The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: Shannonsheep on May 18, 2017, 01:33:51 pm
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Hi I'm new to halter training sheep, what should be the age to start ? Any tips?
Thank you :sheep: :)
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I think it is good for lambs to have the feel of a halter at a very young age. I normally am showing lambs born in April, at a show at the end of May, and find that by the end of the show (if not at the start!) they are leading pretty well. Mine are Castlemilk Moorits. Even if you are not showing it is really useful to have halter trained sheep, especially if you have a small flock, and they learn fairly quickly. The trick is to give little tugs rather than fight all the time, and reward with a treat (if they will take it from you) or just release the pressure every time they step forward. Good luck... :thumbsup: :sheep:
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[member=7689]nimbusllama[/member] what kind of halter do you use on the young ones? I have a 2 week old cmm ram lamb that I would like to try showing with but I'm not sure what type of halter would fit him.
Dans
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I use a homemade halter for training, and therefore I have made it to fit my Castlemilks. It is made of soft thickish rope of the type used by boaters. This is more comfortable than the thin cord readymade sheep halters whilst they are struggling. One point I didn't make before is that the lead part should be at least 6 to 8 feet long so that the lamb/sheep isn't completely freaked out by you being too close to them while training. For the shows I use a cotton (not nylon) cord halter, but I alter the size for lambs by undoing the spliced loop and re-splicing it to make it smaller. On a personal note I also dye the white halters brown to make a more pleasing picture on a Castlemilk, but that is not required and most people use white or black halters. Having said all that don't be put off if your lamb misbehaves in the ring as the judges don't expect a primitive lamb to be foot perfect! Good luck :thumbsup: