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Post by kizi on Mar 12, 2014 19:43:11 GMT 1
Who has em? Help! Haha Months ago there were some ouessant sheep in a rescue looking for a home.. I said, ah shur why not.. Then heard nothing.. Literally 2 months so I out it out of my head and thought maybe that was a narrow escape.. Anywayyyy... Got a phone call today.. Dum de dum.. Haha do I still want them...?!! So I've been researching for the past hour, the rescue are calling out in a few days to inspect etc so I have some time..
Anyway.. Who has sheep? These are tiny, approx 50cm when full grown.. Two boys.. bIG horns though..
Can they live with my goats? How hard are sheep to shear haha! I am hoping to eventually spin the wool myself to crochet with.. Apparently this breed are reasonably easy to care for, hardy and not very demanding.. I know basic sheep stuff.. Have plenty grass.. Though might need to improve the fencing in the paddocks (goats field is fine-sheep wire)
Any info/advice etc Will I? Should I steer clear? Hehe I'm hoping long term to eventually have alpacas too...
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Post by ladyndibs on Mar 12, 2014 19:54:59 GMT 1
Next door to us have a ram though not sure of the breed but when they first got him they treated him like a pet. As he got older and was bored/lonely/hungry he decided to attack the post and rail fence with his head, he broke it in several places, their skulls are extremely strong. If you do decide to have them mind they don't caome running at you as at best they leave a very nasty bruise. The same woman has two suri alpacas, Harry and Larry, they are lovely, they don't get much handling and are a bit timid but really cute.
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Post by kizi on Mar 12, 2014 20:00:04 GMT 1
Alpacas I know lots about as have been studying them for years and have friends with them.. So expensive to buy though!
I have read these sheep are a breed that will try to ram everything, apparently they can be trained out of it at a young age, but these two are about a year old now so I don't know... Will have to find out.. Hadn't thought about them ramming fencing.... Hmm...
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Post by kizi on Mar 12, 2014 20:00:58 GMT 1
I do worry though about them ramming each other... Being both boys.. But no girl sheep near here.. But I guess putting them with the goats is probably a no....
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Post by ruthp on Mar 12, 2014 21:05:37 GMT 1
I've never kept sheep personally, but have helped with lots. Everyone I know who has them always says that sheep spend most of their time trying to work out creative ways to kill themselves! They do seem to be astonishingly accident prone! Be warned.
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Post by lizpurlo on Mar 12, 2014 22:51:16 GMT 1
Aw, they're fabulous. I love sheep. Go on kizi, you'll be fine, they'll be grand wee lawnmowers if nothing else.
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girlmechanik
Novice Poster
I like my horses heavy! X
Posts: 37
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Post by girlmechanik on Mar 13, 2014 0:14:54 GMT 1
Just to add some humour here (as all I know is that my big horse is terrified of them!) I was always told that sheep are only good at 2 things... Killing themselves and escaping! Hope you find all the info you need though and good luck with the rescue coming to look around. X
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Post by kizi on Mar 13, 2014 8:03:28 GMT 1
Ya I have heard too about sheep spending their lives trying to die.. It's the only reason I don't have any yet.. Though with only two little ones it might not be as hard.. I'll find out how wild they are and take it from there.. Anyone know how hard it is to shear them? Will I get the hang of it?!! Clipped my fair share of horses.. Hundreds.. I know it's different but surely I'll manage?!
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Post by portiabuzz on Mar 13, 2014 12:44:13 GMT 1
exciting kizi!!
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Post by Zebedee on Mar 13, 2014 15:25:29 GMT 1
Hi,
I have three Ouessant! Mine are ewes though. Do you know if they are rams or wethers?
Mine are the most amazing sheep, not at all like commercial breeds - into everything, extremely nosey and love to be with you if you're out and about! They're not shy at all, and love being involved with everything that's going on!
They are tiny though, and I've had to add some slip rails under all my gates as they would have been able to squeeze under. I can't imagine they'd be any trouble with the goats if they were introduced to them a bit at a time...
You can shear Ouessant by hand, and they so tiny that there's not any problem moving them around the place. Mine will just stand and let you stroke them (I'm training them for shearing in the early summer!) with no bother at all.
They will do anything for food...they rarely have any problems with fly strike.
I'm very pleased we got ours, they're lovely! They're fab for my grazing and have done an amazing job of looking after my ponies summer grazing over the winter months!
Pleased to help if you've got any questions!
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Post by portiabuzz on Mar 13, 2014 17:59:36 GMT 1
awww they sound lovely Zeb
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Post by kizi on Mar 13, 2014 19:31:00 GMT 1
Brill thanks for that.. All I know right now is they are male! Unfortunately the rescue that has them rehomes un-neutered dogs so.... They are both black and the pictures I saw last January they are very wooly and with very big horns already.. My goats don't have horns and my male goat cannot make babies hehe but he does still protect his two girls.. We'll see.. Sheep wouldn't try mate with goats would they!?!? Hahaha A lot of my fields have post and rail but not on all sides.. Where it does it's 4 rail and super secure with my miniature ponies but the other sides are 3 strands of electric plastic coated wire which also does fine for the dinkies but I have in the past added a 4th strand of rope at the bottom to be super sure.. But question is would that work with the Sheeps... I can't afford to put sheep wire everywhere... Bigger sheep would probably be a better idea but I want to rescue if possible and these two are the only two! And they're super cute
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Post by Zebedee on Mar 13, 2014 19:56:36 GMT 1
Once mine are wooly they walk right through (or under) standard electric fence...all my fields have sheep netting and I have a seperate free standing type sheep netting for when we need to have them in a restricted area. Mine are smaller because they're girls (probably about 45cms to the shoulder) so they can get under stuff quite easily! They won't jump over things though, so they won't jump out of paddocks like some sheep. I wonder if they're both rams...I know that Ouessant rams can be kept together if there are no girl's about! They are gorgeous though. People who meet mine can't believe how friendly they are!
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Post by Zebedee on Mar 13, 2014 20:03:10 GMT 1
These are mine... Belinda, Flymo and Marigold
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Post by kizi on Mar 13, 2014 20:05:37 GMT 1
Ya there's no sheep near here.. Thank you! Do you just get vet to worm them? Buying sheep dose for two could be a bit un-cost effective haha tho it would do the goats as well, but they don't generally need worming as often.. Also do sheep all need to be dipped?! Sorry so many questions! I could read all day and get different answers depending on the author, you can't beat first hand!! :-D
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