Very sad day on the farm

[Fluffy_Flock]

Duh. They are on your avatar. (smacks forehead)


They must have plenty of grass-they don't need you! Leave feed out for them and back off far enough that they will go in and eat. these girls are wild and need calming down. Feeding them each day and standing closer to the pen might do it. I wouldn't rush to close it, that will scare them more. This will take time. Since your lamb is 2 1/2 weeks old, he knows where milk is and I'm going to hope that he is smart and sneaky enough to be slipping up on an udder. LOL I have seen my lambs sneak a drink from other ewes and they had moms!

I sure hope so but I feel the chances are slim. I only have one other ewe who has milk and she barely stands still for her own lamb who is coming up on 2 months old

 

[Fluffy_Flock]

Aww that makes me so sad.... I just saw my avatar. That's Daisy and her lamb that we are talking about

 

[Baymule]

Aww that makes me so sad.... I just saw my avatar. That's Daisy and her lamb that we are talking about

Oh! That makes the loss even worse! I'm so sorry!

 

[Duckfarmerpa1]

Feed them in the pen. Did you T-post the cow panels to make the pen more sturdy? I use zip ties for stuff too, also hay twine, carabiners, clips and whatever. Professional! LOL

I love baler twine!! I call it farmers’ zip ties!!

 

[Fluffy_Flock]

Omg... when it rains it pours. Went out to get the baby and in the process of catching the baby (which we did) 4 sheep decided to follow dreadlocks through a gap in the fence and are off in the wild. These sheep are so wild and skiddish that the one we did catch with baby was fighting so hard to get out of the catch pen she almost broke her neck. We let her out before we had another dead sheep to bury but now we are down to 3 sheep on the property when we started the week off with 8. I'm seriously considering shooting dreadlocks (not really)... if she didn't lead everyone out they would have stayed put. She is such an instigator.

I'm trying to get baby to take a bottle but so far he has only drank about 6oz which is good but hopefully I can get him to do better over the next day or so.

 

[Beekissed]

I would definitely get rid of the instigator...as you've found out, she's taught all the rest to jump fence. I know a guy that shoots any of his sheep that get out of the fence as he's found they can teach the rest of the flock to do the same within 3 day's time. Says it's just not worth it to keep those kind of sheep. I agree with him.

Time to fix fence, move them into a handling area~I'm with Bay....cattle panels are my favorite farming tool, though I found wild sheep will run right through zip ties, no matter how big or how many you've applied~ and remove the problem sheep. While you have them in the handling area, you may want to feed them something good so you can start to train them to come when you call/shake the feed bucket/can/pan. It's worth the trouble to establish this habit.

 

[Fluffy_Flock]

I would definitely get rid of the instigator...as you've found out, she's taught all the rest to jump fence. I know a guy that shoots any of his sheep that get out of the fence as he's found they can teach the rest of the flock to do the same within 3 day's time. Says it's just not worth it to keep those kind of sheep. I agree with him.

Time to fix fence, move them into a handling area~I'm with Bay....cattle panels are my favorite farming tool, though I found wild sheep will run right through zip ties, no matter how big or how many you've applied~ and remove the problem sheep. While you have them in the handling area, you may want to feed them something good so you can start to train them to come when you call/shake the feed bucket/can/pan. It's worth the trouble to establish this habit.

At this point I am thinking that's what I need to do. This brings up a whole new host of questions though. Do I report them lost? To who? Am I liable for fines now? I doubt they will last long with the number of coyotes out here but I don't want to be fined for doing something wrong. What a nightmare this is.

 

[Blue Sky]

^plus zip ties get brittle over time especially with sun exposure. Congrats on capturing your lamb. Be patient. He’ll take the bottle and bond. Then you’ll not be able to keep him out from under foot. I’ve never heard of fines for escapes unless it’s chronic or some kind of serious damage happened. You may want to alert neighbors or use a neighborhood app. And these things happen to us all. Hang in there.

 

[Beekissed]

At this point I am thinking that's what I need to do. This brings up a whole new host of questions though. Do I report them lost? To who? Am I liable for fines now? I doubt they will last long with the number of coyotes out here but I don't want to be fined for doing something wrong. What a nightmare this is.

You need help to help you round them up and you need to let your neighbors know you've lost some stock so they know to call you when they see them. They may come back, so watch for that too. Put it out on FB local page that you've lost your sheep and folks are usually really nice and eager to help.

 

[Baymule]

Notify the sheriff department. Often times, the deputies and called out to round up stray animals. If no one claims them, they are sold. If someone calls the sheriff department to report stray sheep, they could then notify you. Maybe you could catch them and take them home.