PLEASE HELP. I AM TRYING TO SAVE MY SHEEP

[Jules]

I am a sheep newbie, I bought 7 at a sale here in central FL a few weeks ago. 6 ewes and a proven ram. I have now lost 3 to what everyone is telling me is a coyote. we have watched over them like hawks and whatever is killing them is coming in between 5 am and 7 am just before sun up. all three were disemboweled/ I have FL fish and game coming in tomorrow and I will be sleeping with the remaining four tonight with a gun. but is there any chance its the ram doing this? two are in season. of the three that died, tiny was young, never bred, belle was pregnant and the one this morning was walking on three legs as she was obviously injured the night belle was killed but I was trying to save her in a back paddock. I have 5 foot high fencing, no electric, as of 3 pm tomorrow, this entire property will be electric. what am I doing wrong. I was just getting to able to feed them by hand and the ram is quite friendly with me, never tested me, even after coming between him and an ewe that was obviously flagging (ready to be bred). I really cant believe a ram would do this, all three who I have lost were disemboweled and belle had her heart half eaten out. I am heartbroken so turning to here as I feel so stupid. all the sale people told me to not worry, just throw them all in together. now I am wondering. also, idiot neighbor wont keep his chickens on his side and they are always on my side now. none of these precious sheep died until these chickens started infesting my property. we are racking our brains here right now. I am desperate. I want to save them but if I lose another sheep tonight, that's it, the property goes up for sale. is it possible a coyote is coming after the chickens and then attacking one of my sheep? do they only kill one at a time? is it possible the ram is killing them as they are not use to him? has anyone ever heard of a ram literally tearing an ewe in half and ripping her wool out? please help, I am just so sick over this. I post this also to Everything else sheep.

 

[luvmypets]

I am so so sorry you are having to go through this Just reading this breaks my heart as I love my sheep immensely.

This is definitely not the ram, I agree that it sounds like coyotes. However I don't know much about predators and there killing MO so I would also consider mountain lions or bobcats. First thing that comes to mind as matter of prevention is LGD. Livestock guardians(LGD) are one of the top means of protection for smaller livestock. I know of MANY people on BYHs who have LGD. I will tag @Southern by choice as she is the all around LGD expert. I hope you get to the bottom of this, many hugs

 

[Baymule]

Jules, do NOT give up. You are in shock because of the horrible death of your sheep. I am so sorry. I have a night pen I can lock down my sheep in at night. Can you secure your night pen better? I also have 2 Great Pyrenees who guard the flock. Coyotes are awful here and we hear them howling almost every night. If it weren't for my dogs, I would have no sheep.

Your ram did not do this. He is probably as traumatized as your ewes are. Please don't blame him. You have a predator and it will keep coming back. Secure your sheep at night so that nothing can get to them.

Don't sell your property. You have had the joy of owning sheep. Unfortunately you have the heart break of a predator attack. You WILL get through this. We are here to help you any way we can.

@mysunwolf @norseofcourse @Roving Jacobs @bonbean01

 

[Jules]

as of 20minutes ago, my nephew has shot and killed a coyote, he charged the fence, backed off and then cleared it without touching it. I have been on facebook with sheep farmers as well. they warned me they work in packs. at least I know know it wasn't timmy the ram, I was so scared he was picking off my ewes one by one. now I get it, he is just as traumatized as they are. we are still watching all night in case they work in packs or pairs. I'm just so relieved I know what is doing this. making hubby get the barn done over next two days, no ifs or buts, I want them under lock and key now. thank you all for help. I am very sad, if I had had this place set up properly I would not have lost tiny belle and freckles. its my fault. but I will make sure this place is sheep happy now. ty for input

 

[Baymule]

I am glad that the coyote met his end. but you can't really blame the coyote for coming in for something to eat. It's what they do. You have to keep your sheep safe from them. You might want to start studying LGD's, we have a real good forum on our beloved dogs.

 

[Bossroo]

Coyotes are not the only predator that kills sheep as you describe. A neighborhood dog or dogs will too. Not to mention your own dog too. Your ram can not and will not kill a sheep and eat part of a kill as sheep are herbivores as well as a prey animal and do not have the teeth or claws to do the deed. If anything a ram will protect his harem if he can.

 

[babsbag]

So sorry you lost some sheep, that has to be horrible to find in your pasture. Glad that one coyote is dispatched but there will be more, unfortunately. The hot wire is a good start but if they are going over the fence without touching it the hot wire won't stop them. The coyotes I have dealt with have gone under or climbed the fence as I can see their hair stuck to it but I have no doubt they can clear it if they need to. I put hot wire at the top of the fence, it extends about 5" away from the fence. In places where I was super worried I also ran hot wire taller than my wire fence. I used those step in fiberglass fence post and wired them to my t-post. So my 4' wire fence now has about 18" of hot wire above it. That is for my chickens. I have 4 LGDs that live with my goats. My goat pasture has hot wire too but on the inside to keep the goats off of the fence and to keep the dogs from thinking about roaming. I encourage you to get a dog, or two. You will be so happy with them.

 

[Jules]

Update as of 9/5/17, we have now killed 4 coyotes, one last night and 3 that attempted to come into back paddock all at the same time around 10 pm est tonight. And then we found a group of 3 pups behind the fence which I am assuming belonged to one of the ones we killed, I also exterminated them. My small flock is good, and actually it was so amazing, after I put a bullet in the last coyote, the shyest sheep of all of them, Spot, came up to me and rested her head on my shoulder. I have never been able to touch her though I always felt she was trying to trust me. After tonight, I feel like we finally bonded. I guess I'm just totally in love with my sheep now. Timmy, the ram, is doing good, vet coming in Thursday to cut his horns back. But everyone was very calm tonight given all the drama with shot guns going off, people yelling, etc. I'm very proud of my lil gang!

 

[babsbag]

Good job with the coyotes but don't let your guard down yet, they certainly knew that you had sheep and how to get to them, there may still be more. I lost a lot of chickens last year, they know where the weak spots are. How is your hot wire coming? Glad that your sheep are trusting you more, I am sure it has been hard on them being under attack. You really need a Livestock Guardian Dog.

 

[BlessedWithGoats]

keep fighting for your sheep, don't let the discouragement take over. You obvoiusly care about them a lot, and I'm so sorry for the ones you lost.