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.

Wouldn’t she have to register with DEFRA every time she moved the sheep though?

One of my favourite posts! 😂

I have nothing to add to this thread except this video…

But presumably isn't very good at the suicide part if he's still alive....or the farmer has ninja-level rescue skills?

Hate goats. As a kid I got cornered on a tree stump at a 'petting zoo' (i.e., Child Murder Farm) by a particularly aggressive and determined bunch that decided they had nothing better to do than eat me and whatever I was holding. Evil blighters.

@Inklingpot so you can explain why they live in Wales 😂

I live somewhere farmers are allowed to let their sheep roam free..ancient right etc etc. This means come rush hour on the busy A-roads many sheep suicidally decide to sleep on the wrong side of the white lines. It's carnage this time of year.

Kamikaze Sheep

My friend helps her dad with their sheep and echoes the voices on this thread. She says they're daft and want to die.

Another friend has goats that live near his house. They regularly get their heads stuck in the wire fence. It's always the ones with the biggest horns that have the bright idea of sticking their head through the gap...

The one thing I know about sheep is if you’re traversing Dartmoor overnight and a flock are asleep in the road, you can beg, plead, shoo, clap, shout, rev engine, flash lights, sound horn and they will not move an inch.

At this point you need to play them some Bob Dylan because they Do Not Care For his harmonica playing one bit.

@Bagzzz ours are old style tags and all yellow. They get done on day 2 along with tail bands and tetanus shots. The longer you wait the more it hurts but we like to give them 24 hours to get over being born. By day 4 they are hard to catch.

We've tried not doing tails and every time it's been grim.

I live on an island where the sheep are allowed to roam free, grazing wherever they like. If I had a dog and the dog ‘worried’ the sheep the Farmer has the right to shoot my dog dead. I’ve always wondered about why sheep are so precious and can’t be worried like other animals! And they are truly the most stupid Fucking creatures!

I’ve always wondered about why sheep are so precious and can’t be worried like other animals!

Huh? You're not allowed to let a dog worry any livestock. (If that was meant to be a joke, it's really not very funny at all. ) Of course, cows are big enough that they can attack/trample a dog (and it's owner) so even idiots tend not to let their pets loose near them.

Worrying means chasing/attacking etc. Not causing the sheep a moment of concern. Walk dogs on a lead around sheep and you won't have a problem.

If I had a dog and the dog ‘worried’ the sheep the Farmer has the right to shoot my dog dead. I’ve always wondered about why sheep are so precious and can’t be worried like other animals!
Sheep worrying is the dog chasing or attacking or biting or otherwise injuring the sheep. You shouldn't be letting your dog do this to any animals, not just sheep.

You can't let your dog chase sheep because it makes them abort their lambs or simply drop dead from a heart attack. My family have lost various lambs and sheep this way.
You mention why only sheep. You should not be allowing your dog to chase any frightened animals.

I don't think pp wants to worry sheep's and is sad she's only allowed to do it to cows, more why specifically do people make a point out if saying it especially re sheep, out of curiosity not a desire to do it.

The posts about sheep losing their pregnancies and falling down dead answers that far better than the posts lecturing pp on not doing it to cows either

The other difference is other livestock will attack. Cows will and do kill dogs who are aggressive to them. Nearly every person killed by cows - there are a few every year, are either farmers trying to feed cows and getting accidentally trampled or people with dogs. Cows are big animals and will attack as a herd. Sheep just run and sadly die. Pigs will also attack.

Mildly curious about what anyone could say in this charming thread that would require deletion as breaching Talk Guidelines.

Was someone spamming and offering discounted sheep dip? Or making a personal attack on a sheep?

Will never be able to look at sheep the same way after reading this thread 🐑

I know Myrtle, I didn't see it before deletion.

I'm on the cows and pigs source re dogs and dicks

Maybe a lewd remark about raddle?

Ewe will never know!

A gentleman in Africa told us this aswell. The issue they have in Africa is is if a leopard was to kill one sheep the other sheep just literally sit there and watch waiting for their turn 😮