# What do sheep and lambs enjoy?



## Animaluvur (Jun 25, 2018)

I'm having 6 sheep and all of them have just gotten 1-3 lambs each. So we're now 11 lambs and 6 sheep.

I like to go outside and just talk and pet all of them. But I'm wondering if there is anything nice I can do for them that they would enjoy except for just giving them food and love?

They have access to sea water but never swim. On hot summer days I've been thinking about giving them cool showers, but never tried to bring out the water hose. Since they never go down and take a dip in the water I figured they might not like cool water.

I'm also wondering if it's natural to have flies and bugs around the sheep. Or are the sheep dirty and therefore attract insects? Or is this completely natural and is how it should be?

I'm just thinking that a truly natural lamb has very good wool and is not dirty at all. And therefore wouldn't attract flies.


----------



## greybeard (Jun 25, 2018)

> *What do sheep and lambs enjoy?*




Like everything else, they enjoy eating, pooping, sleeping and mating most of all. The natural things.......


----------



## Animaluvur (Jun 25, 2018)

greybeard said:


> Like everything else, they enjoy eating, pooping, sleeping and mating most of all. The natural things.......



I have noticed that. Sometimes they like to play around at 4 AM as well. Those things are great, but I was just thinking if there's anything I can do to make their lives even more enjoyable.


----------



## Donna R. Raybon (Jun 25, 2018)

Use something on them to repel flies.  Nothing likes bothersome insects.  Protect them from neighbor's dogs and wild predators. What breed of sheep do you have and where are you located?


----------



## Animaluvur (Jun 25, 2018)

Donna R. Raybon said:


> Use something on them to repel flies.  Nothing likes bothersome insects.  Protect them from neighbor's dogs and wild predators. What breed of sheep do you have and where are you located?



I don't know what breed the sheep are. We just "rent" them for the summer/autumn. In Finland. Some natural repellant sounds like a good idea. But I feel like there could be a deeper root cause which makes the sheep attract insects.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/lxdjizoxooey332/VID_20180617_163217.mp4?dl=0


----------



## Sheepshape (Jun 25, 2018)

Animaluvur I'd say that  they look pretty contented and fat.

 Sheep love stoking, back rubbing etc and will stand for an age whilst you do this, often giving you a prod with the hoof when you stop .

Watch those insects, though. The last picture looks like nasal bots due to a small fly that lays its eggs in the nose, and then the maggots get into the nasal passages and sinuses. Said not to be a major issue unless the passages get secondary infection, but must drive them crazy at the least. Fly strike....eggs of the green bottle (Lucilia seracata)laid in faeces-stained fleece is a very serious problem....the maggots literally eat them alive.Though I prefer natural products, my lambs all get sprayed with a topical insecticide (many sorts available) to stop fly strike. The products will also prevent nasal bots and much of the biting from other summer-biting insects.

 Why do they attract insects? Well, biting insects which suck blood are often attracted by higher concentrations of carbon dioxide in exhaled breath ......it attracts them to their 'meal'. I'm scratching just to think about going outside in an early evening and serving as an insect magnet.


----------



## Animaluvur (Jun 26, 2018)

Yeah, her nose looks a lot better now a few weeks after that pic was taken. Almost completely cleared up. I'm against spraying any unnatural chemical products on the sheep.


----------



## Baymule (Jun 26, 2018)

You rent Sheep? Is that so they can graze your property? I find that interesting. Do you keep the lambs or are they rented too? 

Welcome from Texas!


----------



## greybeard (Jun 26, 2018)

Lots of insects, gnats for example, are drawn to moisture. (gnats will congregate around your own nasal passages and your eyes as well as around those of animals.

A lot of what we see as an animal 'loving' is more for our own enjoyment and pleasure than theirs.


----------



## Sheepshape (Jun 26, 2018)

greybeard said:


> A lot of what we see as an animal 'loving' is more for our own enjoyment and pleasure than theirs.


To an extent, yes.....

Some behaviours, though, seem to indicate the sheep/lamb is deriving pure pleasure. When I come out of the house to the ex-bottle lambs, there's a chorus of bleating. I enter the field. They surround me, holding their heads quite low, or rubbing their heads on my legs. Gently scratching their backs or stroking the sides of face/neck leads to the head coming up and eyes closing. If I stop it a number of them will then tap me with their front hooves until I start the petting again. Quite a number of the adult sheep behave in the same way.

Who gets the most pleasure? No idea, but we all seem to benefit!


----------



## Donna R. Raybon (Jun 27, 2018)

There are pyrethrin (from African daisy) products that will work.  I don't like spraying either, but also don't like maggots and nose bots eating my animals alive.  Nor the seeing their misery of flies in ears and eyes.


----------



## Animaluvur (Jul 1, 2018)

Can sheep eat alfalfa?

This government website says alfalfa is toxic to sheep, along with fruit. Which I don't really believe in: http://poisonousplants.ansci.cornell.edu/php/plants.php?action=display&ispecies=sheep

First paragraph says alfalfa is great for sheep: http://www.raisingsheep.net/what-do-sheep-eat.html


----------



## Bargnhtr (Jul 4, 2018)

I feed my sheep alfalfa all the time.  It is their main food.  That Cornell study is totally wrong and weird.  It says broccoli and cabbage is poisonous to humans.


----------



## Mike CHS (Jul 4, 2018)

I think I would discard that link.  Everyone I know feeds alfalfa, especially after they lamb.


----------

