[Jacob-list] handling sheep

[Neal and Louise Grose]

Most of the advice that I have seen has been for fairly small groups of
sheep, and calm ones. I have some advise for those that are faced with sheep
that have not decided where the food comes from. Walking into the pasture
with one bucket of feed and 50 to 100 sheep is asking for trouble. We use a
fence
line feeder so that the feed goes in on one side and the sheep are on the
other.

1) The best money that I have spent was for a 'Caf-cart' from Raytec
Manufacturing. This is a garden-cart size box with 26 inch wheels that we
can load a sheep or calf in and wheel them from place to place without
pushing them along the ground. I have saved thousands on bad back bills with
this thing.

2) It takes an expert herding dog to handle Jacob Sheep, and this is not
always a good option. Sheep have a natural tendency to try to circle around
you when they are being moved; and, work easiest when they can't see what is
around the curve. Our barn is located
in one corner of the pasture, and cattle panel fences are set up in a "snail
shell" fashion circling the barn so that they move from a larger area to
progressively smaller passages. Normally,
they can simply move out in front of the barn back to the pasture, but by
closing one gate and hoping they forget what is going on, normally, we can
catch them in the barn instead. In any case, it pays to spend lots of time
setting up and do
things right the first time.

Neal Grose
Harmony, NC