The regular sheep "pasture" has a lot of trees, so I put them out in a small area we fenced off this summer. Here they would get full exposure to any more rain that fell AND get a bit of nice grass that's grown up. The end of the lambs' "pocket pasture" is visible beyond the girls; I figured when I turned the lambs out they could all get acquainted nose to nose without anyone getting bashed.
When I went out later to see how they were faring, THIS is what I found:
The girls had forced their way into the lambs' area, thoroughly trashing the wet ground with their cumulative 400 lbs. and 16 sharp hooves. And although things look calm enough in that photo, everyone was breathing pretty hard. Braveheart and Brava tried to run to me, but Valentine wouldn't let Brava by without a beating. I lifted Braveheart over the fence. After catching Brava and lifting her over (a little harder, both because she was more panicked and heavier), I put the lambs back into the safety of their quarantine pen. The big, fat meanies (yes, that includes YOU, Valentine!) were moved back into their grassy area and out of the mess they had made. The shepherd is NOT happy....
That's it for now at . . .
6 comments:
A friend suggested yesterday that we consider coating our boys. She lives in Walton and coats her sheep, though she doesn't raise Shetlands. I thought that coating longwool sheep causes their coats to felt. Have you coated long and have you had any felting?
Oh, that "getting used to" period is always so hard. I think we're actually going to get rid of a couple of our older girls because they are being so mean to the little ones. That's the way of the pasture tho. T.
I do so hate it when the sheep are mean to a newcomer....
And non-shepherds think sheep are so docile! You tell that Val that her Aunt Lauren says to straighten up and pronto. She's better than that!
Hi Michelle,
We are having blessed, wonderful rain here too! It has made all the difference to my state of mind.
Those rotten sheep. Don't you just want to peel their heads sometimes? You try and be nice and do things easy, and then whammo, they take matters into their own little hooves. I've decided to never get another 'single' sheep again, after what they put Tabitha through...and that was even after I had all the weanling lambs with her for a week before putting them in the main flock. Sheesh..
Tammy
Awwww...they were just having fun!
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