# Annoying things non-sheep owners say to you...



## Southdown (Apr 14, 2013)

I feel like venting about annoying things non-farming/non-sheep owning people say.  Since lambing season is upon us, I keep getting asked just how many more sheep I intend to breed.  As if people think I have too many or something.  (Mind you, I have twelve sheep right now, hardly a large operation, no doubt.)  If I want to have twelve sheep or a hundred sheep, that's my business.  It's not like I have 50 cats in the house and I'm a hoarder.  These are outdoor animals people!


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## BrownSheep (Apr 14, 2013)

Or how people look at you like you must be incredibly negligent/abusive when you loose a lamb.
Or how you must be heartless to eat  " those poor little babies".



12 is not a big herd. I have almost 40 ewes and I still think we're a tiny operation.


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## CritterZone (Apr 14, 2013)

People ask me all the time how I can raise an animal and then eat it or sell it to someone else to eat.  I just tell them "it's easy, because they taste so good".


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## bcnewe2 (Apr 14, 2013)

The worst for me was arguing with my son in law at a BBQ, in front of my whole family, at my own house, he told me a ewe was a male ox. I tried to smile and correct him politely, but he told me it was an answer in a new york times crossword puzzle.  We don't even live in NY! I never convinced him, even looking it up on the internet, he said it was wikki and the are known for misinformation!  Then later his mother told me that my dog was hurt.... I have lived with, trained and been obsessed with border collies forever.  He was creeping while working sheep! I tried to explain, she told me she should know, she's a nurse! 

OK... guess it shows how much I liked my daughters husband and mil.  Divorced now!

I could go on....but I win....I have the sheep!


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## bonbean01 (Apr 14, 2013)

I had one woman say she hoped that my hair sheep were not for food but for their WOOL...ummm...explained to her they are HAIR sheep, aka meat sheep.  She said she'd like a sweater from our sheep's fibre...I told her if she could knit a hair sweater, that would be fine...she could gather it off the fences where they rub their winter hair off in the spring and knit away


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## Roving Jacobs (Apr 14, 2013)

Opposite of the hair sheep for wool, I've had kids in tears thinking I was going to have to kill my wool sheep to get the fleece off of them. Even adults have been confused! I wouldn't do shearing demos at events if it involved butchering a sheep then and there on the lawn in front of a crowd of kids.


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## CritterZone (Apr 15, 2013)

I used to show dairy goats, market sheep and pigs when I was a kid.  LA County fair always provided us with the best comments, just because so many of the attendees were from the city and had never seen farm animals.  Of course, the comments about the smell (what smell?), and the kids AND adults laughing while they watched an animal pee or poo, were common.  We were fitting our sheep for showmanship one evening, and a friend had a nice Suffolk ram on the fitting table.  A couple of guys came up and were pointing at his scrotum.  They conferred for a few minutes, then asked why were didn't have the tumor removed   The comments while milking out the dairy goats were always interesting...

We have friends who are big cattle ranchers - they run 1200 cow/calf pairs on thousands of acres - and they just shake their heads and roll their eyes at our little sheep operation.
We also have lot of neighbors who are wheat farmers, and they just don't understand why we have horses.
No one likes they chickens, but they will gladly accept a gift of fresh eggs.
And of course, you never want to mention how much of (your own) money you spend on your animals, because people will always think you have lost your mind.


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## thestewarts (Apr 15, 2013)

We're still new but a few friends asked "you can milk a sheep?" And I immediately think of Meet The Parents and Robert Deniro saying "I have nipples, could you milk me"


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## TeamChaos (Apr 15, 2013)

I am not an old sheep hand by any means, but I have been surprised by how many of my vegan friends were horrified at a picture I posted of my daughter holding bags of wool... one of the comments on it was "hope you didn't waste the meat".  Whhhaaaat? People tell me how stupid sheep are and I don't tell them any differently, I just shrug and say "I tend to be tolerant of stupid as long as it's good natured".


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## bcnewe2 (Apr 15, 2013)

When I hear the stupid sheep thing I remind the offender that we are God's sheep. usually shuts them up quickly!


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## promiseacres (Apr 15, 2013)

A friends mom once thought a stallion at college had 5 legs.... good thread. Making me laugh...


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## Godsgrl (Apr 15, 2013)

My nieces were driving down the road one day, and came up behind a cotton truck. Niece N said to her sister, "Oh my gosh, how many sheep did they have to kill to get all that wool?"


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## Queen Mum (Apr 15, 2013)

My room mate got mad at me one day because I spent money on feed for my goats instead of buying cigarettes for her.   I had to laugh at that one.   She felt I was really just wasting my money on those "useless" animals.


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## Southdown (Apr 15, 2013)

This post needs a like button.  I'm laughing out loud at several of these.


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## boykin2010 (Apr 15, 2013)

Person: "Oh you have sheep? They are the hardest animals to raise.  Always lookin for a place to die..." 

Me: Have you ever owned sheep? 

Person: "Nope..." 

Me: Alrighty then... Come take a look at mine sometime and compare to the sickly animals found at auction sites people misrepresent as "All Sheep."
Treat an animal properly and they aren't that hard to raise...   And yes I do eat mine, and they taste delicious!


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## boykin2010 (Apr 15, 2013)

Oh and another one that always gets me... 

Person: "Your sheep don't have wool, so obviously they are goats."

