Horses and sheep

Be careful if you do get some sheep, you need to make sure that lambs can't wriggle out of the paddocks whilst ensuring the horses can't catch their hooves on bottom strands. We generally ran a line of electric sheep wire the wrong side of the post and rail.
I think we kept our Soays for about 10 years which are a good beginners sheep as they tend to stay healthy and can be plucked rather than shorn, but they do have a tendency to scatter as opposed to flock.
 
At extra expense the majority of the field I'm thinking about has the horse safe net fencing. But yes, I could have an escape route into another small field which is almost sheep proof and wouldn't take much to complete. I had thought of soays as a beginner sheep (although I love the valais blacknose)
 
I've never had a problem grazing horses and sheep together except with one Welsh D who let sheep nibble his tail very thin. It took a while to work out what was going on.
With the farmers round here, it was always a no-no putting any horses in with cattle, particularly young cattle,as there was a host of stories about broken legs,drystone walls down and lost stock due to the melee and mayhem which inevitably would occur.
 
We have ponies and sheep together.

We have one dominant ewe who rules the roost and bosses the top dog horse around. He in turn pushes the younger ponies around.

Generally they all graze together but the internal fencing is set up so the sheep can duck under to escape any antics the ponies get up too.

It's really reduced my worm counts as well by co-grazing them.
 
Peregrine Falcon said:
At extra expense the majority of the field I'm thinking about has the horse safe net fencing. But yes, I could have an escape route into another small field which is almost sheep proof and wouldn't take much to complete. I had thought of soays as a beginner sheep (although I love the valais blacknose)
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I like those little Welsh Black Mountain sheep, cute and hardy.
 
I like my Zwartbles. Big and docile, blingy to look at and can be treated like a pony for handling. I never tip them up, only the shearer gets to do that, but lift their feet the same as the equines, with them tied to the gate. A bonus is that their fleece is a good one for newcomer spinners and is great for needle felting.
 
rabatsa said:
I like my Zwartbles. Big and docile, blingy to look at and can be treated like a pony for handling. I never tip them up, only the shearer gets to do that, but lift their feet the same as the equines, with them tied to the gate. A bonus is that their fleece is a good one for newcomer spinners and is great for needle felting.
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I treat mine the same when checking feet. They are bottle fed lambs (now 4.5yrs old) but like big dogs. Only the dominant one is an issue for me. She behaves impeccably for my OH though.

My friend spins so takes our wool every year.
 
dorsetladette said:
I treat mine the same when checking feet. They are bottle fed lambs (now 4.5yrs old) but like big dogs. Only the dominant one is an issue for me. She behaves impeccably for my OH though.

My friend spins so takes our wool every year.
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Neughbours at the yard had some and they bunted them both at some point and had one of their dogs up against a gate so they switched to those sheep that look like teddy bears. Probably just their lack of experience.
 
marmalade76 said:
Neughbours at the yard had some and they bunted them both at some point and had one of their dogs up against a gate so they switched to those sheep that look like teddy bears. Probably just their lack of experience.
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Valerie black noses? we have one. they are lovely and cuddly but behave like goats. He army crawls under all the fencing and is into everything. Because of his horns haynets are now band at home. I've had to invest in hay bags for the sheep, altohugh I don't know why I've bothered as he goes under the tarps and eats from the round bales.

Remember the you tube clip that did the rounds a few years ago - its a f###ing goat!!!
 
dorsetladette said:
Valerie black noses? we have one. they are lovely and cuddly but behave like goats. He army crawls under all the fencing and is into everything. Because of his horns haynets are now band at home. I've had to invest in hay bags for the sheep, altohugh I don't know why I've bothered as he goes under the tarps and eats from the round bales.

Remember the you tube clip that did the rounds a few years ago - its a f###ing goat!!!
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Zwartbles, I probably quoted the wrong post.
 
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