Glad you two liked it! I actually did have that "strong athletic" moment again with the same ewe. She tried to leap past me and without thinking... my arm whipped out in the shape of a Shepherd's crook and caught her right on the neck, I brought her down to the ground real quick and had some words for her, and stuffer her back in.
She was pregnant with one of my favorite rams. He came out fine, even though she hit the deck pretty hard. -Michael, Perino Ranch Blackbellies Sent from my iPad On Aug 17, 2011, at 7:51 AM, "Jerry" <blueberryf...@bellsouth.net> wrote: > My wife and I guffawed over your email Michael. We have to have a team of > people to herd our flocks into a V-shaped chute to get them into a corral > with a squeeze gate to work on them. As the space gets tighter and tighter, > the sheep stop and turn toward us, looking for an opening. After a moment, > one of them will attempt escape by a direct leap to someone's face. After an > instant, then they all leap and flee. My wife was bowled over by the flock > after a leap to the head. The trick is to have a strong athletic young man > in the group who will catch the first leaping sheep at head height. That > will be the head ewe. Once she is subdued, the rest act like sheep and enter > the corral. > > These experiences are very funny.....in retrospect. > > Jerry > Windmill Farms LLC > Picayune, Mississippi > > -----Original Message----- From: Michael Smith > Sent: Tuesday, August 16, 2011 12:37 PM > To: blackbelly@lists.blackbellysheep.info > Subject: Re: [Blackbelly] Lambs missing > > I try to pen my more tame sheep at night as well. Easier on rainy > evenings, as you might imagine. I do it by calling them and dropping > food down. Some are skittish enough that if I approached the pen gate > to close it, without inviting them in and feeding them, they would > bolt. > > The more mature sheep that were not raised by me (I bought them like > that) would practically kill me trying to rush the gate if I tried to > close it on them, so I rarely bother. If any of you have taken a > leaping 100# ewe in the face, you know what I am talking about. > Knocked me on my butt. I thought I broke my nose. > > Sometimes when I call them in, the younger ones, especially, get > naughty and play a game of back and forth, prancing out, then back in > a few times and they get confused about who to follow and then I lose > them out in the pasture with the older girls. Especially if I do it > too early and they still feel like playing. > > -Michael, Perino Ranch Blackbellies > > On Tue, Aug 16, 2011 at 3:55 AM, Cecil Bearden <crbear...@copper.net> wrote: >> Do you pen your sheep up at night. I lost lambs and ewes also until I >> penned my sheep up every night. After 4 days of getting them into the pen >> in the evening, they put themselves up before dark and all I have to do is >> shut the gate. Look over the perimeter fence for any sign of trails, or >> hair. Call your Illinois dept of agriculture, and ask for Animal Damage >> Control. these guys should know their job and be able to help with >> predators. We had a real good one years back who taught me how to trap >> coyotes. The new guy is worthless.. >> >> So as the commercial says Your mileage may vary. For less than $100 you can >> set up a internet wifi camera that you can monitor the area with. Tilt and >> pan are more expensive, but might help. I might suggest motion detecting >> lights. If it is predators or humans, it will be a deterrent. >> >> Cecil in OKla >> >> >> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mary Swindell" <mswin...@siu.edu> >> To: <blackbelly@lists.blackbellysheep.info> >> Sent: Monday, August 15, 2011 9:56 AM >> Subject: [Blackbelly] Lambs missing >> >> >>> Hi folks, >>> >>> For the first time in all the years I've been raising sheep, I've had >>> lambs disappearing without a trace. I lost 2 lambs on 08/07/11 and I lost 2 >>> more lambs Saturday night 08/13/11. I have excellent fence (5-foot tall, >>> tightly woven, and electrified). There is no evidence anywhere. No bent >>> fencing, no holes, no hair, no blood, nothing. I am next to a deep woods in >>> southern Illinois. I guess whatever is taking my lambs would have to jump >>> over the fence and back out with a lamb in its mouth. >>> >>> I guess it is possible that locals are rustling my lambs, but I think it >>> is unlikely because they are so hard to catch. Also, my house is next to >>> the entrance drive and I think it would be unlikely that someone would come >>> so close to the house to steal them. >>> >>> Someone suggested a night camera mounted to look on the fence line. Has >>> anyone tried them? They sound expensive. I wonder if the IDNR or some >>> other source makes arrangements to loan or rent them out. >>> >>> Anyone have any similar experiences? Any thoughts? Any suggestions? >>> >>> Mary Swindell >>> >>> Bellwether Farm >>> 815 Bell Hill Road >>> Cobden, IL 62920 >>> (618) 893-4568 or (618) 967-5046 >>> www.bellwetherfarm.com >>> mswin...@siu.edu >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list >>> Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info >> >> _______________________________________________ >> This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list >> Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info >> > _______________________________________________ > This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list > Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info > _______________________________________________ > This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list > Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info _______________________________________________ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
