The Woolly Patchwork Sheep Sanctuary

Bleatings from the Woolly Patchwork Sheep Sanctuary

Welcome to the latest edition of Bleatings and a warm welcome to all our new supporters who’ve joined us recently.

Wow, what a Summer we’re having! Record temperatures throughout the UK and here in Wales too. We reached an amazing 36*c here on 18th July. Much as I love the sun, that’s a wee bit hot even for me to work in, so it was early morning and late evening work and taking to the cool and shade in the peak of the day. The sheep have plenty of shade and spend the hot days lying under the hedgerows and trees and then venture out to graze once it’s cooler in the evening and early mornings. Once they settle down for the day I don’t disturb them. So long as they have shade and water they are happy.

It’s been a busy 3 months at the Sanctuary.
The fields have all been topped to cut back any rushes. This stops them encroaching into the grazing areas. It’s an annual job with the rushes as we have quite damp land which favours their growth. If we can cut them down before they produce a flower head it stops them seeding and spreading.

Shearing day took place on 1st June this year. The sheep were brought into the sheds the night before as heavy rain was forecast. They need to be 100% dry to shear. On the day though it turned out nice and it all went without a hitch. The sheep were glad to be rid of their heavy fleeces. My friend and Sanctuary supporter Linda came to help on the day which was lovely.

A couple of weeks after shearing, all the sheep were sprayed with Clik which prevents them getting flystrike. I know they’ll be safe through the summer months after this treatment.

The middle of June brought a bit of a surprise! Three new sheep arrived! Their owner has a smallholding not far from the Sanctuary and asked me if I would take them to retire as he was concerned that his land was very steep and they were struggling with mobility on the steep hillside now they were getting older. He assured me they were all in excellent health. They had had lambs a few years back but due to his health declining, he’d kept them as pets for the last couple of years, hence wanting to retire them rather than send them to market as cull ewes.

I agreed to take the 3 girls. They arrived within days but I had a shock on their arrival. They were absolutely terrified of people and all had appalling foot problems. Their owner mumbled a few things about not being able to catch them to treat their problems, but basically made a quick get away and left me to it!!

They are named Beauty, Feather and Calico and are all 7 years old.

Beauty is a Sufftex (Suffolk x Texel). She’s very obese and her joints are struggling as a result of her excess weight. She’d had a bad case of flystrike and apparently nearly died as a result. It left her heavily scarred across her back and down her side. She also has a lump on her back, which doesn’t seem to bother her too much, my vet suspects it’s a fat lypoma. She was very very nervous. Her main problem was her feet which were full of rampant horrible smelling foot rot and causing her major pain on walking.

Feather is a Lleyn ewe. Again very nervous and seemed to tilt her head a lot when you spoke to her. I did wonder if she was deaf, but I don’t think so now as the tilting has more or less stopped. I was worried she’d maybe had a stroke but she is fine these days so obviously she hadn’t. Her main problem was her feet. She had bad foot rot but had developed a large inter digital fibroma on one front foot and the beginnings of another on her other front foot. She also had massive infected swellings above her feet around the opening of the inter digital gland. These were full of pus. Poor girl could hardly bare to stand. I’m hoping all these things can be managed with regular treatment and so far this seems to be working but it may prove more of a challenge in the wet conditions of Winter. If things deteriorate then, Feather may need surgery to remove the fibromas but we’ll see how it goes.

Calico is a Jacob crossbred ewe. Apart from slightly sore, long smelly feet she didn’t have any other issues. She was very nervous on arrival but is a naturally friendly little character and soon her curiosity got the better of her and she quickly decided that the lady with biscuits and food treats was nice and could be trusted! I have shortened her name to Cali as I think it suits her better.

All 3 girls had a worm dose, appropriate foot treatment and a visit from the vet to check them over and advise. They were kept in quarantine for a month and Beauty and Feather had some quite intensive treatment during that time. Following that, they were allowed to mix in with the main young flock. They fitted in instantly without any dramas. They’ve all become very friendly and can be approached and fussed in the field and have made new friends among the flock. It’s been lovely to see them blossom.

I have closed the door to any more sheep at the moment. I’m finding the workload quite daunting and I’m also struggling with an arthritic hip which is increasingly painful. I’ve come to that age where I have to be realistic about what I can actually manage!!

I would like to sincerely thank everyone who so generously donated to help the 3 new girls when they arrived. I was so shocked at their condition and the donations covered the vet visits and treatment which was a massive weight off my mind.

Very sadly, little Ffion our frail old blind girlie passed away in the middle of June. She was 15 years old. A real tough little cookie, who was born with a curvature of the spine and a deformed jaw. She also lost her sight in the last year of her life. But she never let any of that bother her. She was the sweetest little ewe and I miss her very much.

I’ve been busy sorting and grading fleeces to sell since shearing and fleece sales have been good again this year. There’s a few left to sell, but not many! The money from the fleece sales helps towards winter feed costs. I have stocked up with straw for the winter and hope to be able to get the haylage on site in the not too distant future. My regular haylage supplier has retired so I’ve had to find a new supplier but they don’t release their new season haylage till October time so we’ll be a little bit later getting that on site this year. I like to get everything in the shed for Winter before the bad weather sets in.

Despite the ongoing heat and not getting much rain this Summer, we have managed to keep a good covering of grass on the fields. It’s very dry and a few south facing areas have burnt but we haven’t struggled as I know so many with livestock have.

We’ve been blessed with some wonderful donations from our Amazon wishlist and I’d like to thank everyone who supports us in this way. Also thank you to all who support through easyfundraising when you shop online.

Let’s hope the Summer weather will continue for a good while yet and that we’ll be blessed with a long and pleasant Autumn. It certainly makes for an easier life as far as I’m concerned.

Much love,
Caroline & The Baa’s xxx