So they've discovered that cutting all the vegetation away in paddocks is not such a good idea after all? Who could have guessed?
posted by dg at 9:42 PM on September 18 [2 favorites]

I was imagining something more artificial, like a gingerbread house!

(I suppose the sheep like this better.)
posted by demi-octopus at 11:06 PM on September 18

Australia reinvents hedges!
posted by Rhedyn at 12:51 AM on September 19 [1 favorite]

A bit surprised that required scientists. They should come visit sheep farms in Wales more often.
posted by Rhedyn at 1:57 AM on September 19 [1 favorite]

I am more interested in the implied existence of non-edible livestock housing. In my experience, that's usually stored behind the perpetual motion machines at the ole tractor supply.
posted by stet at 1:27 PM on September 19 [1 favorite]

Isn't any shelter an edible shelter for a sheep?
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 1:58 PM on September 19

Absolutely barren flat paddocks are horrible for erosion and not healthy for the land or the sheep but 'edible shelter' aka vegetation, especially vegetation that is tall and thick enough to provide good shelter, can be problematic also. Ranchers trying to look for a ewe or lamb with problems may not always find it before what is a minor problem blows up into something life-threatening.

I'm not entirely sure how they do it in Australia, but locally ewes ready to lamb are brought into a (barren) paddock and then monitored. When ewes lamb, every lamb's navel is treated with iodine, and they're evaluated for hypothermia, dystocia, jaundice, white muscle disease, and all the other problems the little buggers are heir to. The sheep are then put into small pens created by hurdles, until the the ewe is definitely mothered up and the lamb(s) satisfactorily nursed. They then return to the flock.

Some of these local sheep men lamb out flocks of 2-3000 animals but I've read that's nothing compared to large sheep stations in Australia. If any Mefite has more info on how lambing is done on the big stations, I'd love to hear about it.
posted by BlueHorse at 2:23 PM on September 19

Oh you're breeding sheep?
posted by lalochezia at 6:09 PM on September 19

We had multiple pastures planted with native-ish species and the sheep would get moved from one pasture to another. Also sometimes the ewes will not mother one or two of a twin or triplet set, which led to my first bottle lamb. I was out with the dogs walking and heard a baying, this little lamb ran up to us and I couldn't find its mom. Then I heard the coyotes from across the road, looked down at this extremely loud baying creature on top of a hill and thought "you're dinner".

I brought him in and after a quick health check started bottle feeding him. You need to feed 3-4 times a day and they are always so happy to see you and basically attack the milk bottles. He never bonded with the flock, would always escape from the pasture, would run around with the dogs and wait for me on the porch with them. I loved him.

I called him Bucky Buckminster Fullerine the 3rd and he was also incidentally spared (my uncle thought the 'experience' of sending your 'favorite' to the slaughter was somehow beneficial, and though I disagreed, it wasn't "my sheep", how pleasantly surprised I was to hear him baying when I got home). I could identify him by his sound, distinct from the other sheep and our time together only ended when they sold the farm.

I really miss shepherding, actually. I even helped midwife some ewes before work (where I worked for a Wireless ISP) once, had to call the neighbor, who pulled a half-dead one out using most of his arm.
posted by nTeleKy at 8:31 AM on September 22 [1 favorite]

Rhedyn: "A bit surprised that required scientists. They should come visit sheep farms in Wales more often."
Or New Zealand, which is a lot closer.
posted by dg at 3:46 PM on September 22 [1 favorite]

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