Another sheep rodeo

Melissa · #1 01/07/10, 01:40 PM

Sheep- you see them out in the field and they look so fluffy and cute. And they are, they really are- until you try to catch them! Now our normal theory is to get an animal to come to us, not to go running around trying to catch them, but this case was a bit different.

Lindsey had two ewes at Roy's place to be bred. We generally take them there on Thanksgiving weekend and bring them back just after New Year's. Today it was not quite as cold so we decided this would be a good day to haul them back. The sheep are all in the big sheep barn. We spot Lindsey's two sheep, from a distance one would think all sheep look alike, but as you get to know them you can tell the difference between them just about like people. No two are truly alike.

We fan out through the barn and I spy Delilah. I am calling her and she comes close, all the other sheep are milling about, then they start getting a little wild and as she goes by I try to grab her. I have her around the neck and she gets going a bit faster. I am digging in trying to stop, but my boots are sliding and she gets away, but I am still flying through the air right into Roy who fortunately stops me without both of us falling into a heap. We are all laughing by then, eventually we get them both loaded and home with just a few more misadventures. If you want to get into really good shape, get a flock of sheep...

Lindsey is very happy to have her sheep home. She is a good sheep momma, only truly content when all her babies are home safe and sound! I am happy they are home too and just a little sore already, I am getting old.

LisaInN.Idaho · #2 01/07/10, 01:56 PM

I've been there! Which is why we switched from Suffolks to Southdowns. We still have a rodeo but at least they can't drag us as far. Saves on the boot heels.

Melissa · #3 01/07/10, 01:59 PM

These are Cheviots/Dorset crosses and Cheviots are known to be wild.

FrontPorch · #4 01/07/10, 06:14 PM

My sheep, Shetlands, are as friendly as your average dog. They demand to be petted. Catching them usually isn't an issue. But every once in awhile they'll get a wild hair up their butt and start running around like a flock of headless chickens. They do it for fun. You can tell because they also kick up their heels or go bounding off the straw bales. They're a bunch of goofballs.

Melissa · #5 01/07/10, 06:38 PM

Usually if they are home they are very friendly~and spoiled. But being away from home had them out of sorts.

Maura · #6 01/07/10, 08:06 PM

I use a dog at one end and oats at the other. When they are running by, though, I will catch a back leg, then grab the other one. Like this, you can drag them backwards. After a couple of yards they are quite confused and you can usually just steer them.

Melissa · #7 01/07/10, 08:22 PM

I had the idea to get a can of feed, but figured the other 100 would kill me in the process. Roy said that I might find I had too many "friends" if I was standing in the middle of them all with feed. lol

We usually put one hand just on the top of their neck and one on their rump. That generally gets them under control, unless they are going thirty miles an hour...

**fordson major** · #8 01/07/10, 08:28 PM

we used too have canadian arcott rams, one of them, johnny canuck, was a big teddy bear till semen testing time came around ! took the 145 pound high school football guard to take him off his pins! (vet got a real lesson in what women are capable of and why my wifes nickname is Xena!) play safe! almost crippled from a ram catching me off guard!

Melissa · #9 01/07/10, 08:32 PM

I have to get a picture of Roy's new Dorset ram. He is a big boy! The cheviot ram is so small and cute, but the Dorset ram is huge!

Melissa · #10 01/07/10, 08:39 PM

Here is Lindsey with Gus- her pet she raised from one day old, bottle fed and lived in the house for a month, at the live nativity scene:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pi...&id=1028397067

**fordson major** · #11 01/07/10, 09:18 PM

we used too do a live creche for the farmers market/church food bank at Christmas, unfortunately insurance became an issue! (no one was hurt, just meddlers!) nice seeing critters being shown off! had two bottle babes as lawn mowers this summer, never had too call them!