The Woolly Patchwork Sheep Sanctuary

Bleatings from the Woolly Patchwork Sheep Sanctuary

Well what a turbulent few weeks it’s been. After a mild, kind start to the winter, the weather really turned in and winter reared its head big time! The weather man forecast snow for the high ground…. yes, that’s us…. we are located at 1000 ft above sea level. We were snowed in for 3 days and then had a bit of a thaw. Lovely, but of course it left everywhere very muddy and slippery!

The bad weather meant extra work of course as we double up sheep feeding when there is snow on the ground, so it meant hay to be put round in the morning and again in the afternoon. The bluefaced Leicesters – Adele and Alia along with Alys their constant companion who also thinks she’s a blueface, even though she’s actually a toughie Texel, preferred to stay indoors 24/7. Bluefaced Leicesters are delicate beings and can quickly chill, so always have the luxury of an indoors day if it’s wet or snowy. The old girls also had the option to be in or out during the worst of the weather. Mostly they choose in. They are always bedded down for the night during the winter in little groups of family or friends. The younger girls come in for hay which gives their feet time to have a rest from the wet and mud. The shed door will be open so they can come and go as they please. Farmers tell me….” They’re sheep, they like to be out”. Believe me…given the option of an inside bed, sheep will always choose to be in the warm and dry!The snow went and Storm Eric arrived. Several days of rain and gales. Fortunately, there wasn’t any damage other than a few small branches blown off the trees. They were gathered up and chopped up into logs and put away into the wood shed for firewood 2021. I like to keep ahead of things!!!!

Alys aka the Texel Tank has been a naughty girl…. whilst indoors on a wet day, she is fenced off the main yard where I have storage cupboards and work table etc. Well she managed to get over, under or through the hurdles keeping her off the yard. Oh, my goodness…. she trashed everything!!!

She’d opened the cupboard door and got all the sprays and medicine pots out, unraveled a load of horse bandages, been under the table and taken it for a walk, with the contents of the table now all over the yard. She’d been into Georgie, the horses stable and completely messed that up. We don’t call her the Texel tank for nothing!!!! Because she runs with the two bluefaced ewes she is in every night through the winter months. When I go down to the shed to do my end of the day rounds and checks, Alys likes to have a cwtch (Welsh for cuddle). I always pick the poos up in the pen and Alys loves to try and push me over. She went a bit too far the other night and managed to step on my hand. I had a lovely swollen, bruised hand for several days. Thanks, Alys. I love her really!!!

Chanelle has had a few days on the sick list. A couple of weeks ago, she came in at the end of the day, breathing very heavily. She was treated straight away with injectable antibiotics and anti-inflammatory and pain killers but was obviously feeling most unwell as she went right off her food.

Poor girl must be feeling like a pin cushion as she was also given an injectable steroid and B12 along with a second antibiotic. She was orally dosed daily with an energy drink and Pro Rumen which is a pro biotic powder which helps the bacterial flora of the stomach and also keeps a sheep ruminating. Sheep have a complicated stomach arrangement and if they stop eating and their digestive system stops ruminating it is very serious and can quickly prove fatal. After a few days of extra care and TLC, she appears to have made a full recovery and is back out with her friends, happily grazing. She will be carefully monitored for the foreseeable future.

Winter is always a challenging time for the really old girls. I have three 15-year olds and four 14-year olds here. The cold and rain affects their arthritis and I always worry terribly about them. They have turmeric pellets in their daily feed ration which really helps to keep them mobile. Thankfully they’ve all managed well so far this winter, holding their weight and keeping their mobility.

One thing I really hate is ear tags! All sheep have to legally have a tag in each ear, one a management tag and the other one an electronic tag. I’m sure ear tags were developed simply to make money for ear tag sales companies! Sheep have devised numerous ways to rid themselves of their tags and then have to be re- tagged. Poor Charlotte managed to knock her ear and catch the tag, causing a little sore area around the tag. Although it was sprayed daily with antibiotic spray, it managed to swell and become quite nasty looking, so I had no option other than to cut the tag out. Once out, the ear blew up into a huge abscess which had to be treated with injectable antibiotics and topical spray. The abscess eventually popped and drained but has left poor Charlotte with a permanently downward pointing ear. Apart from somewhat spoiling her beauty she is no worse for the event, but my vet has advised that I am not to re tag that ear. I can fully understand the need for traceability in commercial flocks that move around via markets and off farm grazing, but my sheep never move from the farm. But to be legal I have to tag, there is no get out clause for a sanctuary or for pet sheep!

Looking ahead, the snowdrops, crocus and daffodils are out, and hopefully milder weather is not too far over the horizon…

A huge thank you to all of you for your ongoing support of the sanctuary. It is so very much appreciated by myself and my woolie family. I hope some of you will be able to visit and spend time with your sponsored sheep this summer (or any time of the year come to that, we’re always pleased to see you and the kettle is always on!!!).

Lots of love

Caroline and the Baa’s

xx