Things are beginning to liven up around the Small-Hold a bit now that the temps have dropped and we got a few rains to fatten the grass up. The retired sheep now come out of the barn during daylight, even the really old ones are beginning to look more like sheep and less like those undead horse things from a "Harry Potter" movie.
Two of the old ewes will be celebrating their 19th birthdays this year if my record keeping notebook is in order, and the old ram should be turning about 14 as well. I was actually expecting one of the three to not make it long after this last Winter as it seems impossible to keep weight on them feeding just grain and hay. It's not as if it's bad hay either and I substitute in enough sweet feed grain that it should keep them from losing weight. I think their age makes it almost impossible for them to physically eat enough without super rich feed. I tried beet feed but they refuse to eat it and when I over feed the old girls the younger sheep than get so fat my shearer guy even comments on it.
Sheep are fragile critters I have seen perfectly healthy looking sheep just drop dead in one day with no warning whatsoever and even paid for a necro-How ever you spell out an animal autopsy, only to be told they could not specifically name a cause of death. One reason I was not unhappy to stop breeding them.
The two old ewes have also started wandering off by themselves a lot. After breeding sheep for decades I have never witnessed a ewe willingly separate herself from the others. I have even seen many of them freak out if they ever notice they are alone for what ever reason. I have seen em spread out a great deal but these two old girls will be on different sides in different pasturage from the rest of the flock and not even care. Sometimes makes my twice daily head counts a real pain because of this but I am not going to leave a sick or dying or even dead ewe go unnoticed.
This last Winter I had one of the other old matriarchs, who is the same age as the last two I have now, roll over and got herself wedged between a trough feeder and the inside wall of the barn. I had moved a feeder inside during a very cold and snowy storm because the sheep could not really get outside as the snow had gotten deep with rifts. Normally a younger sheep would have no issue but I guess she was so old she just couldn't get back up and when I did my death check in the morning she was so far gone she could not get up at all. I half carried and half drug that old girl into a stall and hand fed/watered her for three days hoping she would recover. I finally gave up and called the vet to put her down.
Last thing I was going to do was let her suffer any longer and I sure as hell wasn't going to start popping off rounds inside my barn. Locals advise me all the time that I should load up the lot and take em to market but most of them are so old they may not survive the trip and in the end I would just feel like I am robbing someone by misrepresenting these sheep as being worth something.Most of these old girls have served their time and they don't cost me much to not let them enjoy their last few years in as much peace as I can give em. Besides they save me a lot of mowing even still.
What I miss the most about raising so many sheep was early Spring when I would let the entire flock (minus the rams of course) out in the main field. I have this one old Mulberry tree on the edge of the main hayfield and for a few weeks I would always let the new lambs out there to run with their moms before moving them to let the hay grow for the season. At some point the lambs would always group up in the shade of that Mulberry Tree so I began calling it the nursery tree. After a short time you could then tell the ewes that had that true mothering nature as some of them stayed out there and would come running if the lambs bleated wrong or would go looking for mom. Some of them, a few would somehow always end up with the lion's share of the lambs however and routinely stroll over the nursery tree and collect up the lot of them and take them out to play and graze. Some people would say keeping old sheep that are passed breeding age is stupid but ya know what? I never lost an orphaned or neglected lamb as long as those old girls were here. I don't know how many lambs these matriarchs actually had. I could go through my book and check but it doesn't really matter they probably raised a dozen or two each after I stopped breeding them anyway.
One of them did have a bad habit of trying to steal lambs from others though so I had to keep her well separate until lambing season was over.
Lastly one more thing about old useless sheep. Wethers or ewes. These old hands always proved invaluable when it came time for shearing, worming, moving the entire flock, catching individuals etc. They got past the wild fearful stage, remained calm and trusting and generally reduced the chaos and work required. Maybe not enough to be financially helpful to many but I always thought they were worth their upkeep when those times came along.
Keep Prepping Everyone!!
Kindness is generally rewarded :-)
ReplyDeleteYour getting me more and more interested in having sheep.
Do you have experience with sheep and electric mesh fencing?
Michael - the biggest problem with sheep is no one wants to shear them anymore. When I first learned to shear there were about half a dozen people in the region that would do it professionally. Now there is one. Some of the larger operations are forced to fly shearers in from New Zealand now I am told. The second largest problem is Barber Pole worms, they are still ravaging the sheep populations in the US and are a severe pain to deal with. Most smaller operations are moving to hair sheep these days I hear.
DeleteAs for electric fence I have used it but I do not recommend the small solar set ups as they are low voltage enough that the sheep don't hear em and when they get wool on only a direct nose contact will make the sheep know they been shocked. Early in the year when the sheep don't have wool they will avoid it like the plague later on under all that insulation they often just walk through it and never know.
There is no shame in being a good shepherd. Tending the flock brings rewards in its own way.
ReplyDeleteAnnie - Thank you! I am not ashamed of it. I have always had a soft spot for animals (except snakes) larger than Mole anyway. A lot of Men think that is a sign of weakness but I used to be a big time hunter and a few years back I just felt like killing anything for no reason was just kinda wrong. Now pests and if there is a good reason then I will do what needs to be done. In the case of my retired sheep, well feeding them grain costs me little per month and hay nothing. They more than pulled the weight when they were younger and I protected them so long I can't just turn it off now. Like I mentioned I justify it by claiming they keep the fields clipped down :)
DeleteWe raised fine wool sheep for hand spinners and that was an eye opening experience. I miss the lambs most of all. Keeping your oldsters shows the kindness of your heart. It got to the point where we had shearers from New Zealand come through to shear the small flocks on their way to the big ones in Montana.
ReplyDeleteTewshooz - Like the name BTW! That is exactly how I got into sheep years ago. Someone gave my mother two little rams, which she had made into Whethers and of course being my mother next thing ya know she had about 30 sheep and a couple of looms etc. Everything except a barn or someone to take care of them. That's how I began taking care of sheep. Then it became a small business as I figured it was time to start selling them since she was going to breed em regardless. Within a very short time we had over 100 or more. I made a little money off them but if I was a bit more business like about it (like not keeping retired ones) I would have made a lot more. But then I would regret it as well so I am happy I let it play out like I did.
DeleteShearing sheep is about the hardest thing I have ever done. If I had to shear 6 sheep it would take me 14 days. One every other day and two days to rest in the middle. Some of our colorations we managed to breed were well sought after for a while selling the wool managed to bring shearing cost down from 5 bucks a head to 4.99 too :)
Honestly a number of my old girls are more pets than anything else. I always said once an animal got a name around the Small-Hold it came with a retirement plan.
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