[CarolineJ]

The bulk of my flock has gone.

It's been a tough year.  It was our first lambing and my husband managed to rupture his Achilles tendon three weeks in, followed by his mother dying three days later.  He had 12 weeks in plaster, 10 of them non-weight-bearing, which gave him a lot of thinking time and he reached the conclusion that he didn't see sheep as part of his future.  As I was struggling to cope, even with help from my very kind neighbours, (I spent an awful lot of time sitting on hillsides bawling my eyes out this summer) we decided that the best thing to do was to sell the breeding ewes and stick to buying in and gimmering a small number of ewe lambs each year, which I could manage by myself.

So the boys went off to the sales in August (mostly tups and rigs as it turns out that I cannot elastrate for toffee when I'm trying to do it singlehandedly) and of my 33 ewes, 29 have now gone, leaving me with the two 8-year-olds who were a neighbour's pet sheep and have never lambed, one 2-year-old who didn't get in lamb despite being tupped several times, one 2-year-old who prolapsed prior to lambing and 17 ewe lambs.  The ewes are all tame to varying degrees from will follow a bucket to will come up and nudge me in the spring to pluck fleece out of her chest when she starts getting too warm, and should do a great job of nannying each batch of youngsters.

Hard to say goodbye to the rest, particularly Wonky Sheep, who I nursed through listeriosis (I think she just remembers the endless injections, as she's very wary of me!), sheep-formerly-known-as-sheep-who-does-not-eat-feed and sheep-who-walks-to-heel, but they're good ewes who bred well and it's better that they go on to be productive for someone else rather than having a flakey owner who's been feeling constantly on the edge of a nervous breakdown all summer.

If I'm coping better next year and decide I can manage lambing on my own, then I've still got all the bloodlines here, but now I'm down to 21 from a peak of 67 this summer, I'm looking forward to enjoying my sheep again rather than feeling totally overwhelmed and stressed by them, and getting some more time to train my collie - it's a good number for us to work with and the hoggs will move easily.  Onwards and upwards.

[Perris]

sounds like a really tough year    , but you've emerged stronger  and have a plan for the future: good luck with it! 

[nimbusllama]

That all sounds like a good plan, glad you have been able to keep some sheep and have a plan B if you feel like it in the future.  Sometimes you have to put yourself first as long as the animals are catered for. 

[SallyintNorth]

Well done, very tough decision and very tough to implement.      Sounds like you’ve gone about the reduction very intelligently and have left options open for yourself. 

If you’re not ready to begin breeding again in a year, you can always try and keep tabs on where some of the gimmers go so you can buy back the bloodlines later, if you want.

You may well find that simply being with your sheep and having little stress gives you so much pleasure you don’t even want the hassle, pressure and work of lambing again. 

Can’t remember - do you spin? 

[CarolineJ]

You may well find that simply being with your sheep and having little stress gives you so much pleasure you don’t even want the hassle, pressure and work of lambing again. 

Can’t remember - do you spin? 

I suspect that may end up being the case!

I was teaching myself to spin and getting on quite well with a drop spindle, and then I got a Border collie puppy and it all came grinding to a halt!  Now he's 2 it might be time to take it up again

[Southern Northerner]

I’m sorry to hear that CarolineJ.  Without getting too heavy I’ve always thought you learn the most about things and also about yourself through times of adversity.  I’m also a firm believer in onwards and upwards so I’m sure you are heading in a good direction.