Flocking and not-so-flocking sheep

[Maja]

In another topic Julie mentioned that Icelandic sheep may not flock so well being primitive sheep. it intrigued me. I've had experience with Cameroons (like barbados), mixed meat breed, and Polish primitive breed wrzosowka (heather sheep). Of these, in my opinion, the primitive wrzosowka flocks the most, and the Cameroons the least. With a calm dog, Cameroons are like an open can of worms, spreading every which way in a lazy sort of way. The also have a tendency to dash off in an unpredictable way, if the dog is inexperienced. I think of them as a cross between a lazy cow and a hyper Thompson gazelle.

 

The primitive wrzosowkas, if threatened, can bunch in a very tight ball against a fence that even very strong dogs have problems moving. But they are light and easy to move around by a calm dog, but they do move in a nice bunch.

 

The mixed meat breed bunch together quite a bit but not as much as the wrzosowkas, but they are deceptive, if the dog is not on the ball they may dash suddenly somewhere and clear fences that one would not expect from these pudgy woolies.

 

Of course I realize, that sheep change quite a bit depending on the degree of being dog-broke and depending on the dog (Just the other day I was picking up my ewe from hr honey moon, and a lady who practiced with her dog said "Oh, so you are the owner of this horrible sheep that butts my dog!" But I swear, Binti is an ANGEL ) , but I would be very interested to hear what I your experiences with different types of sheep.

 

Maja

[mjk05]

We have different types of sheep here, but apparently the African breeds tend to flock much more than our local merino sheep. The karakul and damara sheep in our area are always together, they graze in one mob, whereas the merino spread right out across the paddock (field). I've been told that sheep originating where they are vulnerable to large predators are usually much tighter flocking.

 

Our British breeds (PDs and Suffolks) and crossbreds tend to flock better than the merino, and are definitely less inclined to break on their own. We also have some Dohne rams, but they and their crossbred lambs don't seem much different to Australian merino sheep at home. The Dohnes we work in trials are generally even flightier than the merino and more inclined to jump fences. Corriedales seem to be a bit heavier than merinos, and I've worked SAMMs too but don't think they're much different.

[Tea]

I have Icelandic to outcross to my milking flock.

 

Mine flock ok.

 

They are horned, and they are not cowards if harassed.

[Maja]

I wrote a post here, but it must have been zapped by the virtual black hole.

 

Anyhow, thank you for your replies. My husband and I are considering replacing the entire flock, and I am looking into skudde sheep.

 

Maja