Ok Ok I know the category is Chickens Ducks Geese Rabbits but there isn't a Sheep Goats Pigs section.
I need advice on how soon to milk Aggie and what to do with Larry (her lamb) whilst milking her. Larry is 3 months old and since the beginning of this month has been going out with the shepherd (along with the 3 ewes).
If I try to put him in the lambing pen on his own he just breaks the door open. I could put a stronger lock on it but wouldn't his mum just get distressed and refuse to produce if I did that.
No good asking my neighbours because I've already been told Larry is old enough for slaughter – I prefer a bit more meat on my lambs.
Hopefully I'm not the only idiotb on her with sheep. Actually hopefully I am and the other sheep carers know what they are doing.
Failing is not a fault, refusing to try is
Trying to enjoy life as it is
Shepherd no good to ask, he refuses to acknowledge I'm the main sheep carer (not possible being a mere woman), also he's of the view that as Larry is male and can't be milked I'm wasting money feeding him.
Tried googling, will look further and see if I can get past the commercial farming advice. Normally all my answers can be found on here.
Failing is not a fault, refusing to try is
Maybe these two US forums could help. The first one has members from all over the place & it has this particular member from Australia…..you could join the forum & then PM him for help.
Sheep are not that common in the US but there are a few more people who keep them. You can find their posts by going to the forum's search engine & typing sheep management into the first box.
They also have a sister site which has a lot more info on sheep. This second forum can be a bit tough on people if they think you are an amateur; there are some very direct people on there, but I am sure you can handle it.
Hope this will help. Good luck.
*****PS: TRY this link for the first forum & THIS ONE for the second. I hope these work
Yup these links are OK….I don't know what went wrong with the first lot.
"The beautiful is as useful as the useful...perhaps more so."
from Les Miserables
Here are some other links I found.
1. The sheep info in this one is near the bottom of the page so scroll down as it contains a lot of links that might help.
2. Here
3. Here is a blog by someone starting with sheep (for milking)
If I find anything more I will pass it on. I hope all is well over there with you & the animals etc.
"The beautiful is as useful as the useful...perhaps more so."
from Les Miserables
Chatting to an English chap yesterday who has a herd of Sheep. There has been a delay with the shearing as the an who travels round doing it has been very busy. One of his girls has rubbed off big areas of fleece and apparently it looks really smooth and neat, no ridges from the shears! She looks like a poodle though he said and there are bits of fleece all over the field plus it means he will be a fleece short. I had never heard about that but it makes sense as there have been a time before man started shearing!
I do love sheep, they look like they are smiling. They also look like the cartoon drawings, fluffy cloud with a leg at each corner
Trying to enjoy life as it is
I don't know about milking sheep, a friend of mine has goats and separates the goats from kids very early and gives the kids the milk by bottle and yes they do get upset, but they get over it. The nearby sheep farm separates the lambs from the mothers and they do make a lot of noise about it, but not sure how long it takes before they get used to the idea, so yes the mother might and lamb might get distressed but I guess that is one of the problems. I wonder if share milking approach will work on sheep?
I have a problem which I had been hoping I wouldn't encounter. Two wolves have been seen three miles from the village I live in. Further south sheep farmers have a lot of problems with wolves savaging their flocks. I am very lucky that my land is in the Lap reindeer grazing area so there is 0 tolerence when it come to wolves. The district council have been out in the forests to check tracks and today they have had a helicopter up hunting . As an extra precaution I moved a small flock of 20 sheep further into the village. My neighbour who is handicapped and cannot walk helped with his quad bike.
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