The Woolly Patchwork Sheep Sanctuary

Bleatings from The Woolly Patchwork Sheep Sanctuary

Welcome to the latest edition of Bleatings

Our somewhat miserable wet Summer is very much over now and we are well and truly back into mud season. The trees are full of red berries with leaves turning a wonderful shade of golden brown and dropping daily. Unlike last year when the Summer was so hot and dry and we were short of grass, the rain kept the grass growing and we certainly didn’t have a shortage this year.

We’ve had a couple of fairly beefy Atlantic storms recently so at the end of September the old and arthritic sheep came into the comfort of their cosy straw beds at night. Some needing closer management have their own pens where I can monitor how much they eat etc. Some are shy feeders and take time to eat their ration and others are greedy so need to be kept separately. Then there are a few who share a pen as they are evenly matched and don’t push their friends around. Donald and Denis were happy to be back in their Winter yard with their own little houses to shelter and sleep in.

The three new Shetland boys have settled in really well and are very much a part of the flock now. Dillon was the underdog of the three and it’s been lovely to see him blossom and make new friends and he is now much more confident in coming forward rather than hanging back and waiting his turn. The ewes are very much taken with the handsome Mr Darcy and he seems to be lapping up all the attention. Edward just loves human contact and is the first to come running for a fuss and a biscuit.

The new season haylage was ready at the beginning of October and we went to collect 3 trailer loads. 180 bales, 3.6 tons. It was a good workout unloading that and stacking it in the shed. It’s always so satisfying to see it all stacked and ready for Winter. I’m happy once I’ve got the straw and haylage in and all the feed blocks. I only have to purchase bagged feed weekly then as required. Living at 1000 feet above sea level, we can quickly get cut off here in the Winter if it snows, which it usually does at some point and it’s reassuring to know that the animals will continue to be fed their usual ration whatever the weather throws at us.

The flock had their Autumn dose for Liver Fluke in October. This is something we have to be very aware of as the farm does have some wet areas in the fields. With it being a wet Summer as well, the “fluke forecast” for our area was quite high and my vet advised treatment.

Liver Fluke is a parasitic flatworm which infects the sheep. It has a complicated lifecycle that involves an intermediate mud snail host. As a result, fluke is typically found around wet, boggy ground.

As I’m able to do my own faecal egg counting to assess worm burdens, I’m also able to detect fluke in a fecal sample. This does help monitor the situation along with veterinary advice on the current situation in our locality.

November has continued with the wet theme and the ground all over the farm is now seriously waterlogged. I’m really not looking forward to the Winter if it’s going to continue in this wet theme.

Wet ground brings it’s own challenges, usually in the form of sore feet with sheep. They can be very prone to a condition called scald where the inter digital space between the claws of the feet becomes moist and sore. If left untreated this will progress into foot rot. As we only have a smallish flock and most are tame, it’s easy to treat at first signs of scald with some foot spray and we also have foot mats which the sheep stand on and this will be saturated with a solution of Golden Hoof which helps to keep feet in tip top condition. We are fortunate not to have a problem with foot rot as the bacteria can stay in the soil and re-infect at regular intervals.

Feather who came to us in the Summer of 2022 with awful foot problems in the form of inter digital fibromas, has been quite challenged with the damp conditions this year. Although she’s not penned at night, she is running with the older girls and does come into the big winter shed at nights to get her off the wet ground. She has a regular foot mat treatment to keep her sound and it seems to be keeping her fibromas in check.

The young flock are still out at nights but do have shelter in the shed if they wish to take it. Whilst it’s still quite mild they prefer to be out even if it’s wet. They have plenty of natural shelter from the trees and hedgerows and if they stay under the trees at the bottom of Cae Mawr the wind blows straight over the top of them as they are sheltered by the hill behind. They are very sensible and they instinctively know the best place to be. They will come into a strawed up shed and haylage overnight from mid December. They’re all pretty fat so I don’t worry about them too much!!

Our new website is nearing completion and we hope to go live with it before Christmas. If you’re a follower on Social Media, keep an eye out for notification that it’s up and running. If not, keep checking on our new website address which will be www.woollypatchworksheepsanctuary.uk (ed: you’re here!!)It will likely be a work in progress for a while so please bear with us whilst we get used to using it!!!

Sadly we haven’t seen many visitors this year. I know several have called off because of the weather. Let’s hope next year will be drier and we’ll look forward to seeing more of you.

Thank you as always to you all for your unwavering support of the Sanctuary. With rocketing costs for feed and vet care, any extra help in the form or donations, sponsorships, Amazon wishlist gifts or easyfundraising donations are gratefully received.

As our thoughts will soon turn to Christmas, please consider sheep sponsorships as gifts. They are only £20 for 12 months and the recipient will receive a personalised adoption certificate, the story of their sheep along with photographs and quarterly newsletters.

If anyone is in a position to purchase a gift for the sheep for Christmas, they would be incredibly grateful to receive any bagged feed, salt licks, turmeraid or no bute from our Amazon wishlist. They would of course tell you they just want biccits!!!!

The evenings are drawing in day by day and the year is slowly coming to a close. All in all I think we’ve had a good year here at the Sanctuary despite the endless rain. Of course we’ve had our sad days when some of our girls have left us to cross the Rainbow Bridge, but their memory lives on and we will never forget them. Thank you for continuing to care and support.

Much love,
Caroline & The Baa’s xxx