Stupid Momme ewe or is it the lamb

[bcnewe2]

I have been lambing these last few weeks. I had 2 ewes drop singles last weekend. So, yesterday I look out and see one of the momma's crying and crying because she can't find her baby. I go out and find all the sheep but no lamb. I search hi and low. No baby. Now I'm getting worried too. So Mick and I jump on the 4 wheeler and drive off in searh of the lamb. It's not crying so I'm really getting worried. I drive all the way across my farm where I saw the sheep early in the morning and there she is laying in a field. The noise of the 4 wheeler had woke her up and she's looking around like where's all the sheep gone? So we pick her up drive back over to her crying momma and they go off happily to join the other sheep. NO big deal right? Well this morning I see Momma crying again and I know what the problem is. So I go out just in time to see momma running across the big field to gather up her baby again.

 

Is it the Momma that isn't attentive to the lamb or the lamb not following the momma? I had 2 singles born on the same day and this momma seems to be confused as to which one is hers. The other Momma knows which is which so she lets the Momma in question know when she's trying to nudge the wrong one. Other times I've found lambs alone I always see one of the LGD's hanging with the baby(s) till the Momma finds it. For some reason this one is not drawing the LGD's to her. They don't seem to notice when she's lost. I haven't heard her cry much so wonder if her whinners broken and no one hears her cry.

 

Next....

I have a problem with my sheep escaping to the neighbors farm. I've gotten so much fencing done that it's hard to find where they still getting out and then even harder to get them back home. But this morning I see them all milling around the gate to the road. I'm not worried because I've recently sheep proofed the gate and I"m pretty sure they can't get under or though it. But then I look again just in time to see the llama jump over the cattle guard and I'm thinking that's he's actually unlatched the gate. I rush off to get them and what do I find? The gas well guy (we have a gas well on the property that maintenance men service often) coming down the driveway from the back of my property. He'd opened the gate and even though the sheep were right by the gate he decides that they won't get out or he doesn't care. So I block him from leaving and he rolls down his window and say in a stupid voice "sorry Mam, I didn't think they could get out" I scream (cause I'm really P.O'd) "why the he** do you think this gate is so beefed up and why is there a really good latch on it?" He offers to drive his truck down the drive way to help me get them back in. That would have only pushed them into the road quicker. So I say no just get out of the way so Mick and I can push them back through. When I finally get them all back I told the guy that each sheep was worth $150.00 and that's what I was going to charge him if it happens again. He has the nerve to say, "I thought the white dogs might bite me." I say,"then why'd you get out of your truck in the first place" If you knew my white boys you'd know they look very friendly and waggle up to you if you're close to them. They don't look threatening at all. Plus he's been on my property before so he should know. I called DH and he says it can't be the regular gas well guy cause they've chatted and he understands what's going on and closes the gate all the time plus he likes the LGD's.

So...do you think I have a legal let to stand on? DH says to document this and send a report to the company so we can do something next time it happens.

 

I guess I should be glad I didn't have to go gather them off the road and I should be really thankful that I have a good dog that handles all the little emergencys that come up.

 

OK...thanks for letting me vent!

 

Kristen

[juliepoudrier]

Kristen,

I have no advice re: the baby who can't keep its mama, but I do think I'd call or send a letter to the gas well company to complain about the servicemen not respecting the fact that there is livestock on the property that should not be allowed to run loose to the highway. That's just plain stupid, and if you mention the worth of your stock (and your dog, should he get hit by a car while gathering sheep off the highway), they might be more inclined to talk to the servicemen. The alternative is to require them to make an "appointment" to service the well (i.e., they have to let you know they're coming) so you can secure the sheep beforehand. Can you put a lock on the gate? Then they would have to find you to enter.

 

Come to think of it, I did have a first-time mama who would leave her baby behind if it was sleeping and the rest of the flock moved off. This was a small twin. Once he got stronger, it was no longer a problem. Does the lamb look/seem sound/healthy? Maybe the LGDs recognize something not right about it and that's why they ignore it.

 

J.

[Bill Fosher]

Is it the Momma that isn't attentive to the lamb or the lamb not following the momma?

 

What difference does it make? But for what it's worth, this would earn the ewe a one-way ticket out of my flock. A good mother would not lose track of that lamb whether it was following her or not.

 

I assume the gas well company has a right-of-way onto your land to service that well. Locking the gate may not be legal, but it would sure get their attention. At a bare minimum, it's rural ethics that you leave a gate the way you find it.

