Raising Sheep

[CDNSushi]

Well, how about getting some geep instead? ith:



http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...Lisa-GEEP.html

[Burly Brute]

Well, how about getting some geep instead? ith:



http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...Lisa-GEEP.html

That's just scary...lol

[Burly Brute]

Yes, I totally agree. I have read about the effectiveness of guard animals. They also have throat collars for sheep as most predator species go for the neck first.

We have lots of sheep here in Norway. We also have a few wolves, and sometimes they attack, killing and mutilate the sheep. We have a heated debate in Norway about having wolves in our fauna or not. I am stongly opposed to eradicate the wolf because there are alternatives to protect the sheep. I've read that in the United States and Canada they used the llama to protect sheep against predatores.
Taken from Wikipedia:
"Guard llamas may defend against predators in many ways. Llamas are instinctively alert and aware of their surroundings, and may draw attention to an intruder by making a startling alarm call. They may walk or run toward an intruder, and chase, paw at, or kick it. Some llamas may herd the animals they are guarding into a tight group or lead them away from danger and into their spot where they may feel the safest. Others may stand apart from the group and watch the intruder. Although llamas have been known to kill predators (such as coyotes), they should not be considered attack animals. They are generally effective against single intruders only, not packs. In the US, guard llamas have been most common in ranches located in western regions, where larger predators such as the coyote have been more prevalent.
Most research on the effectiveness of guard llamas has been done with sheep. A 1990 study by Iowa State University found that 80 percent of sheep producers with guard llamas rated them as effective or very effective. The study found that average rates of loss to predators fell from 21 to 7 percent after the introduction of a guard llama. In other studies, over half of guard llamas completely eliminated losses due to predators. Dogs and coyotes have been injured and even killed by llamas."

Skål!

[auld argonian]

On the other hand, having sheep will give you the opportunity to have several other dependent animals on your hands.

You get a sheep dog to herd the sheep and then...shuuder...you get a Newfie to guard not only the sheep but the sheep dogs as well,

I shudder in awe of the Newfie...a singular breed of which I have only once in me life met a representative of...and they are LARGE. (Silly woman friend of my wife's got divorced and got herself a Newfie...and lived in an apartment in Chicago...how the dog dealt with it and stayed sane, I'll never know.)

A veterinarian friend of mine confirmed the info that I had heard that a Newfie never goes to the vet...the vet goes to the Newfie. This is because the dogs are SO territorial and SO into keeping an eye on the sheep that the only way to get the dog to go to the vet would be to bring the entire herd with it. I do not want to be the guy that gets to clean out the waiting room at that veterinarian's office...

I jest and I have heard that the big guys are one of the most excellent dogs that a body can have...remember that Lewis and Clark took a Newfie named Seaman wif' 'em on the Great Northwestern Expedition...so they had that going for them...which musta been nice.

Best

AA

[Burly Brute]

On the other hand, having sheep will give you the opportunity to have several other dependent animals on your hands.

You get a sheep dog to herd the sheep and then...shuuder...you get a Newfie to guard not only the sheep but the sheep dogs as well,

I shudder in awe of the Newfie...a singular breed of which I have only once in me life met a representative of...and they are LARGE. (Silly woman friend of my wife's got divorced and got herself a Newfie...and lived in an apartment in Chicago...how the dog dealt with it and stayed sane, I'll never know.)

A veterinarian friend of mine confirmed the info that I had heard that a Newfie never goes to the vet...the vet goes to the Newfie. This is because the dogs are SO territorial and SO into keeping an eye on the sheep that the only way to get the dog to go to the vet would be to bring the entire herd with it. I do not want to be the guy that gets to clean out the waiting room at that veterinarian's office...

I jest and I have heard that the big guys are one of the most excellent dogs that a body can have...remember that Lewis and Clark took a Newfie named Seaman wif' 'em on the Great Northwestern Expedition...so they had that going for them...which musta been nice.

Best

AA

Part of the awesomeness that is tending sheep!

[Mike_Oettle]

In J M Barrie’s Peter Pan the Darling children’s nanny was a (female) Newfoundland dog named Nana.
When we acquired a St Bernard (in the days when my daughter was a toddler) she was also “very good with the children” (to quote Barrie of the Darlings’ dog), so we simply had to call her Nana, too.
Regards,
Mike

[Bugbear]

All right, I've done a little bit of reading. Apparently llama spit is very foul, but other than that they are fairly nice critters. I am in favor of people raising bighorn sheep, though their wool doesn't appear to be as usable as Old World sheep wool.

I was mostly looking to verify that there were depictions of flocks of bighorn sheep by the Ancient Ones, and there are, so there...

* I should add that I meant raising bighorn sheep in the Southwest U.S. and Rockies etc.

[Mike_Oettle]

Many years ago at the London Zoo there was a llama that hated top hats. Whenever it saw a man wearing one, it would spit it off his head!
Regards,
Mike

[Tobus]

The goats from my memory were more like pets and no more problem them dogs, but I'm getting old and my memory may be fading.

I've no experience with sheep, but I do unfortunately have plenty with goats. The nannies can indeed be as good as pets, as long as you're OK with them doing this (yes, that was my car):



They will climb on anything and everything. Other than that, they're fun little critters to have around.

But put a billy in the mix, and everything changes. Smelly, rude buggers they are.

[clanciankent]

I used to have to park my cars 300 yards up the driveway to prevent my goats standing on top of them.