Redwing Posted May 28, 2010 Share Posted May 28, 2010 ok so we bought some sheep on a whim last year (I know, I know.......) With the help of Lesley and our sheep book we got the basics straight and discovered pretty quickly that sheep can get a LOT of things wrong with them In the last nine months we have learned about sheeps feet, good and bad hay, good and bad bedding, the need for wormers and the danger of flies and the fact that after they are sheared sheep dont recognise each other! we have learned a lot and filled in large amounts of DEFRA paperwork We had a chap come today to shear the sheep for us (a proper Aussie sheep wrangler ) he sheared them, looked them over and pronounced them to be in perfect condition So despite out inept actions we have managed to keep the blooming things alive Next year will be lambing - we will probably come unstuck then! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowy Posted May 28, 2010 Share Posted May 28, 2010 Wow well done Tasha! Sounds too much like hard work to me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Posted May 28, 2010 Share Posted May 28, 2010 Lambing will be great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted May 29, 2010 Share Posted May 29, 2010 Well done! I thought all you had to do with sheep was count them I look forward to the day when you can post pictures of your lambs, it must be hard work though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jules. Posted May 29, 2010 Share Posted May 29, 2010 Yay! Well done, Tasha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henriette Posted May 29, 2010 Share Posted May 29, 2010 Congratulations on your hard work and perseverence! At least you have had the courage to buy your own, we have just borrowed two. We used to have our own but are perhaps not really up to the hard work involved now.I do love sheep though and yes, they do have their problems (escapology being one) but somehow it's all worthwhile What variety are they? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted May 29, 2010 Author Share Posted May 29, 2010 They are Shetland sheep - one is brown, one is grey and the other is blotchy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abwsco Posted May 29, 2010 Share Posted May 29, 2010 Well done Tasha and LOL at sheep not recognising each other when they've been sheared My friends DH has sheep and she says they're stupid. She much prefers all her chickens Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chick wiggle Posted May 29, 2010 Share Posted May 29, 2010 Huge respect to you Tash for getting them and looking after them so well. I love that they dont recognise each other after shearing! Err... any chance of some piccies of them with their new hair-dos? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theherd123 Posted May 29, 2010 Share Posted May 29, 2010 Good for you Tasha! Well done! I adore sheep but apparently their only mission in life is to die whic puts me off a tad! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henriette Posted May 29, 2010 Share Posted May 29, 2010 What a lovely breed Shetlands sheep are The last sheep we had were Hebrideans - ooh, very, very springy Virtually impossible to catch. They used to suss out when we were going to do anything to them almost before we knew ourselves. They would all huddle together planning their game. They nearly always won, with one or both of us flat on our faces. The two we have "borrowed" are Texels and very, very tame. Come really easily to the bucket - even if it's empty I love Shetland sheep dogs too Have had three Shelties and just loved them to bits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welovemarmite Posted May 30, 2010 Share Posted May 30, 2010 THey are gorgeous...... i hope you sold your fleeces onto a spinner..... do you know if your australian does alpacas???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted May 30, 2010 Author Share Posted May 30, 2010 do you know if your australian does alpacas???? I bet he would, let me know if you need his number 'to keep on file' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted May 30, 2010 Share Posted May 30, 2010 Well done on your first year Tasha We love having sheep, even though lambing is scarily exciting! Do you know which ram you will be using? - if you have a choice make sure it is a small breed. Our first two years we borrowed a Shetland and the third we borrowed a Suffolk. Shetlands lamb easily as long as the ram is small breed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted May 30, 2010 Author Share Posted May 30, 2010 Thanks Lesley One of our neighbours has a Shetland ram so hopefully we can 'hire' that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 Great news Tasha. I used to help out on a friends' sheep farm in Cornwall many years ago - I used to love lambing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HENthusiastic Posted June 13, 2010 Share Posted June 13, 2010 Lovely to have an update. Sounds great. Do they REALLY not recognise each other? Please tell more Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted June 14, 2010 Share Posted June 14, 2010 Lovely to have an update. Sounds great. Do they REALLY not recognise each other? Please tell more I can believe it HEN; I used to get my last lurcher clipped in the summer - the cat didn't recognise her and used to spend a good few days hissing at this 'strange' dog in the house Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HENthusiastic Posted June 14, 2010 Share Posted June 14, 2010 Thats so funny. Love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
