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Slave to Zak.
Always loved, never forgotten, forever in my heart
T'ycor, Ziggy, Zephyr, Flynt, Mickle, Little Whisp, Zen, Zeki, Tinwë, Zylvan, Míriel, Calyanwë, Gusto & Meri ❤️
Thanks for sharing, I love that you let them keep their tails, it’s pretty standard in New Zealand but here people seem to want to chop them off. Thank you on behalf of the sheep
Yes it’s much better for them to keep their tails. Most farmers in the Uk recognise it’s cruel to dock them but some still do it. OH does sometimes have to treat their back end to prevent bugs etc growing under tails - if it wasn’t for that they would be organic effectively. And they do like swishing their tails!
A few more photos to follow. OH had to teach a new born lamb to suckle from its Mother as it hadn’t got the hang of it straight away. It’s important they get the colostrum shortly after birth or they can get sick and flake out.
There's something very charming about a full natural tail, even if it adds a bit more to the amount of required care. I know a lot of people dock tails on dogs in the US, and I personally did have a lot of people try to talk me into it with my dog when I first got him because his tail is crooked - something I fell in love with and could never imagine not having. It doesn't bother him and there would've been no genuine reason(such as a serious injury that would require the removal of part of the tail or other things that would probably not be anywhere near common). Luckily more people are realizing that docking isn't a good thing and are now choosing against it far more often!
It's always nice to see lambs and sheep in general, especially with the current coronavirus situation. Personally I've had to miss out on opportunities I would've had to interact with and just be around a wide variety of animals and while it's no substitute it does help.
Thank you all. Amity that hadn't occurred to me, that people wouldn't see them this year due to lockdown! Hopefully there will be a few stories and photos over the next couple of weeks. I believe docking dog tails is illegal in the Uk now. For sheep tails it is frowned on but not illegal. They are there for a purpose! To waft away flies and part of their natural enjoyment of life and expressing themselves. But yes it does take a bit of extra maintenance - not much though.
If anyone is interested - the profit for wool is negligible! For a herd of 200 sheep - the total of all their fleeces fetches approximately £20. Farmers are only allowed to sell the fleeces to the Wool Marketing board and that is what they pay. Someone somewhere is making a big profit on the wool! I did look into setting up a cottage industry to spin it and ball it and sell the wool balls which makes some money on it. But Swaledale wool is a bit too rough for knitting - better for insulation or carpet making. Some farmers have set up a business making insulation out of sheeps wool but that takes a lot of investment up front, buildings and machinery etc. So £20 it is!
It is shocking how little farmers get for fleece, if Swaledale is a bit rough for knitting it might be good for needle felting, I have seen it for sale although it's one of the few I haven't tried yet! I wouldn't know how you would sell it, I've only seen tops/roving which is slightly. processed, I think but not sure that it's just carded, core wool batts are hardly processed at all, look a bit like fleece & often come with bits of leaf & grass in them! Something to think about maybe...
__________________
Slave to Zak.
Always loved, never forgotten, forever in my heart
T'ycor, Ziggy, Zephyr, Flynt, Mickle, Little Whisp, Zen, Zeki, Tinwë, Zylvan, Míriel, Calyanwë, Gusto & Meri ❤️
Some more photos and a short video from yesterday. This pair of lambs was just an hour old and one hadn't got the hang of suckling from the Mother, so OH had to use his Shepherd's crook (so the Ewe doesn't run away) and turn her so she was sitting up, then helped the lamb to suckle so he got some milk and got the hang of doing it.