[sabrina]

My neighbours got their children a pet lamb last Spring. Now due to their fencing being poor the lamb spends most of its time in my paddock eating my grass. As I am going away for a wee holiday and someone is going to be looking after the place I have decide it would be better to put the two cobs in separate   paddocks. Toto has made it clear he hates the lamb so how do i stand if he kills it. Neighbours are away just now so I can't explain to them about their lamb being at risk of getting its head kicked in.

[Melmarsh]

It would have been prudent to talk to the neighbour before now, when the lamb first visited. What apart from grass do you usually keep in the paddock the lamb visits / lives in ?? It probably needs a friend, no farm animal should be kept on it's own    If you rely think it is in danger is there anywhere you could put it until the neighbours returned ,like back in their garden or wherever it is supposed to be ?  No answer but you could speak to your insurers to see were you stand legally, I would be horrified if I didn't do something knowing what might happen.  Good luck sorting it out !

[Fleecewife]

Poor lamb - have they left it with no-one to even check up on it?  Think of its welfare, so protect it from the horses while you are away.  It's not the lamb's fault it has useless owners, nor that it's seeking company, so it needs your protection.  I think you need to speak to the neighbours when they get home so they know the situation, and that it's cruel to keep a flock animal on its own, in fact it's something Animal Health could be interested in.

[Coximus]

Animal health would be very interested - it fails at every welfare hurdle - its a cruel and selfish thing to do, but so many people get a lamb as a pet after moving to the country - think its cute and their little token bit of "farm".

I know in yorks they like to stick it to these people and teach them the lesson, Most wont have CPH, do any checking, know how to treat strike, vaccinate etc, that AND ive seen many grazing in gardens, complete with rhodi etc....

[Backinwellies]

Is it double tagged? 

[Marches Farmer]

The more I see of similar situations where ignorance leads to poor livestock welfare the less I'm inclined to tolerate it.  I'd have been on the 'phone the first time it strayed, for all the reasons outlined in the responses above.

[Buttermilk]

Can you make a safe place for the lamb? I run a single electric tape across my paddock so the sheep can go under when the horses start to play rough.

[sabrina]

I managed to speak to the lady who was checking her horses and cats. She shut it in there garden. No flowers just grass. When her OH is at home the lamb does not get to wander but her works away. Its even been out on the road. No tags yet. I expect it will be going back to the farm it came from at some point. Since coming back home it has not been in our field.

[Backinwellies]

No  tags is illegal (as it has already moved from holding of birth) ..... contact animal health.

[Me]

I think it best to talk to people rather than get them in as much trouble as you can from a safe distance.

[sabrina]

I will talk to her.

[pharnorth]

Agree with 'me'. Especially regarding neighbours as it is easy to cause ill feeling that will often bounce back. They may be ignorant but we were all ignorant before we were better informed.  I was delivering eggs to a farm shop a while back and was asked by a customer of the shop if the NT would mind her walking her pet lamb across their livestock fields!!!!!!  From her accent I took her to be Eastern European, so gently suggested she looked at the GOV site as she had no idea about EU regs on tagging and movements......... Anyway at least she asked first