[Jacob-list] Jacob-list Digest, Vol 34, Issue 18

[Lynette Frick]

I agree with the suggestion of keeping a llama around if you don't think
that you can keep a guardian dog. If you can find a good enough llama, one
that won't chase your sheep, many people are rather terrified of the
unknown. Another suggestion maybe to put up electric fencing and as already
mentioned padlocking.
Fortunately for us, people in our area aren't too interested in sheep but
are more goat people. Some friends of ours have a petting zoo and were
rather upset to find that their two bottle raised boer goats where stolen.
The theives dragged them under the fence.
One more suggestion would be, and this one may not be popular, is branding
and getting the brand certified. This way your sheep will be easily
identifiable as *yours* at an auction. For sheep I have heard of two
different meathods of branding. One which I heard of with the Manx sheep was
to brand the horn at the base. The other was to do a cheek brand. Freeze
branding would show up on black cheeks as white hair and on white as a bald
brand, and is less painful than heat branding and more permanent than horn
branding. You still may want to look into a livestock guardian dog if you
have a reacurrence of your situation. If someone is actually stealing your
sheep, than they might come back to an easy target.

Good luck

Lynette Frick
IDEAL FARM
Jacob Sheep
www.idealjacobsheep.com
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