[waterbuffalofarmer]

I dosed and moved my two pet lambs to be with the rest of the flock, a few days ago. Well yesterday I looked out the window and they had appeared back in the field they grew up in, note they were three fields away, they had found holes in the fences and had navigated their way back to the field they grew up in. All I have to do is find the holes they found and stitch the holes up with wire, yet another job added to my list. Am not going to put them back with the flock though as I got quite emotional over them finding their way back to the place of their birth, that I want to keep them near to the house so I can see them every day. I know right am a bit of a softy the thing is I can't let the pet lambs go back into the flock as I love having them around so I can see them and pet them every day. 

[Rosemary]

They're not stupid - they just think differently to us 

[SallyintNorth]

They're not stupid - they just think differently to us 

They think like sheep, which is sensible, as they are sheep.  It would be stupid of them to think like humans, as they are not humans.  lol

[Womble]

Yes, but then to get around that I have to think like a sheep even though I am not one.  Yet somehow this is ok?

I fear I may be going mad  .

[Hevxxx99]

Our pet lambs are with the flock now, but it's still lovely when they run over bleating happily and come for cuddles.  They've been weaned ages, so it's not milk they want.  I'd never realised how very affectionate sheep are.  Even our 4 year old wethers come for scratches and cuddles.

[SallyintNorth]

Yes, but then to get around that I have to think like a sheep even though I am not one.  Yet somehow this is ok?

I fear I may be going mad  .

If I want to make BH mad, I tell him, when the sheep are frustrating him by not going where he wants them, that he's got the opposable thumbs and the supposedly superior brain, so how come he can't outthink them and get them to think they want to be where he wants them to be? 

[Me]

who ever said sheep were stupid?

eeeerm... Me? Every day??

[Womble]

Yes, my Dad likes to wind me up similarly - "You mean you spent all day trying to outwit a fish, but failed?"

[devonlady]

Yes, but then to get around that I have to think like a sheep even though I am not one.  Yet somehow this is ok?

I fear I may be going mad  .

Womble, and I say this gently You are mad

[Womble]

Takes one to know one DL 

[devonlady]

True..true

[Buffy the eggs layer]

Some of my neighbours comercial lambs were put in another neighbours field for grazing about half a mile away. They were there for a month and then someone left a gate open into another field which wasnt secure so they left. Through the new field, across a neighbours land, through the garden and down the drive, along the road, through another field and back to their home farm. It was two days before anyone even noticed.


I dont find them stupid at all, quite the reverse but the more timid breeds are more inclined to blind panic and no one is sensible when they are fleeing in terror. But then I have had years of training animals from horses to rabbits so this idea of "seek first to understand and then be understood" comes naturally. All my animals get trained as I would a dog with commands, body language, tone of voice and hand signals. I didn't really notice that I did this until OH and I both lost our voice earlier in the year and managed to get the sheep and lambs moved about and sorted out each day with a mixture of waving, clapping and pointing.


I used to think chickens were stupid as the ones I had met on livery yards seemed to be. But when I kept my own I learnt to understand them and communicate with them. I became such a convert I published a book.


I am currently seeking to understand ( and socialise ) 6 Norfolk Bronze turkey poults. They are soooo different from brooding chicks, it's fascinating!


 

[devonlady]

I agree, sheep are certainly not stupid and have excellent memories which is why they can be turned out onto moorland and, with thousands of acres to roam in know exactly where home is. How many humans can do that?
Buffy, I would be very interested in your book, can you give me details?

Also your quote "first seek to understand and then be understood" is a life lesson to us all, I will explain it to my 11 year old grandson who has low spectrum autism and is often upset by other children's attitude to him.

[Buffy the eggs layer]

Devon


  my book is called Talking Chickens and is available from Amazon or direct fro my publisher via the link on my blog. Seek first to understand is one of Steven Coveys 7 habits of Highly Effective people (also available from Amazon) I must confess I havent read the book but my other favorites of his recommended habits is Begin with the end in mind and think win win.


There is a Steven Covey book for teens that you may want to read with him.


But back to the theme of the thread. I find my sheep incredibly easy to train and they learn their names and simple routines and commands very quickly as lambs. They remember experiences very well so I always use food reward as part of unpleasant experiences such as vaccinations and drenching. I find that I am forgiven in seconds and the trust remains in tact.

[Marches Farmer]

I am currently seeking to understand ( and socialise ) 6 Norfolk Bronze turkey poults. They are soooo different from brooding chicks, it's fascinating!

Turkeys are much calmer than chickens, far less pecking order stuff - a bit of neck twirling and hissing and it's all over in ten minutes with no blood spilled.  If you want to get their attention call like a female poult - whistle three falling notes then one ascending.  If you whistle a single long note they'll stand still (hawk alert and the stags will gobble).  Mine aren't that interested in corn so difficult to train to call.  Oh, and if you upset them when you pick them up they have a tendency to void their bowels in a projectile manner.  Grab them by holding them at the top of each wing. Like geese their wings are very strong when mature.