Very sad day on the farm

[Duckfarmerpa1]

^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.

The only thing I’ve ever heard, is that someone hits your livestock with their car, your responsible. Which...is somewhat grey lined for me...out west, where it’s flat for miles...you can see huge cows in the road. So, if you hit them...I think it’s your fault. Here, if one of my crazy goats darted out like a deer and got hit, then I could see. We keep them on the back pasture, even though free range. If they ever wander front...that’ll be the en$ of the free range. Cattle panels are definitely the way to go. We use 2x4 to secure them now, so we can rotate the pasture. Then we just hit it in with sledgehammers. I’m getting hot wire too. But, right now, the kids, they fit right through the wholes...so the fencing is useless until they are older.

 

[Fluffy_Flock]

Oh god.... so they came back and are currently in a standoff hiding in the woods behind my property. Good thing we fixed the fence so the last 2 we have out there couldn't get out... incidentally that also means the other ones can't get back in.

If I pop my head out the door to my house (1200' away) they scatter into the woods. I left out a feed bucket to entice them to want to come inside and I see they do want to but man this is frustrating.

I thought about cutting a hole in the fence to let them back in but at the same time I worry the few I have now will just dip out and then the flock will have no reason to return. I think that they are just sticking around because mama's baby is still in the fence crying at her. If he gets out I doubt they would stick around.

 

[Baymule]

Do you know anybody in your area with a sheep dog? Maybe you could ask on Facebook, Craigslist or do a search for Border Collies.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Do you have a way to lock up the ones that are still contained? Then you could open the fence and let the wanderers back in. A bucket of feed might convince them to come back inside the fence.

 

[Fluffy_Flock]

Do you have a way to lock up the ones that are still contained? Then you could open the fence and let the wanderers back in. A bucket of feed might convince them to come back inside the fence.

So for the past 2 days they have been coming around the fence. We have tried luring them with grain, walking behind them to move them to an open gate and having our cowboy neighbors help push them into the front fence that we have down. Every time we try something they pop back in the woods and disappear for a few hours. We talked to a new sheep breeder (who isn't sketchy like the first ) and she is going to try and help us.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Glad you have help coming!

 

[High Desert Cowboy]

The only thing I’ve ever heard, is that someone hits your livestock with their car, your responsible. Which...is somewhat grey lined for me...out west, where it’s flat for miles...you can see huge cows in the road. So, if you hit them...I think it’s your fault.

It all depends on where you are at. My home is a prime example. If I take the one road to town and I hit a cow, the owner is liable for damages. If I go to town the other route, I go through open range and now I’m responsible for replacing the cow in an accident. Open range is the deciding factor. As to hitting a cow, I’ve had calves jump out of the sage brush, cows standing on the curve on the mountain, and a black cow laying on the black asphalt at 5AM on a cloudy (black) morning. Thus far, knock on wood I’ve managed to miss all of them, but when you deal with it daily you come to find it’s incredibly easy to hit a cow in certain circumstances. I’d say at least 80% of the time it happens late at night or early morning.
My favorite connector/holder/tie in place tool has always been baling twine. Its all over the farming community, and it’s incredibly strong for what it is. I’ve even braided it together to make a horse lead. I helped build some corrals and a round pen years ago and we used cedar posts, lodge pole pine, and put it all together with baling twine. Used it for a couple years with no problems, and from what I’ve been told it’s still standing today. It doesn’t look the nicest, but in a pinch it’s your best friend. Shoot my littleround pen I use for my sheep is part chain link and part field fence, and it’s spliced together with baling twine.

 

[Duckfarmerpa1]

I love baler twine!! We just bought haying equipment...first thing I said to my hubby...I want to get quality baler twine!! A friend of ours sells us our hay right now, and his twine is, just...well, it frays and it’s unusable..Chris thinks he probably got it at an auction. I’m glad there are not really, any free range cows around here!!

 

[WyoLiving]

The difference in who's responsible depends on the law. A lot of the states out west are "Fence Out" and Free-Range states. Meaning you don't want someone else's livestock on your property - You are responsible to fence them out.
And If you hit a cow in the road, it was most likely the most expensive, most treasured cow that the rancher ever had, lol.
Eastern states tend to have "fence in" laws. You are responsible to keep your livestock home.

@Fluffy_Flock I hope your sheep stay safe and you get them back in teh fence without too much trouble.

 

[Fluffy_Flock]

I'm in central Texas so we are a fence out/open range state. At least I have that going for me