Stubborn ewe...
Yes, that's exactly what I'm eager to avoid with the bottle baby theory. I want them all in halters and willing to be led. No way can I leave them out at night with our coyote population. We haven't actually had any on our property (that I know of) since we put 4' high field fence all around a couple years ago, but then we haven't had any sheep for them to drool over, either. I have little doubt they could clear that fence in a heart beat if they wanted to.
Plus, I want to milk them, so they do need to be tame. I'm wondering how much milk I could get from a not-milk breed, if I can't find a milk breed within a reasonable distance. I intended to milk my Highland cattle, but we never got to that point. We had a couple dry years and it just got to be too expensive to feed them.
There are many ways to have calm and easy to handle sheep without resorting to artificially creating a dependency which nutritionally deprives the lamb and compromises their immune system and future health. Taking a lamb from the mother and ‘making a bottle baby’ is, quite possibly, the worst thing that can be done for the health of the flock.
This is a particular ‘bugaboo’ of mine and is something I strongly educate against in my classes advising new sheep farmers as farm consultant. The natural way is the best way for the lamb.
I certainly would not tell you how to raise your sheep. And there are many methods that are equally successful to my own. I am NOT a guru….or an authoritarian sheeperator….or anything…but…
The very specific nutrition and immunities that lambs get from their mother in those first two months of life will determine the level of immunity, health, resistance to external pathogens (hoof rot, pink eye, skin irritations) and even the quality of their wool. SO MUCH about the nutritional benefits of nursing are unknown but equally…so much IS known about the critical role it plays in their growth, health and life span.
But I digress…Handling. The best program for producing ‘tame’ sheep is to take lambs at the weaning stage and begin to handle them daily. Use harness, grain bucket, voice calls, physical contact, holding and playing as the lamb becomes independent of it’s mother it begins to see you as her/his surrogate. The more nutrition and pleasant touch that it associates with you the more it will acquiesce to your every whim. Sheep will never become domesticated like a dog or ca….well, a dog.. but it can become used to associating pleasant experience with coming to your voice and remaining pliable and calm as you harness and lead it where you want it to go. Frequency of handling is the key. NEVER raising your voice is critical! NEVER striking an animal or rough handling for any reason is critical. Sheep have a memory that is unparalleled in the ruminant world. A sheep’s memory is for life. A sheep that hasn’t heard it’s shepherds voice for years will respond instantly if the memory of it is a pleasant association (if not it will instantly seek to be surrounded by the herd). Equally I have seen (and own a few) sheep who have been roughly handled by previous owners and those sheep will NEVER again trust humans. They will forever be wild and run on instinct in every situation. This has been so consistently true that I have had to keep two flocks rather than blend these ewes in with my main flock because the behavior is so violently adverse to human voice and contact that their behavior ‘rubs off’ and influences the flock as a whole. I have one flock that is calm and approachable and easily handled….and a wild flock that has been mistreated by their previous owner. They are beautiful but damaged goods. The best I can hope for with them is to breed them and separate the lambs after weaning to put in the calm flock to learn proper flock behavior.
I know that I will get a flurry of broad opinions…some, perhaps, angry…but I spend a lot of time with sheep and I watch them carefully and I think my observations have merit.
In my opinion if you separate at weaning and handle them, harness/leash train them, handle them and get them used to your voice and presence daily then shearing, milking, hoof trimming…all will be easily accomplished. If you give a few handfuls of grain (even if you are a ‘grass/hay ONLY’ feeder) in a bucket and get them used to following the bucket to the stand where the handling takes place they will eagerly submit to the stand harness so that they may be milked, sheared etc. The old adage, “Control the head-Control the sheep” is dead accurate. Once the head is safely harnessed in the stand your sheep will serenely allow almost any interaction, care or medical treatment.
Best of luck…I know I come off strong on a few particular subjects and you can choose to take it as an offense or as a passionate appeal to your kind shepherdessly nature..but I always seek what is best for the sheep…even if it inconveniences ME.
