Why do sheep need so much help?

[SleepingStandingUp]

Farmers always have to be there to look after them, seemingly more so for other animals (based on watching Down on the Farm) but why? Is it how they've been bred? Do they all need the same help really but it isn't talked about? Have cows and pigs got better PR? What would the death rate be like if all the sheep were left to give birth alone?

I'm not Ewe shaming, we should all be entitled to a little help.

I love my sheep. Hardy welsh mountain snd not at all stupid.

we have a lot of pet sheep with names and when you call out they come running to the gate for some TLC.

my oldest ewe is 13. No teeth but still going strong. We get about 20 lambs each spring and the males eventually go to slaughter and the ewe lambs stay, to replace the older ones. But they live a long time and we don’t slaughter just because they are old. they love being petted.

i live within common land and there are a few sheep who walk down to the village. The green verges are part of the common and some new incomers to the area don’t understand that the sheep have a right to be there. They complain day after day about their flowers being eaten.

i guess they haven’t noticed that locals dont have bedding plants and only hanging baskets 😂

Llamas or goats would be ideal for keeping as lawn cutters

Sheep, nope

Most sheep are kept in fields with no traffic, however we have three bits of land where we have sheep where there is an unfenced road running through. On two of the bits it's very very rare for there to be sheep V car accidents and when there is it's usually a flighty lamb that has suddenly bolted across the road to get to its mum. The biggest problem on those bits are actually people's pet dogs chasing them.

On the third bit it's quite a busy unlit road and speed is definitely the main factor. Its open fell ground so it's used by lots of different farmers and its 'free grazing'. Cows also get hit on there as well sometimes but people have started putting reflective collars on them which helps. There's loads of signs, people just ignore them.

Goats would be everything cutters though, wouldn't they?
Currently in a holiday cottage with half a dozen alpacas over the fence, plus they've had two babies since we were here last year - maybe they'd fit the bill. The adults have been sheared recently, don't know if that's harder or easier than on a sheep, they look a bit big to be plonked into that undignified sitting position.

(Most of what I know about sheep comes from The Archers and from several viewings of The sheep Show at country fair type events. If you haven't seen it - and the accompanying Dog and Duck show - you should)

I go off MN for about a week and there's a great sheep thread running. I'm just posting to boast about winning 1st and 2nd for our shearling tups at the Royal Highland Show. So good to be back there amongst all of our sheepy friends. After the judging we have a kist party with food and drink. One man has his kist fitted with whisky and gin bottles complete with optics.
Valais Blacknose and Dutch Spotted were being shown for the first time.

Congratulations, @derxa!

There is a breed of cows (Belgium Blue?) that have to calf via c-section because of how they are breed. Extra meaty but unable to give birth naturally.

Its all about the product, turkey is bread to be so big they sometimes break their own legs.

Eating less meat but from sustainable and more natural farmers is the way forward imo but I do understand why people go veggy!

Love this thread 😁

We nearly impulse bought a lamb and kid once from a hobby farmer. Soooooo glad we didn't. So glad 😬

Congratulations, derxa! That's so cool.

Now don't be coming on my thread with big words I don't understand and no pics of your fancy sheep 😂😂. Congratulations tho 🐑

What is a kist?

😂A kist is wooden chest which usually contains stuff for the show. White coats, combs, clippers, halters etc etc.

That's not true. Sometimes cows need caesareans but it's not a particularly cost effective way of rearing cows and is usually avoided wherever possible as it has huge risks for the cow. We've got plenty of Belgian blues amongst several other breeds and it's years since we last had anything need a c-section.

I don't know anything about commercially bred turkeys but generally the mass production poultry industry isn't that great for anyone except family food budgets.

And well done Derxa

a tup we bred got reserve champion in its breed this time at the RHS, it's no longer in our ownership but it's always nice to see other people doing well with something you have been involved with.

we were thinking of going this year but due to the time of year couldn't commit to having buy tickets in advance. Were they really also charging for car parking this year?!

The organisers of the RHS are daylight robbers. You had to book and pay for car park and entry tickets online. It cost me £200 to enter sheep, book pens, trailer park space and stock carpark plus my membership fees. DS saved some money by sleeping on the top deck of the sheep trailer.

I love my sheep but as others have said they do have an overwhelming drive to die, often under improbably ridiculous circumstances. They also love to escape. We end up with a handful of pets every year and they all get given names. This one is Colin - he used to wander in and sit with my sons to watch the football 🤣 We had a Doris who would come in and flop in front of the fire like a dog.

To those wondering about righting sheep stuck on their backs / sides or with their heads stuck in fences please do help them out.

Some or our lambs from this year. Better than cat/dog photos to me.

In front of the aga is a dwarf lamb and a sick lamb. We do everything we can to keep every soul with us.

I love how giant lambs' ears are.

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

lambs ! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ I love lambs, the way they get together in little lamby gangs and charge about.

Absolute funniest thread in a while

Love this thread! Great question OP! MNetters are so knowledgeable and interesting.

I felt like that by the last weeks of pregnancy. I even got stuck in a disabled toilet with a reluctant sliding door and was left forlornly staring at the foot wide gap that I'd normally get through 😂
At least being human I quickly learned that I couldn't sit on the sofa if there was no one else to keep heaving me off.

Team Sheep!

I am Welsh and I grew up with sheep everywhere. I miss the shouts of “the sheep have got into the garden again” and everyone having to rush and shoo them back out. I see sheep every day but they don’t roam around the village any more.

And no ones told me off for not googling!