| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| Nanny |
sheep psychologynow i have my five balwen girls, i would like to know a bit more about how a sheep thinks and whyi have trawled the internet but all i could come up with is that they have a flight zone ..... i know that their main aim inlife is to die because somebody here told me that but assuming that doesn't happen, i would like to know a bit more about the inner workings of the sheep mind it might help me with my sheep handling and help them to be a bit more comfortable in my prescence....i'd like that |
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| VSS |
Send me your queries - psychic shepherding is my speciality!
Also I'm just writting the final part of a 15 part sheep series I've done for Country Smallholding magazine. Back copies are available, I'll dig out contact details. Also, we hold short courses, in particular our residential lambing course in March each year. This takes a holistic approach to shepherding. It's very popular, with clients coming from UK and abroad. |
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| Nanny |
i shall pm you with a few many thanks |
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| TAVASCAROW |
Sheep & psychology are two words you would never expect to see together apart from here at DS.
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| Penny |
I always thought sheep were to stupid to be a topic for psychological study.
Baaa!!!! |
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| Mary-Jane |
Re: sheep psychology
Oooh - that'll be me Nanny! 
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| Gervase |
I've got a paper on applied sheep behavioiur - or ovine ethology - you can have:
Click to download file |
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| Mary-Jane |
But darling, it's from Tennessee for goodness sake. Don't they play the banjo around there somewhere? | ||||||
| Penny |
Gervase love, you really should get out more. I don't think I know anyone else on the planet who would just happen to have a paper on applied sheep behavoir about their person 
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| Gervase |
It's got some great chat-up lines, actually! | ||||||
| LynneA |
I know that the generally accepted view is that sheep spend their lives trying to die. But Balwens are different. The suicide gene is replaced by a mutant Steve McQueen gene. Balwens are hell bent on escaping. If they're gathered rogether, they're plotting something. | ||||||
| Mary-Jane |
It's so sad isn't it? And worrying...
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| gil |
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| Mary-Jane |
See what I mean? 
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| Penny |
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| Gervase |
Hmm, Balwen on a motorbike - so that's where Aardman got the idea! |
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| Penny |
That doesn't mean you have to replace the ram Gervase
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| Mary-Jane |
Stop giving him ideas Penny... |
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| Slim |
I, er, actually have a book, and probably some papers I could dig up on animal cognition. One of my earlier professors is interested in sheep psychology, communication (or lack of) specifically.... | ||||||
| SheepShed |
Yes, we have a neighbour who keeps Balwen. Bad choice of word - keep is the last thing he does with them. We see them around a lot, as does everybody else in the vicinity. We passed some on the road last year by a bus shelter - "Duw" said my friend, "the buggers have got bus passes now". |
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| Rob R |
No one has been able to write anything useful on sheep psychology because they'll never stay on the couch long enough 
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| Nanny |
thank you for all the comments, it has boosted my confidence no end......
i was sort of hoping that if i try hard enough to think like a sheep, they might accept me as their leader and not feel they neede to do a runner every time i approached i take it you lot think i have done the wrong thing then............ |
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| Rob R |
Only by not choosing the best breed in the world
A feed treat tends to ensure they won't do a runner when you approach them with a bucket
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| Rob R |
Also, when gathering sheep without a dog there are a few sheepy pyschology things that may prove useful-
1) when creating a 'funnel' of gates to gather sheep in a field you can extend the effective length of the funnel by tying a rope to the end of the gate & holding it taught as someone else herds them towards it- always move the rope in a side to side motion; the sheep find it hard to focus & judge a jump to get under/over the rope. If you move it up & down they know exactly where it is & will make a run for it more readily. 2) if possible get a sheep penned in whereever you want them to go- they will run toward other sheep much easier than an empty pen. We tend to catch one & tie it up so the others follow easily, you can also pen it behind an open sided gate to have the same effect. |
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| Nanny |
ah 2 good tips there- particularly about the rope, haven't heard that one before we are bucket training them before they go out into the small paddock behind the big barn...it will be walked before they are released....... must admit that one of them nearly cleared the stable wall at about 3 ft 6 i am wary |
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| Rob R |
Our tup, when we brought him home, was locked inside so he could be released in daylight- the next morning he was still there, but when we came into the shed he cleared the 5ft gate
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| Nanny |
they are a bit skittish but i try not to look themin the eye much and to ive them a flight zone so they can get away from me without jumping
i think the rattling of the bucket frightened them this afternoon they were keen enough to get their heads in the trough as soon as i moved away and when they think you aren't looking they are totally chilled in there, cudding away and doing their sheep type thing.....such pretty creatures |
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| Slim |
if herding on a sunny day, it's useful to remember that they'll avoid shady spots. | ||||||
| crofter |
Also they will avoid the gate you want them to go through... |
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| Rob R |
Hence why we always try to tie one to said gate.
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| Mary-Jane |
 Now I'd never thought of that. Good idea...
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| Nanny |
maybe i should let them watch telly
then they will come into the living room of their own accord once they are in the living room, i have them in my power |
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| judith |
We have a roll of sheep netting that we unroll and gradually guide the little blighters down into a corner. Then we slowly roll up the netting until the corner is small enough to reach in and grab one. The dog does play his part though - he stays one side of the electric fence, running interference so the sheep don't make a bid for freedom into the next bit of paddock.
It doesn't always work quite as smoothly as described, but it is the best technique we have come up with so far, particularly for getting hold of the lambs which won't follow the bucket into the corral. |
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| Slim |
Yes, but how will you get them to wipe their hooves before they sit on the sofa? |
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| Nanny |
they can sit in the dog beds, we have three dogs beds and 5 small sheep..easy ... of course the problem is that they won't be able to reach the door handle to let themselves in.....i suppose they might be able to get through the cat flap- for a while anyway |
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| Pel |
Sheep are like water. Water will seperate into several paths, and has a habit of falling off places.
Is it easier to herd a large flock than a small flock? The sheep at work (which is smallish flock), well the ewes that are 3 year old + know where they are meant to go and don't really bother spliting apart, which is quite nice when there is only a quad and two people (one of which is riding the quad) and 130 ewes. The lambs are more of a pain though after weaning as they don't really bunch, and they go all over the place, and they have to be brought in every few weeks for weighing.. once they are in the handling facility they are fine, its just getting there 
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| Rob R |
Except sheep prefer running up hill
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| Nanny |
its no good you know
you won't put me off, too late now, they have looked at me with their big brown eyes and while i was sitting in the stable one of them came right up to me and put a hoof on my arm i'm a gonner |
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| Green Rosie |
I think our newly acquired ram must have some Balwen genes in him then - he's already escaped twice into the next field - the first time he knocked the gate hook up .... so we wired it up - the second time (under the pretext of being chased by the dog) he just rammed the gate and lifted it clean off its hinges ..... time for more wire
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| gil |
What did it want ? |
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| Nanny |
i was siting in the stable on the floor next to the water bucket ......she was asking me to move out of the way i think
at least she didn't head butt me like the goats would |