argy bargy sheep

[This pony rocks]

we know someone who keeps there sheep at ours, my daughter loves helping on weekends. She was being bullied at school so we thought she needed something to take her mind of it. Luckily it was the beginning of lambing so we got 2 ewes and lambs they lived in the stables for a couple of weeks till going out, i don't really know how how but we acquired 2 more ewes and lambs so we now have 4 ewes and 2 8 week old lambs and 2 2 week old lambs. now all in field

they have plenty of grass and hay, a thick bed, and shelter but are very argy bargy at meal times and 2 of them jump up at you and my daughter keeps on getting knocked over but she doesn't want any help and im worried she will hurt herself.
how can we get them a less bargy?


they are quite big as well as they are 3 of them are hampshire X suffolk and one is a large mule

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Daughter, no matter what her age, needs someone else with her. She won't hurt herself but will very likely get hurt by the sheep. Sheep push and shove each other to get to food and don't know the difference between sheep and humans. I guess it's the lambs jumping up, Could she put the feed down and then let the sheep into the space where the food is, keeping well out of the way herself?
A sheep farmer of my acquaintance has talked about those who bring up 'pet lambs' (hand-reared) and keep them into adult hood 'becoming a statistic', if they don't watch out

 

[This pony rocks]

Daughter, no matter what her age, needs someone else with her. She won't hurt herself but will very likely get hurt by the sheep. Sheep push and shove each other to get to food and don't know the difference between sheep and humans. I guess it's the lambs jumping up, Could she put the feed down and then let the sheep into the space where the food is, keeping well out of the way herself?
A sheep farmer of my acquaintance has talked about those who bring up 'pet lambs' (hand-reared) and keep them into adult hood 'becoming a statistic', if they don't watch out

the lambs are fine and will happily trot around though not the friendliest she has no interest in hand rearing themas she knows they will go for meat i go down each morning and evening and help her we try throwing sticks and shouting though they continue to do it we think their old owners use to have them more as pets as when you don't have a bucket there still friendly

 

[This pony rocks]

the lambs are fine and will happily trot around though not the friendliest she has no interest in hand rearing themas she knows they will go for meat i go down each morning and evening and help her we try throwing sticks and shouting though they continue to do it we think their old owners use to have them more as pets as when you don't have a bucket there still friendly

shes 12 and used to riding tricky horses so quite strong

 

[Pearlsasinger]

the lambs are fine and will happily trot around though not the friendliest she has no interest in hand rearing themas she knows they will go for meat i go down each morning and evening and help her we try throwing sticks and shouting though they continue to do it we think their old owners use to have them more as pets as when you don't have a bucket there still friendly

I was not suggesting that she should hand rear them, they are with their mothers but maybe their mothers were hand-reared. I would have thought that the farmer would have sent sheep that were used to humans, otherwise yu can't get near them. It sounds as if the ewes are over familiar. They need telling firmly to behave, just as you would with a dog or pony. But I wouldn't send a 12 yr old on her own to deal with tricky, trouble-some animals like those sound to be. Tip the bucket out at the earliest opportunity, rather than trying to walk through them with it.

 

[Midlifecrisis]

All sheep are bargy at feed times...my dad had to have both knees replaced after forty odd years of pushing them off and away feed troughs.

 

[SOS]

Another that says be very careful. I saw an experienced farm hand get knocked out after a ewe jumped out of a race and into him with force and he hit the ground hard. 60kg of flying sheep isn’t funny. And if your daughter falls they will climb all over her trying to get to food.

Since when has throwing sticks and shouting worked with any animal? Make sure you are not shaking the feed before and go straight in and keep walking whilst pouring the feed, ideally two of you at the same time feeding parallel may minimise crowding. I would not suggest you let your daughter continue feeding as she will get hurt. If you cannot feed safely at all feed over the fence line and send to slaughter as soon as you can.

Sheep can be extremely strong especially when trying to get to food, having said that I have helped feed flocks of several hundred safely with the guidance that you do it quickly and efficiently with minimal fuss. Then again none of these had been pandered by people, even if bottle fed they were not taught to jump up. This all sounds like a horrific accident waiting to happen.

 

[Errin Paddywack]

My sister and I have to go in together each with a bucket, one disrtacts them to give the other enough time to dump in the trough and run then the other can do the same. Been knocked over once this spring already and once is more than enough.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Neighbour, used to horses, donkeys, goats and poultry, borrowed some sheep from a breeder/show-er and sent them back after less than a week because they were so unruly.

Ours are 'pet sheep' and had to be trained not to jump up at people. It can be done but it has to be done from an early age. And as neighbour's experience shows, like any other animal they will push the boundaries with unfamiliar people.

 

[Maryann]

I walk slowly to the trough with the bucket held high in one hand and use the other to slap the noses of any who attempt physical contact then get some food in the trough, retreat and repeat. Didn't retreat quite far enough a few weeks ago and was taken out by a ewe changing trough position at speed. Fortunately no harm done but I did have a sore knee for some time.

 

[limestonelil]

Like other posters, I say to take this seriously OP and get it sorted. There's ideas already suggested. Certainly don't let your daughter carry on getting repeatedly knocked over even if she wants to feed them on her own. It isn't working and she needs help.
We lamb 1000+ ewes as naturally as possible by the way, so I feel able to comment. I am concerned for your daughter's safety.

 

[Aru]

Your daughters going to soon have the joyous experience of being knocked and trampled....and the sheep will learn thats a quicker way to get their grub.
Bag the food in a bucket or use a lid so there is no reward for sticking their face in it and then pour feed into a trough or along a fenceline. Sheep are nasty bargy creatures if you let them get away with it and when it comes to food they are rude as hell about personal space.
Stick etc is no help either.. feed along a fence line so you have an out or get a proper through and get real quick at the line drop alone it and dump. My uncle's used to bring a dog occasionally and leave them at one end if that helps when he was doing larger numbers and had stagger the troughs in a zip zag so it was a bit less predictable. The dog made them less likely to swarm forward ahead of you and you run the bag along the trough. It only slows them though.
They don't fear the dog more then they want the food especially the pet raised ones. He would have never left me to feed alone at 12 though.
We were always warned to be careful they don't knock us about and given the good old times it was the odd one got a clout of a bucket when they pushed boundaries (that didnt help the stuborn mules learn one iota either sometimes it helped them stick their face in It better! So I'm not recommending it! )

So many flashbacks of time spend lambing and around the farms from this post.
In all seriousness though... grown adults can get hurt in these situations. Don't send your daughter there alone she could get quite badly trampled if she falls as they swarm her.

 

[This pony rocks]

Neighbour, used to horses, donkeys, goats and poultry, borrowed some sheep from a breeder/show-er and sent them back after less than a week because they were so unruly.

Ours are 'pet sheep' and had to be trained not to jump up at people. It can be done but it has to be done from an early age. And as neighbour's experience shows, like any other animal they will push the boundaries with unfamiliar people.

we are trying to tell the lambs