 

The deeper question is why are your sheep in such a yank to get out?

[bcnewe2]

I was wondering about that lamb too. She seemed to be awful warm yesterday when I gave her a ride back to her momma (it was about 100 out there anyways). I didn't bother with my first rule of stock keeping which is if you think there's something wrong, chances are there is and if you don't act on the first thought it's sometimes to late. I'll go check her temp. now. This is not a first time Momma. She hasn't had any problems before. Something seems different with her this time. Can't put my finger on it. Why is she confusing the other white lamb as hers?

 

This time has been different for lambing. It was the first time I didn't pull the ram (no ram safe place to keep him yet) and I didn't wean last year’s lambs for the same reason. It seemed to work in our favor in other ways. They bred back in 3 months and look in better condition that any planned lambing we've done before which has never been that soon. It's not the best shepherding in my book but I'm still working on my paddocks and it's hard to keep working on fencing in 100+ temps. It's not the fencing it's the clearing. It hasn't been done in way over 10 years and we live on a rocky hill side, perfect for wild blackberries and cedars. I can't figure out how the fence posts were ever sunk in the first place. I am leaning towards field fencing the whole property instead of 8 to 10 strands of barb (we tried to go with what was already there). It's amazing what won't hold them in. I should be glad that the corner posts are pretty good and most of the T posts are still good.

Fall can't come soon enough for us!

 

Why are my sheep in such a wandering mood? My grass is dry the neighbors look better, the hay that's out isn't as nice as green grass next door and the biggest one....cause they can. They have been escaping to the neighbor’s fields which is not the road. It's been a real growing time for Mick and me. We've had to get sheep out of waste deep weeds, through dry or wet ditches. Bring in 35+ sheep with running lambs and slow new mommas. Mick has learned how to get though barbwire and not tangle or slice himself. We'd have never grown this much in our handling if we didn't have these obstacles to get through. That's my version of looking at the bright side.

 

I've left the gate open when I'm running down the road and I see that the sheep are settled far away with no issues coming of it. But this time the guy saw the sheep right next to the gate, so it was like inviting them to take a field trip.

Yes they do have right away. I think there's a rule written somewhere (or at least it's something I've heard) that you put 2 locks on the gate. Yours and theirs. I don't get what that'd do.

DH has a relationship with the reg. gas guy. This wasn't him. Maybe a sign on the gate saying you're responsible for anything that gets out if you don't keep the gate shut? It is rural ethics around here that you leave the gate the way you find it but I guess he planned on that when he left.

 

The reason I was so mad was we've had this happen before and couldn't figure out what the heck was happening. We thought the llama was getting the gate open (we found llama hair on the gate post) then we caught the sheep actually wading through the bars in the ground going under the gate. So we put cattle panel on the gate. Then caught the llama pushing it open. I think he was going after his sheep not leading them out. That lead to a big chain to hook it shut. Combination of all the above has been very aggravating to figure out what's been going on.

 

I think it's a wooly momma that is the ring leader on these excursions. She might need to go to market!

 

DH said he'll call the gas company and see what they can do. I think a sign is my best bet for getting the message out that you're responsible for sheep escaping if you leave the gate open for even a minute. New guys don't always get all the information when they're dispatched. But any fool could have figured if the sheep are right there you might want to shut the gate. BUT...I sure didn't believe that they could wade though the bars till I actually saw them, BUT the cattle panel and the chain might have been a good hint.

 

Oh well thanks for your ideas. Now back to fencing or at least dreams of it being cool enough to fence. It's supposed to drop back to 94 by the weekend. That's what they're calling a cool front.

Kristen

[Mona Howard]

I had this problem this year. Actually two problems. In the first

case I had a Mom who would wander off when her baby was sleeping

and completely ignore the lamb when it would wake up and start

crying for her. This same ewe would be across the pasture in a single

bound to get to her lamb if I came out of the house with the dog. If

there was no threat perceived she was totally unconcerned.

Most of my lambs stay very close to Mama's skirts for a few weeks and

in the second case I had a lamb that would ignore his mom's frantic

screams as he meandered around checking out the butterflys and

socializing with everyone else in the flock. He'd go to Mom whenever

he was hungry but otherwise ignore her. Both lambs are weaned now

and don't seem any brighter or dumber than any of the other lambs.

