[PipKelpy]

Agh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have 4 ewes left to lamb, 2 hoggs, 2 ewes. All primitives, a Castlemilk, a Shetland and 2 Shetland X Castlemilks (the hoggs) who happen to be daughter & granddaughter of the castlemilk.

ALL due next week so they'll be coming in together Friday night!

When I went out this morning their field was clear, meaning they'd hopped it to another one to pick at the measly grass!

2 hours later after I'd seen to my cades (by heck they can butt for attention) I went back out the back to feed a couple of condemned ewes!!!! ( mothers of the cades) I looked down the field and actually wondered what I was looking at.

Hope (Castlemilk) was stuck in the fence, not ideal but normally not a problem. The problem was fu****g Hollow (pet wether) bashing the crap out of her through the fence!

Her horn caught, he aimed at her, she can't escape so keeps going down on side! I got to her, unhooked her and then as she stood, fell in a ruck. So I grab hold just to steady. Stayed like that for a few moments, threatening Hollow with the chop (seriously considering it as that was uncalled for!)

Got the 4 into the arena with grass nuts, regrabbed, dosed with twin lamb then let her go. Mum said bring the 4 in tonight!

She looks like a whale and my concern is perfectly presented lambs may now be coming incorrectly which is the problem we had when Petunia bashed Orla (Petunia has been condemned!!)

What is it about bloody sheep? They live happily together but when one is stuck, target practice???

[Rosemary]

Hope Hope is OK 

[PipKelpy]

Hope Hope is OK 

She must like me at the moment as normally she's a snooty so and so.

Went to feed the cades at 4.30pm and then went to see how she was and she happily came up to me and had a few grass nuts out of my hand. (Not normal!!)

Hollow on the other end has self exciled himself to a far corner!

Narks me though, I bottle reared Hollow in 2018 and he's a gentle giant, half lleyn, 1/4 Dorset Down, 1/4 manx x shetland, he's the last relation to my first batch of shetlands from 2005 I think it was (could have been 2004). Never behaved like this before. Lived happily with cattle and when I damaged my foot used to walk alongside me as I was hobbling, so it really annoys me that he would behave like this!

[SallyintNorth]

maybe the lambing hormones affecting them all? 

[Fleecewife]

A long time ago we had a group of young tups together, held by electric mesh netting (Something we would NEVER do now, lesson learned).
Inevitably, one got stuck by its horns through the fence.  The rest of the lads butted seven shades of hell out of the poor lad, who was of course being given shocks all the time (it was just a battery powered fence so not too bad).  Once we had extricated the young tup, we found he was a bit injured and it took a week or so for him to recover.
We could have been angry with the lads for behaving badly, but of course it was our fault for using inappropriate fencing.
Their behaviour was set off I'm sure by the unusual behaviour of the lad with his head stuck, trying to get himself free and twitching at the shocks. 


It's just natural sheep behaviour, so please don't hate your wether for it.  He doesn't actually know he's not a tup, so he will behave like any true tup in his reaction to unusual behaviour.
I expect you have calmed down now anyway.  Poor lad perhaps doesn't understand himself why he behaved like that.  Lambing hormones get to wethers just as much as to ewes and tups.

[PipKelpy]

Will folk please STOP mentioning hormones!!

Mum reckons that's what Petunia suffered with! Screw that, bashed Orla, flung her lamb across the shed..... Agh!!!!!!!

Apart from Nutter (Black limmi X) NO animal of mine has ever experienced homicidal tendencies at lambing! Why the bloody hell are they starting now?

If ANYONE is having raging/fluctuating hormones, it's ME! I'm 51 and feel a lot older, got a sodding pinched nerve or something  in neck/shoulder that no amount of rubbing/massaging/pain patches can fix and yes, I have calmed down re Hollow, but bloody hell, what is with them this year?

The only other time I've had a trapped ewe in the wire, was about 2009, and we laughed when we saw what was happening. One of the Ewes that came with the original Shetlands, she was down as a Portland/North Ronaldsy, Y27, her tag and her name. Always lambed  late December/early January. Good size ewe, fabulous horns and temperament, how her lambs found her teats was beyond us, she was more hairball than Hollow and only ever had single lambs but they were always up and sucking within minutes no matter which Tup I put On her, kept several daughters off her and they always had the same traits, easy lambing etc.

Went out one day, heard a blart, Y27, stuck in the wire and ANY lamb that wasn't getting enough off their mum, seemed to be getting a sneaky feed! On

Rant over!

Deep breath, calm down.....

[SallyintNorth]

for the physical issues you're having.  Unmanaged pain makes absolutely every blimmin' thing so much harder to cope with, don't it.

[PipKelpy]

for the physical issues you're having.  Unmanaged pain makes absolutely every blimmin' thing so much harder to cope with, don't it.

Yes it does!

The 4 came in last night and to be honest I expected Zebby (a hogg, grey striped fleece) to be an issue as she took off down the field when the others waddled into the yard. She then belted back up the field when I walked past her. They have been as calm as the Wiltshires were when they were in. Need to let them out soon and just hope they don't bomb through the electric.

[PipKelpy]

Lambing OVER and done with!

The 2 hoggs PERFECT mums not like Petunia!

Hope had twin ewes but whether it was because Hollow bashed her, couldn't lamb them so me and mum did a lot of pulling. Stunning lambs, but they'll go.

Black Beauty, scanned with 1, Big, fat, fluffy, Beachball guts, we were concerned!

Imogen slithered out! Wasn't planning on keeping crosses, but she's lovely. However I pointed out to mum, ewe size doesn't match lamb size! Twin tup arrived a few minutes later.

Another reason Imogen staying, ewe lying down washing her, lamb lying down thought otherwise, crawled on its belly to tit! If that's not a keeper, what is?

This year's lambing highs and lows, but finished on a high. Am I continuing next year?. Message to scanner, see him next year!

[SallyintNorth]

Glad you had a good final straight and have had your faith restored (somewhat at least)