I am very glad to hear you succeeded in your catch quest. I have a small farm, only 22 sheep at the moment, they all know their names and come running when I call, but after I catch the first one, the others are wise and won't be caught.
I feel compelled to tell you about a recent trip I took and what I learned. I have just returned from a trip to Mary Swindell's farm in Illinois, where I learned more in the two hours she spent with me, than I have learned on my own since I got my first lamb in 2005. When it comes to catching lambs and sheep, I have been there and done that. I have chased, roped, grabbed, jumped and dove to try and catch sheep. There is a much less stressful way for both shepherd and sheep!!!! Please read the article Mary wrote in the BBSAI newsletter that just came out. She explains how to get your sheep into a pen without a herding dog and I know for a fact that this method will work if you work it. You need to work it calmly and with patience. A herding dog can make your life as stress free as it could get with sheep. I have attended the MD Sheep and Wool festival every May since 2007 and I have been the American and Barbados Blackbelly breed exhibitor at the festival for 3 years now and I have yet to attend a live herding demonstration. At Mary's farm I witnessed what my life could be like with a herding dog. Let me tell you, I was absolutely amazed at how Mary and Katie (border collie) work together. Together, they rounded up Mary's some 20-25 rams into a small area at one end of an existing large paddock and their presence allowed Mary to show me her individual rams for some 10-15 minutes. Afterwards, we went to the nursing ewes and weaned lambs who were out in a very large paddock. Together, within 3 minutes, they brought all of the sheep into a smaller area for us to see and again, they hung in one section of the area for Mary to show them to us. As soon as we got back into our truck, my husband said to me "so, when are we getting a border collie"? It's a very good idea. I'm sure that I will need lots of training, but my thoughts as I begin my breeding business, I will definitely need a herding dog in the future!. Food for thought for even the smallest farm. On Jul 6, 2012, at 11:10 PM, atwoo...@aol.com wrote: > > > In a message dated 4/23/2012 3:03:00 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time, > blackbelly-requ...@lists.blackbellysheep.info writes: > Can we trim horns? > > We just want to thank everyone who sent suggestions on how to trim our > little weather's horns. We just finished the job recently due to trouble > catching him. We tried initially to snag him alone in the shed, but he > bounded > through the gate and was gone for another 3 weeks LOL. We bought a kibble > concoction used by 4-H-er's to calm show sheep (has magnesium in it) and fed > that 3 days prior to our next attempt. We got all of them in the shed > this time, caught the one to be doctored and let the others out. At least > that > was the plan...one of the healthy other two bolted out but the last one > refused, showing me his determination to protect his brother. Once > satisfied > we weren't hurting him, the last one went out also. So our little guy got > pinned down, a blinder cloth over the eyes, a thorough hand de-shedding > and brushing, and the small girth horns trimmed easily with branch cutters > without bleeding. Our little guy is eating again, putting on weight and very > happy with himself. Again, thanks for all the help! > > The Atwoods, > Placerville, CA > > _______________________________________________ > 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