[bcnewe2]

There is hope! This Momma will call and call, the lamb doesn't seem to respond. The one unusual thing I'm noticing is for some reason I think she's confused as to which one is her momma. She is always laying with another mom and lamb. I'm even wondering if she's nursing off both. These are both old kind momma's so maybe the other mom thinks she had twins. They were both born the same day close to each other.

 

Funny lambs they are! It'll be interesting to see if she grows up any "dumber" than the others, not that I think they are all that dumb, just being lambs!

Kristen

[Bill Fosher]

I think there's a rule written somewhere (or at least it's something I've heard) that you put 2 locks on the gate. Yours and theirs. I don't get what that'd do.

 

You lock the two padlock hasps together. That way each has a key that would open the gate, but they're different. Wouldn't get their attention the way just locking them out would, but would also not violate the right of way.

 

 

DH has a relationship with the reg. gas guy. This wasn't him. Maybe a sign on the gate saying you're responsible for anything that gets out if you don't keep the gate shut? It is rural ethics around here that you leave the gate the way you find it but I guess he planned on that when he left.

 

How about a sign that simply says, "Please shut the gate immediately." Flies with honey and all that.

 

I think it's a wooly momma that is the ring leader on these excursions. She might need to go to market!

 

And any offspring.

[Guest pax]

I am not a sheep person, but if an otherwise normal mare was ignoring her foal, I'd assume there was some issue with the foal that she knows about and I do not.

 

Mother Nature is an amazing thing.

 

Animal mothers with unhealthy babies don't seem to have any compunction about just leaving them.

 

But like I said, I am a sheep idiot, so take this babble for what it's worth.

[bcnewe2]

You lock the two padlock hasps together. That way each has a key that would open the gate, but they're different. Wouldn't get their attention the way just locking them out would, but would also not violate the right of way.

 

Now I got it. I think that might work. I don't want to make enemies. I just want the gate shut.

 

I could see a problem with the gate locks for other drivers. It's quite a ways to the gate and I wouldn't hear anyone honk but I guess if I'm expecting a delivery I could take the locks off.

 

As far as the wooly going, I could/will part with her but I sure love what she's produced so far. She’s an experiment. I crossed her with a hair ram to see what size I could put on the hair sheep. Love their size and soon they will be having their own hair/woolies so I could part with them too but only after one more cross. I'm looking for the size of wool and the shed of hair.

 

I've finally got my DH talked into using electric for the perimeter. He's so hard to get to do anything. I won't need his help that much for electric part, except his chainsaw powers! We hate to do any cross fencing. The land lays really weird so any cross fencing would cut off lots of areas that I want to keep available. I’m getting so used to having to go collect the sheep from somewhere that Mick is really coming along. The neighbors think the sheep are cute and don't have a problem with them getting into their pastures but I do. I'm going to have a lamb butchered for them as a thank you for being so understanding. I only hope they like lamb. I'll fix them some first so they know how yummy it is. Otherwise I will offer them some $$ for the grazing they've done.

 

Does anyone have any ideas about how to put the insulators on Tposts when the posts are turned around backwards? Half the fence is turned right half is wrong. I'm sure I'll figure out how to rig it but I'd love to hear there are backward insulators out there!

 

Pax, your right about the baby, don’t know who the problem is but they're both going so won't matter. You are right about the weak or sick being pushed out. I think besides humans it happens in all species.

[juliepoudrier]

I believe you can find reverse insulators. Ask at your local feed store or check a website like Premier's: Premier.

 

I wanted to make sure I wasn't leading you astray, so I checked Premier. Here's the insulator: reverse offset t-post insulator.

 

J.

[bcnewe2]

Thanks so much Julie. I hate it when I have to do things 2 or more times cause the first time I didn't do it right! Espically when I did it differently than DH told me to so he gets to smile while giving me 10 kinds of he** cause I didn't listen to him the first time! Even when he doesn't tell me what to do, he enjoys correcting me! Guess that's 27 years of bliss, I gotta be wrong sometimes!

 

Thanks thanks thanks. Can you tell I've been battling fencing for quite sometime?!

 

This morning Mick and I went on our reg. morning sheep hunt. It's raining (but who's complaining about that!) I went to all the reg. places they go, no sheep! So back up the hill (small mountain) and there they are standing in the middle of the gas well road (on my property) looking at me like why am I out in the rain! Goofy sheep! You gotta love um!

Thanks again!

Kristen