all adult health stuff, including ram issues
Not much changes from year to year in the lore about hoof trimming for sheep and other cloven-footed animals: use sharp clippers, trim a little at a time so you do not cut through the “quick,” try to create a platform for each hoof so the animal can walk without a hitch in its step. […]
Loyal readers may recall an earlier time in my life as a Soay shepherd when I went through a frenzy of making feed bags for our four livestock guardian dogs and for Steve to hand out occasional treats to the ewes and lambs. Believe it or not, one of the bags already wore a hole […]
Want strong, healthy lambs? Have you ever experienced the agony of watching one of your Soay lambs fail to thrive and perhaps even die despite your best efforts? Good news: if you are willing to mix a little goody into your ewes’ mineral right before lambing, and supplement your lambs with a different goody through […]
When last we met, I promised to discuss the logistics of shipping Soay sheep cross-country and share with you the personal satisfaction of working with the recipients of the airborne sheep to make it happen. Business first and then the human side of things. You probably will not be surprised to learn that air-shipping Soay […]
It is common knowledge among Soay shepherds that finding equipment for our diminutive animals can be a challenge: standard ID tags swamp our lambs’ ears; even our largest ewes get lost in full-sized sheep chairs; 4×4 mesh panels are a hazard, rather than a protection. But there is one perfectly-sized category of equipment for Soay […]
During an otherwise calm start to lambing, we were hit with a stark reminder that no matter how self-reliant our Soay sheep may be, we still must be prepared to intervene when, rarely, the need arises. This story takes a while to relate. Please bear with me. Setting the stage: virtually every description of Soay […]