Author Topic: Herdwick ewe lamb with horns? (Read 2157 times)

Jodi · « **on:** November 04, 2018, 11:16:06 am »

I was giving one of my Herdwick ewe lambs a fuss yesterday, and found that she has what feels like horns growing. She's bout 7 months old, and was malnourished and untouchable, along with the others when I got her a month ago, so I've only noticed now that she's becoming friendly.

They're about 1/3 inch long, feel quite strong, rough and sharp, and I couldn't wiggle them (she got sick of me messing with them pretty quickly). I saw in the breed standard that ewes are polled, so has anyone else experienced this, and should I do anything?

Thanks!

shep53 · « **Reply #1 on:** November 04, 2018, 01:35:13 pm »

Does it matter if she has wee horns , its not going to bother her

Jodi · « **Reply #2 on:** November 04, 2018, 03:18:36 pm »

Quote from: shep53 on November 04, 2018, 01:35:13 pm

Does it matter if she has wee horns , its not going to bother her

Oh no, not at all! I'd just have liked to take her along to some shows (I never see any Herdwick at the local ones, and they have such sweet faces), but I know it's not acceptable in the breed standard. She's a lovely girl and I personally don't mind

I took a better look this afternoon, and they're definitely horns. I have a shetland with scurs, which are black, smooth and a bit wobbly, but these aren't like that... These are cream and quite bony/rough.

Do scurs need to be removed by the way?

SallyintNorth · « **Reply #3 on:** November 04, 2018, 05:08:53 pm »

Check ‘her’ rear end

. Even very experienced farmers get one wrong now and again

Otherwise, quite possibly she’s not 100% pure bred.

bj_cardiff · « **Reply #4 on:** November 04, 2018, 05:26:19 pm »

all of my sheep are polled and always have been, but occasionally you get one with small horns, often they don't grow much and usually get knocked off, when their playing.

Jodi · « **Reply #5 on:** November 04, 2018, 10:38:00 pm »

Quote from: SallyintNorth on November 04, 2018, 05:08:53 pm

Check ‘her’ rear end . Even very experienced farmers get one wrong now and again

Otherwise, quite possibly she’s not 100% pure bred.

*Ding Ding Ding!*

Lovely Heidi is now a lovely Henry!

A friendly boy, and although not what I thought I was buying, he's the most affectionate and sits down like an idiot when I fuss him, so I'm smitten

Just need to feed them all up now! Anyone got tips for helping emaciated stock build muscle? I get a couple come to be hand fed, but they'd never seen a bucket before, and it took at least two weeks to get them to even eat creep (wouldn't touch anything else)... They still aren't massively bothered, no matter what I feed (a sheep mix, crushed grain, grass pellets and creep), but do like their hay. They go out and eat grass happily enough through the day, and we have plenty.

They'd been wormed at the beginning of October, and I'll be worming them with another wormer on Wednesday, along with some conditioning drench. None are scouring at all, which I'm very pleased about! But I did buy a few sorry little wrecklings, and I'm struggling to build them up. All of my pets are sturdy, so I'm not used to trying to put weight on.

twizzel · « **Reply #6 on:** November 05, 2018, 07:55:23 am »

It takes 6 weeks to put on 1 condition score so it’s not a quick fix and will just take time. I’d just let them eat grass, as lib hay and put an energy bucket out for them to take ad lib. Why are you worming them again when they were done just over a month ago? A fecal egg count test would be more appropriate and then worm them if they actually need it, otherwise you’re on a fast trip to wormer resistance and nobody wants that.

nimbusllama · « **Reply #7 on:** November 05, 2018, 08:14:11 am »

*Ding Ding Ding!*

Lovely Heidi is now a lovely Henry!

A friendly boy, and although not what I thought I was buying, he's the most affectionate and sits down like an idiot when I fuss him, so I'm smitten

Just need to feed them all up now! Anyone got tips for helping emaciated stock build muscle? I get a couple come to be hand fed, but they'd never seen a bucket before, and it took at least two weeks to get them to even eat creep (wouldn't touch anything else)... They still aren't massively bothered, no matter what I feed (a sheep mix, crushed grain, grass pellets and creep), but do like their hay. They go out and eat grass happily enough through the day, and we have plenty.

They'd been wormed at the beginning of October, and I'll be worming them with another wormer on Wednesday, along with some conditioning drench. None are scouring at all, which I'm very pleased about! But I did buy a few sorry little wrecklings, and I'm struggling to build them up. All of my pets are sturdy, so I'm not used to trying to put weight on.

Be aware now that you have a Henry and not a Heidi that you have to be more aware what you feed them as male sheep cannot have ewe food. I presume he is castrated?