted fleece from their backs - it was coming off anyway, and we didn't want it to go to waste!
The question now though, what should we do with a binbag of gorgeous soft brown fleece, given that neither of us know how to :spin: or :knit: ? ;D
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if you ever need a spare pair of hands shout...
they look very nice...
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Will do Bloomer. How good are you at :spin: ing and :knit: ing? :roflanim:
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not very :-)
like sallys not going to want it shipped to her :-)
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She's got her own Bloomer!
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well your an ingenious chap time to learn spinning!!!
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Yep agreed. Time to learn spinning. :spin: The sheep look lovely :thumbsup:
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Or felting, or peg loom rug making, neither of which require either :spin: or :knit:
Well done on getting the sheep :thumbsup: You've got them well trained to dry feed then ;D brilliant :sheep:
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OK for penning jumpy sheep, the best way is to have a small but not too crowded pen with a hurdle laid horizontally on top ( a few folk do this at the shows, otherwise the primitives set off for a tour of the showground). However, they may well be too scared of the roofed pen to go in, so may only work to put the hurdle over once they're penned.
Or, when you set up your catching pen, make it the length of two hurdles, but have one joined in halfway along, which can be swung shut behind the sheep once they're in the less scary large pen. We've found that once they've jumped out, there's no catching them that day.
The other longer term method of getting them used to being in a pen is to make a shape with three sides from hurdles, but the other open. Once you've got the sheep used to being fed in there, add a fourth hurdle which can be used to close off the end. Leave it open for a week or so whilst they get used to you standing near them while they feed. Then quietly and gently close the last hurdle behind them as they eat. Once they've eaten, let them out. Keep doing that until they're used to eating in a closed pen and you should have calm, catchable sheep. :relief:
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They look lovely :) :love: :sheep: :hugsheep: - congratulations!
Your plan of crossing with Lleyn sounds very interesting :thinking:. I have been very impressed with my Manxes as crossbreed mums so far - the lambs grow big and strong :)
Yes of course you should take up spinning :spin: :excited:; the Manx fleece is so incredibly soft on the cut face, however can you resist? :innocent:
Otherwise if you do not want to use them yourself I am sure we can factor a transfer either through TAS or on Ravelry. If you've rooed them it is too good to waste.
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They look very nice girls :love:
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I hope we'll see them, calmly penned, at the Festival in September. Get a white coat and get in the ring, Womble ;D
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Fantastic womble they look good .New begings for you all will be ok
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Admitting to some serious sheep envy , they look bonny little sheep. :love:
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You know, I'm discovering it's a really simple pleasure to come home from work and sit in my wee office looking out at my sheep grazing in the paddock..... hang on a minute, they're supposed to be in the field next door! :o
Awww, not again girls!? Seriously?!? ::)
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i know a man who can do you a deal on higher fences :-)
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Lovely girls :love: , good luck with them. I'm sure you will have hours of fun ;D
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We are spending more on fencing and walling for my little primitives than the whole of the rest of the farm combined ::)... but somehow, we don't mind. I love my funny little sheep :hugsheep: