training sheep

ganmo

I've had a theory for a few years that sheep can be trained...to find gaps in fences etc.

When you think about it it makes sense, when they go through a gap they get fresh grass.

anyway i reckon the easiest way to start this training is to creep graze lambs, as the lambs grow they have to try harder to get through the creep gate and are used to going through gaps to fresh grass so they start looking for those gaps everywhere...and they find them :mad:.

anyone else creep graze lambs and see this?

jmrc

generally it is said if sheep get the fashion of jumping or going through fences thet are hard stopped regardless of the fence.
if they are not inclined... ie held in well fenced fields to begin with then they generally dont roam.

so fence like you have to keep birds in and you should be fine....

Buford T. Justice XIX

ganmo wrote: »

I've had a theory for a few years that sheep can be trained...to find gaps in fences etc.

When you think about it it makes sense, when they go through a gap they get fresh grass.

anyway i reckon the easiest way to start this training is to creep graze lambs, as the lambs grow they have to try harder to get through the creep gate and are used to going through gaps to fresh grass so they start looking for those gaps everywhere...and they find them :mad:.

anyone else creep graze lambs and see this?

I'll let you know next year:(


I'm making two creep gates to forward graze the lambs with calves ahead of the ewes.

I'll blame you when it all goes pearshaped:)

charolais0153

Stone walls will keep them in

farming93

Being the young gullable lad I am I was in the Mart around three years ago , there was two chwviot ewes(3yo) being sold together which were both carrying a lamb each due in a few weeks. They were going cheap so I bought them for fifty a piece that's when I sensed something wasn't right.. the aul lads in the Mart aren't usually decent enough to let anyone get a bargain. Anyways I brought these ewes home put them straight out and my God they must have visited every field in the parish. After they lambed one got mastitis straight away so I took her lamb as a pet and bottle reared it, while I sold her for seventy euro. The other ewe I got fed up with her breaking out so put her in a small area with three strands of electric wire which put manners on her. I still have her and my fencing is by no means top notch but she literally has not stepped foot off the farm since����

kk.man

Sheep can.be trained. Folks may laugh but they can.
First you must buy the right type. Whenever you move them always make the same sounds. People who think they are stupid know little about sheep. Sheep who break are either not suited to farms or farms are not suited to them. I can have up to 150 sheep at times no dog nor help. Dr Templegrantian I think her name is would give many farmers insight as how to herd livestock.

rangler1

kk.man wrote: »

Sheep can.be trained. Folks may laugh but they can.
First you must buy the right type. Whenever you move them always make the same sounds. People who think they are stupid know little about sheep. Sheep who break are either not suited to farms or farms are not suited to them. I can have up to 150 sheep at times no dog nor help. Dr Templegrantian I think her name is would give many farmers insight as how to herd livestock.

Dogs are no hassle, one of the few perks of sheep farming is training and watching dogs work.
Training sheep to a race cuts the work hugely, also we give the sheep a new paddock after each job in the race/ footbath....think it encourages them to move through the yard.

razor8

Did a lot of fencing this last few years but a lot of our fields run down to a lake. I have 3 ewes that will go out in the water out of their depth to go around the fence. Be job training them all to do it!!

kk.man

razor8 wrote: »

Did a lot of fencing this last few years but a lot of our fields run down to a lake. I have 3 ewes that will go out in the water out of their depth to go around the fence. Be job training them all to do it!!

I have never saw sheep take to water in fact they do everything to avoid it!

razor8

Not these 3!

roosky

crackcrack30 wrote:

Watched this last night ....can't help but be moved by this, a real peak into the future and a recommended watch for all beef and dairy farmers, more of a heads up than the usual head in the sand about beef & dairy (fish) , the growth of the world population and how it will be fed within 30-40 years. one of the biggest beef farmers in the US has is say.

farming93 wrote:

Being the young gullable lad I am I was in the Mart around three years ago , there was two chwviot ewes(3yo) being sold together which were both carrying a lamb each due in a few weeks. They were going cheap so I bought them for fifty a piece that's when I sensed something wasn't right.. the aul lads in the Mart aren't usually decent enough to let anyone get a bargain. Anyways I brought these ewes home put them straight out and my God they must have visited every field in the parish. After they lambed one got mastitis straight away so I took her lamb as a pet and bottle reared it, while I sold her for seventy euro. The other ewe I got fed up with her breaking out so put her in a small area with three strands of electric wire which put manners on her. I still have her and my fencing is by no means top notch but she literally has not stepped foot off the farm since

Very simular story i have a few cheviots and the would find a way out of fort knox.......never again will i let a cheviot around the place

tabby aspreme

There used to be a lot of Wicklow Cheviots winter grazed around here, and lads said when the Wicklow men came to look at a farm for grazing they paid more attention to what grass was in the neighbouring farms than the one they were renting.

You don't need to train sheep to find gaps, it's hardwired into them

ganmo

roosky wrote: »

Very simular story i have a few cheviots and the would find a way out of fort knox.......never again will i let a cheviot around the place

3 strand electric in places here works the finest.

Lano Lynn

tis easier to train sheep than train men
never ceases to amaze me how so called stupid sheep outsmart the ones that call them stupid.

not all cheviots are theives, but when they are they really are the most devious things on four legs

Green farmer

I've a few f@"@ers , that love to push at gates until they burst open and they can escape, when no ones looking.Quiet often the older sheep, who you think butter wouldn't melt in their mouth. Have to agree though, sheep are very trainable and love routine.

Lano Lynn

neighbour had a ewe with a pair of lambs last year she would be in my garden at sunrise and saunter out the gate just before seven to be home in time to be checked:D

arctictree

Just moved all the lambs into one field. They are as wild as f**k! Over the next few weeks, I'll start feeding them a bit of meal in the pen every evening. After about a month they'll race over to me when called when I need to does/spray them.

ganmo

have the sufflkx lambs weaned now and I hope they cop on to how I had been moving them with the ewes which was make sure one of them saw me opening the gate, step aside and give a shout or 2. shocking handy