Author Topic: Are your sheep still outside (Read 4780 times)

NLL · « **on:** November 28, 2010, 08:00:28 pm »

I am getting tempted tp bring the sheep in as its giving high winds and drifting snow here for the week. However they all seem ok outside,they have hay and are fed twice a day, am I being soft.

katie · « **Reply #1 on:** November 28, 2010, 08:22:53 pm »

Yes!

NLL · « **Reply #2 on:** November 28, 2010, 08:30:57 pm »

lol, thanks.

Brucklay · « **Reply #3 on:** November 28, 2010, 10:01:07 pm »

Last night it was howling and I was so tempted to check the youngsters but didn't - this morning they were as bright as buttons waiting for their hay - I think they cope better than we give them credit - did bring ramie lambie down to a less exposed are though - so I'm a softie - at least you care

Fleecewife · « **Reply #4 on:** November 28, 2010, 10:56:17 pm »

Ours stay out all year round, but do have small shelters in the fields. The only time we have ever brought any in is if a ewe lambs into a blizzard in the night - then they stay in the polytunnel until the snow has stopped.
Sometimes if it is snowy and it starts to melt a little in the day then the temp plummets quickly at dusk, they can get stuck to the ground by their fleece. Usually that is not a problem as they are strong enough to get up, but on one occasion a heavily pregnant ewe got totally stuck leading to other probs I won't go into now. We have never had sheep lost in drifts but it can happen on the hill - it would help to have black sheep then to make them easier to see

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NLL · « **Reply #5 on:** November 29, 2010, 08:41:01 am »

thanks again, my ponies are all out, without rugs, and are fine.Some of the lambs started shivering last year so i fetched them in but this years lot seem alot hardier.

katie · « **Reply #6 on:** November 29, 2010, 09:37:32 am »

Have they got a high-protein lick, NLL? That helps them cope with the cold as well.

Ours are Wiltshire Horn so don't have a fleece as such but they're fine outside. I suppose you could knit bodywarmers -just imagine the local farmers' faces!

Fleecewife · « **Reply #7 on:** November 29, 2010, 09:40:47 am »

Or modify old woolly jumpers as I've seen in Shetland - where of course they are rather swish, being fair Isle patterns.

NLL · « **Reply #8 on:** November 29, 2010, 06:07:42 pm »

ok, im sorry, i have bought all the lambs in today.they were all soaked so that you could see their skin.i could just see problems. they are still wet tonight and i think it will take them a few days to dry out. The older sheep are still outside including the pregnant ewes and im quite happy with them.

lachlanandmarcus · « **Reply #9 on:** November 29, 2010, 06:11:09 pm »

Golly yes my Shetlands are all out and all happy arguing with the geese :-) All have water hay and a lick plus a few nuts to fight over. The biggest group have an ark but the rest just have the hay hakes as shelter but seem happy and fine. Its me thats exhausted as the quad is broke so its all fodder and water by hand uphill!

Anke · « **Reply #10 on:** November 29, 2010, 06:58:40 pm »

I have not got any space at this time of year - my hayshed is also my lambing shed... Keep a pen set up for any emergencies, or if my old girl (12 years, but not in lamb any more) needs to come in... so all are out, have hedges to shelter below and are not even that keen on their haylage (yet)... during the day they dig their heads into the snow and are probably still finding some grass below...

I'm not sure if bringing them in is a help - unless they are ill they should be able to cope well with the weather! Inside they are much more likely to pick up bugs, coughing etc etc

dyedinthewool · « **Reply #11 on:** November 29, 2010, 08:08:45 pm »

Not that we have the awful weather some of you are experiencing

It's still B****** cold. Wev'e frozen snow on the ground which hasn't given out at all.

I've only got 8 ewes plus the borrowed Ram. My OH has built a shelter that spans the fence between two of our paddocks with two gates so it can be used from either field. It's long enough to feed in with a hay rack, for the five girls + ram they can use it or not and more often than not they don't... except for Milly, I think she must have been a 'molly' lamb as the minute it spits with rain she dashes in and stands there with her head poking out until it stops.

The other shed is an old tin barn but it doesn't leak so my ewe lambs can use that if needed - again they'll lie out on the stone track leading to it rather than in it

Mine have ad-lib hay - though they aren't eating much of it. A small feed at night of barley, sugarbeet and a few ewe/coarse nuts. A Supalyx super energy lick.

There's nowt so queer as animals, as humans we think they are like us and need to be cuddly and warm; we give them a thick straw bed... but given the chance and they will spend it outside... what they don't like is weather that is wet and windy.

woollyval · « **Reply #12 on:** November 30, 2010, 11:19:37 am »

Sheep are designed to live outdoors all year round and it can be quite bad for them to be bought in wet as they cannot move around and dry! Sheep wool is designed to keep them warm and ok even in very harsh conditions. I know it sounds hard but thats why they have wool. Mine have access to hedges and a bit of shelter but never choose to go inside, even in heavy snow and pouring rain....