The Woolly Patchwork Sheep Sanctuary

Bleatings from the Woolly Patchwork Sheep Sanctuary

Well here we are, another 3 months has flown by!! Our Sanctuary family continues to grow, so a big welcome to all the new members.

When the last newsletter went out in February, none of us could foresee the awful pandemic that would sweep around the World, turning life as we know it upside down. How quickly things have changed, with such tragic consequences for so many. A deeply worrying and troubling time. The lockdown and loss of our freedoms has hit people so very hard in many different ways. We can only hope that slowly things will start to improve and we are able to rebuild our lives, but personally I would like to see this in a more caring, kind and compassionate way. It will take time and patience on our part. We are far from out of the woods yet. Living where I do, in a very rural community, I’ve realised how socially isolated I actually live, as nothing much has changed in my life! I also appreciate how very fortunate I am to have so much space to isolate myself in and plenty to keep me occupied.

The pandemic has hit all animal charities very hard with loss of income from donations, open days, volunteers etc. and so I thank each and every one of you for your continued support, enabling me to keep caring for the flock as I always have done. The gifts from our Amazon Wishlist have been amazing and a massive help, so thank you to all who have supported in this way. I’m sorry that all those that wanted to visit or volunteer have been unable to do so this Spring. Due to Wales continuing to have a strict lockdown policy we are still closed to visitors. I hope as the year progresses, some of you will be able to visit and I shall look forward to it. In the meantime, rest assured that the sheepies are getting their full quota of fuss and rich tea biscuits!!!!

So, Sanctuary news…… On a sad note, the sudden and unexpected loss of our beloved Ruby, who was 15 and suffered a stroke. She lost all co-ordination and was unable to get up or support herself without constant help. After trying everything possible to help her for a week, she suddenly deteriorated and I knew it was time to let her cross the Rainbow Bridge. We will never forget her, such a sweet soul. RIP Ruby.

After such a wet winter, where we slopped around in endless mud, it dried up practically overnight and the ground went like concrete! March and April have been very dry here, with some hot days here and there and also some cold nights. One minute the sheep are panting in the heat and the next they are glad they have big fleeces on them to keep them warm!

As many of you know, the sheep all have access to sheds in the Winter months, where they can come in at night for hay and shelter. The oldies all have their own night time pens during the Winter. At the end of March, all the younger sheep went out to grass 24/7. The Spring grass has been slow to grow due to the cold nights and very dry spell, but it is coming along now. The sheep are all enjoying the fresh grass and freedom from being constantly wet! The oldies stayed in overnight until mid-April. They like their creature comforts – a nice warm straw bed and a meal and hay to munch overnight. I have several here in advanced years that have developed arthritis, so they are fed a small meal all year round so that I can get Turmeraid pellets into them to help with mobility and inflammation management. Some also have liquid Devil’s Claw in the form of No Bute and a couple also have CBD oil!!

Once the sheep had all gone out to grass, the sheds were all fully mucked out and the muck spread on the fields. The new quad trailer was a massive help in the muck carting operation!!

All the sheep have had a spa day. A foot trim and their tails sheared (dagged) in preparation for shearing day. This ensures they are clean of any urine and faeces that may have built up around their rear ends during the Winter months under bushy tails. Keeping them clean prevents fly strike and secondly makes life easier for our shearer, as he only has the body to shear rather than having to fuss around with tails as well. I’m lucky that the sheep are all a clean bunch, so it makes the annual dagging a more pleasant job than it might otherwise be!!!

Fly strike is horrible and something I wouldn’t wish on any poor sheep. Flies are attracted to urine and faeces and lay eggs on the sheep which then hatch into maggots. The maggots rapidly grow, feasting their way into the sheep. If not spotted in time, they can kill a sheep within 3 to 4 days and even if spotted and treated, sheep can die of toxic shock. The wriggling, biting maggots will drive the poor sheep absolutely demented. Dagging is hard, backbreaking work for me, but ensures the sheep are free from the worry of flies attacking them and peace of mind for me as well!!

With it being so dry, I’ve managed to start some field maintenance work. Some of the rushes that grow in the fields have been topped (cut) to allow the grass to come through and the damp ground underneath to dry out. This is ongoing work through the summer, to keep rushes and ferns, thistles etc. cut so they don’t spread.

The next major job now will be shearing. We usually shear the flock at the end of May, so I’m hoping the good weather continues to enable us to do so again this year. Once sheared, I’ll be busy sorting and grading all the fleeces for sale. If you have pre-ordered fleeces, I will be in touch with details as soon as possible after shearing. I’m not quite sure what the posting out situation will be – it might just be a one day a week dispatch for a while so bear with me. All fleeces for sale will be advertised as usual on our Facebook fleece sales page “Natural Raw Sheep Fleece”.

The Sanctuary now has active accounts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter! Facebook and Instagram are our main platforms as obviously we are limited to the amount of information that you can put on a Twitter post, but followers and supporters are growing on all 3 accounts which is wonderful. We’ve also signed up to easyfundraiser! This raises extra funds for the Sanctuary. It’s free to join and is supported by over 4000 retailers. If you shop online it’s a great fundraising tool that costs you nothing!! Full details and the link are in the pinned post at the top of our Facebook page. If you’re not a Facebook follower and would like to sign up, drop me a message and I’ll send you the link. Thank you to all who have already signed up and helped raise extra cash for the Sanctuary in this way. I’m hoping that we will be able to open the door to a couple of new residents during the Summer. Yes, I know I keep saying That’s it….no more! But what would it be without a shed full of needy sheep to keep me occupied!!!

One major job that needs to be done this Summer is re painting the big sheep shed roof. It’s galvanised panels which had started to rust when I took the farm over 20+ years ago. I paint them every 5 – 6 years to keep the rust at bay and it’s due again this year as a few panels are showing thin areas of paint cover after such a battering from storms last Winter. So, I’ll be sat up there on my roof ladder with a paint pot and brush for hours on end this Summer. It’s a good job I don’t mind heights!

There’s plenty to keep me occupied through the Summer and beyond! I’m sure some of it won’t get done, but so long as the essentials get done, I’ll be happy. I am hoping that I’ll be able to open the Sanctuary to visitors again at some point in the year, but at the moment it’s all a bit up in the air. I hope you all keep safe, occupied and happy through the Summer months and are able to enjoy yourselves even though we are limited as to what we can do at this point in time.

Take care.

Much love,
Caroline & The Baa’s xxx