Me: I think I know what my sheep are.    They are registered, purebred, and papered Katahdin HAIR Sheep...  Meaning they have HAIR.... Not wool


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## Roving Jacobs (Apr 15, 2013)

boykin2010 said:
			
		

> Oh and another one that always gets me...
> 
> Person: "Your sheep don't have wool, so obviously they are goats."
> 
> Me: I think I know what my sheep are.    They are registered, purebred, and papered Katahdin HAIR Sheep...  Meaning they have HAIR.... Not wool


It's ok, everyone thinks my Jacobs are goats even in full wool. I think its the fact that they have horns and aren't just white. But then again most people think my Angora goats are sheep (or poodles) and they have horns.


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## boykin2010 (Apr 15, 2013)

Yep something in people's mind only lets them think that sheep are solid white.  People think of goats as being multi-colored for some reason. 
They are in for a surprise when they come to my place. 
I have many different colors in my flock including: red, brown, black, white, black and white spotted, red and white spotted etc. 

That's what I like about them though.  They are like a box of chocolates.  You never know what you are gonna get! 

This is pretty amusing


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## doxiemoxie (Apr 15, 2013)

How about "You shouldn't let your sheep and goats live together, they could cross breed."


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## Pearce Pastures (Apr 15, 2013)

Funny thread!


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## Queen Mum (Apr 15, 2013)

doxiemoxie said:
			
		

> How about "You shouldn't let your sheep and goats live together, they could cross breed."


Shoats, or geep?   

Is that what they make?


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## CritterZone (Apr 15, 2013)

Roving Jacobs said:
			
		

> boykin2010 said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


We run into the same thing - people insisting our Jacobs are goats because of the horns.  I guess they have never seen nor heard of Big Horn Sheep?


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## purplequeenvt (Apr 15, 2013)

I had a teacher at the fair one year get all excited and call her students over to look at a sheep's udder.....only problem....it wasn't a ewe she was looking at......


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## Southdown (Apr 16, 2013)

There's always the questions (or snickering) about rams' scrotum.  Little kids ask what it is and adults seem to think it's so funny for some reason.


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## PendergrassRanch (Apr 16, 2013)

I have never had sheep, but I am getting sheep.  A friend of mine who has also never had sheep, ALWAYS tells me that sheep are stupid.  I don't care if they are stupid or smart.  As long as they produce, are healthy and stay in the fencing, its all good


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## CritterZone (Apr 16, 2013)

I don' think sheep are the smartest animals on the farm, but I don't think they act nearly as stupid as cattle!


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## SheepGirl (Apr 16, 2013)

- calling shearing 'shaving' (pet peeve of mine lol)
- calling wool 'fur'
- what do you do with the fur?
- what do you do with sheep?
- can you eat them?

After being at fairs, carnivals, and petting zoos with my sheep for 4+ years, I have heard quite a few annoying/ignorant comments from people that just have no clue lol. Just need to try to remember them! Haha


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## thestewarts (Apr 17, 2013)

3 of my neighbors think our Icelandic are goats lol


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## Cricket (Apr 17, 2013)

In the shop I used to co-own, we sold local alpaca yarn on consignment and we got that, 'oh, it's so beautiful, but the thought of them killing that animal for it's wool . . ."  After I explained the shearing to one woman, she gave me a dirty look and said, "well, anything for a sale, huh?" and walked out.  We finally had our consigners make up a poster of life on the farm, including shearing.  

Sorry, Southdown, I'm a scrotum snickerer!  When you're used to seeing bulls, and then you see something about an eighth of their size with ALL that, and wooly to boot, it just strikes you as comical.  (yep, lingering streak of immaturity here.)


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## bcnewe2 (Apr 17, 2013)

> Sorry, Southdown, I'm a scrotum snickerer!  When you're used to seeing bulls, and then you see something about an eighth of their size with ALL that, and wooly to boot, it just strikes you as comical.  (yep, lingering streak of immaturity here.)


When we first got sheep my son was 8. He watched the sheep doing what sheep do and climbed up on the fence and said. "see that stuff coming out of the daddy?" I said "yes" he said, "those are lamb seeds and she's going to grow a lamb! I'm going to sit her on the fence and wait till it comes out!"  

We still tease him!  And I am still amazed at the size of a rams business after all these years!  So I guess I'm in the snicker camp too!


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## promiseacres (Apr 18, 2013)

lamb seeds! Good explanation for little ones! How long did he last?


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## bcnewe2 (Apr 18, 2013)

probably 10 minutes! We then explained it was going to take till Easter! So they became Easter sheep!


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## PotterWatch (Apr 18, 2013)

doxiemoxie said:
			
		

> How about "You shouldn't let your sheep and goats live together, they could cross breed."


They can cross breed though. I don't think it's common but it can happen, usually resulting in a stillborn lamb/kid.


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## Homesteading (Aug 12, 2013)

How about your 16 year boy says how do you tell which is a ewe?  21year old boy replies "look for udders, those two are girls, "!!  Husband and I started laughing.  Those are rams.

 Annoying things non-sheep people say. " Your not gonna eat them are you".  Um yes!!!   But their so cute how could you eat them".  Well you eat those cute fluffy chicks, piglets and adorable calves 
     Nearly all is cute when little.  They've had a good life and I don't have room for a steer so why not sheep.  Good good eating.


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