[Jacob-list] Breaking of legs

[Mary Ellen Hansson]

Linda and all,

On the same vein and as is usual with me, I can never remember the
reference or scripture, but that statement is made in the Old Testament
someplace.  BETTY B.....Got it for us??  I have always ASSUMED that a
sheep unable to move and wander would become much more dependent on the
shepherd, become accustomed to always being with the other sheep (as the
shepherd was always in the midst or around his sheep), and would have
changed the overall behavior by the time the leg was mended.

We had a ewe lamb with a verified broken bone (that was healable) this
spring.  Don't know how she broke it, but I do know that she developed
more of a buddy relationship with several like-sized lambs during the
couple weeks of recovery.  Those bonds stayed and she did behave a bit
differently after healing than before.  She was not as shy of me either
afterwards.

On a sadder note, I have had to put down 2 lovely ram lambs in years
past that had breaks that were not fixable.  I would think that would
happen much more commonly if one were to TRY to break a leg than having
a break that would heal nicely.

Mary Ellen Hansson
ISeeSpots Farm www.iseespots.com
Jacob Sheep, Fiber, Spinning equipment,
Books, Patterns, Knitting/Crochet/Tatting
 


-----Original Message-----
From: jacob-list-admin at jacobsheep.com
[mailto:jacob-list-admin at jacobsheep.com] On Behalf Of Linda Bjarkman
Sent: Friday, May 16, 2003 4:58 PM
To: lambfarm at sover.net; jacob-list at jacobsheep.com
Subject: Re: [Jacob-list] still waters


Sort of on the same topic of strange stories and beliefs -

I received an email yesterday asking

>If a shepherd has a sheep which continuously and persistently wanders 
>away from the flock, will the shepherd break one of the sheep's legs in

>order to force it to bond with the shepherd due to the constant care 
>the shepherd will then have to provide the injured sheep?

The woman said they were having a discussion (email was a college
address) and 
someone had said that shepherds did that.  It got more involved -
someone said that 
in ancient times they did it, even though they might not do it now.

I told her that sheep bond better when they are not in pain and that I
felt that, 
not even considering the inhumanity of it, it was economically stupid.
While 
tending the broken legged sheep, the others run away.  The broken legged
sheep was 
certainly unlikely to survive in ancient times.  This was perhaps the
oddest 
question I've been asked about sheep.

Linda
Bonding to her sheep with Ritz crackers, not bone crackers.

On Fri, 16 May 2003 07:19:25 -0400, Betty Berlenbach wrote:
>All this talk of still waters and swimming sheep  reminds me that I 
>also know it is commonly thought that cats hate water and  don't swim.

>When I was growing up we had an old tiger alley cat gotten as  a 
>kitten, who swam with us every day and seemed to enjoy it.
>
>Which is to say, there's genetics and environment,  hey?  There's rules

>and exceptions.  No rule is so strictly adhered to  that once in a 
>while a fluke doesn't happen.  I have a friend with  shetlands who has 
>one sheep which looks forward to her daily swim with the  shepherd in 
>their pond.  Ya' gotta' love it.
>
>My father used to say there's no such thing as  "always" or "never"; 
>wise words for all of us, I'd  say.
>

Visit our 2003 lambs at::  http://www.patchworkfibers.com/2003lambs.html
 Registered Jacob Sheep
 Handspun Yarns
  



_______________________________________________
Jacob-list mailing list, sponsored by Swallow Lane Farm & Fiberworks
Jacob-list at jacobsheep.com
http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/jacob-list