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Leonie
Joined: 13 Sep 2005
Posts: 731
Location: West Sussex
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kiwi
Joined: 12 Sep 2005
Posts: 73
Location: new zealand
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kiwi
Joined: 12 Sep 2005
Posts: 73
Location: new zealand
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gil
Downsizer Moderator
Joined: 08 Jun 2005
Posts: 18415
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 Posted: Tue Nov 29, 05 12:15 pm Post subject: |
 
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Might be worth observing your flock's natural movements through the day - where do they graze at various times; have they got a routine going; do they move around all together or split into smaller groups ?
How docile and easily worked with you need your sheep really depends on how often you wnat to round them up, and with what aim ? You've mentioned clipping (might be worth getting a solo shearer in to do this for you, but you'll need to catch them and bring them in); you also need to check their feet close up [though again, semi-feral probably less likely to suffer from foot problems], maybe dip or check for fly attack - dunno what conditions are like where you are, or whether you want to go organic. Also, are you planning to eat the lambs, expand your flock, or sell them as breeding stock ?
Maybe get them used to being worked with, and to the dog, even if it's only from one open field area to another. Perhaps according to where they'd be going anyway. Best times of day to do this with hill (and hence, perhaps, semi-feral) sheep are early morning and afternoon/dusk, which is when they tend to move of their own accord.
I take it they haven't shown signs of wanting to escape onto your neighbours' land ? (yet....)
My friend's son decided he wanted some sheep of his own to start a small breeding flock. He now has one Scottish Blackface ram lamb and three ewe lambs (orphans). All very cute until they were fully weaned. Then, led by the ram, they started escaping from the inbye paddock into other fields on the farm. Now they're going further, onto other folk's land, and his parents are a bit tired of phone calls asking them to come and collect his runaway lambs. I'm sure yours are much better behaved : Blackies are pretty notorious for this.
Are the ewes already in lamb ? If they are semi-feral, they will probably lamb easily. Lambing might be a good time to intensify handling, as ewes are more tractable and will follow if you can get hold of the lambs soon after birth.
If the ewes are already in lamb, get the ram caught, and penned up inbye for a couple of weeks, possibly in a shed, and feed him, so he becomes more amenable. The ram is usually the ringleader in any breakout. Or the 'boss' ewe. And then the rest follow (like sheep).
Whilst family groups are more 'natural', tups are often kept separate from ewes and lambs, unless you really don't have much ground. And they need the company of other tups, so if you go down this route, you might need to get him a pal of the same breed (which you could possily hire out at tupping time, as you don't need 2 tups for the number of ewes you've got).
Horned sheep : don't feed them wearing rigger boots or anything with loops in. They'll get their horns into the loops and trip you up to get at the feed. But the horns can be useful as handles to manoeuvre them around 
Have you considered splitting your holding into smaller paddocks (perhaps starting from the far end) ? 4 paddocks of 9 acres (or whatever you decide, given how you might want to use the land longer-term) would be a lot easier. And a handling area / pen. See Dougal and Rob's useful earlier posts for tips.
Hope it goes well. Good luck with training your dog. Let us know how you get on. |
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kiwi
Joined: 12 Sep 2005
Posts: 73
Location: new zealand
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unfortunately no sooner had he pulled off the drive than they were out again 
- we've got 6 wire fence with 2 wires electric and it is all good tight wire as well god alone only knows how the ram managed to squeeze through 
but we have decided they are obviously happier down the end and to leave well alone for the time being and just pop down to check on them each day - they are a semi feral breed so guess this could explain there desire to be free 
and they do have the run of most of the land. I think we would have to hire in a fencing contracter to really sort it all out, luckily the boundary fence at the back is good and the right hand side is deer fenced the left hand side leaves a lot to be desired but there is a stream boundary with a steep drop before getting to the neighbours so they seem content to stay where they are at the moment.
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