The Woolly Patchwork Sheep Sanctuary

Welcome to the latest edition of Bleatings!

As we left February behind, cold but dry and sunny, March unfolded into a predominantly dry month. It was a big help in getting the sheep out 24/7 much earlier this year. Fifteen of the youngsters went out to grass full time in the middle of March, the olds and delicates still came in at night time until the end of the month. I say youngsters…our youngest are now 5 years old and over two thirds of the flock are between the ages of 10 and 16!

March saw all the sheep have their annual Bravoxin vaccination to cover against clostridial diseases.

Georgie horse had a visit from the vet for her 6 monthly dental check up. Horses teeth grow throughout their lives so they need regular filing to keep sharp edges at bay. Georgie isn’t terribly keen on dental procedures (a bit like me there!!) so has a minimal amount of sedative to calm her. It was all over in half an hour and all the sharp edges filed down so she could eat more comfortably without quidding her food out. Although she appears well in herself, she is really starting to show her age this Spring with several niggling little problems and sadly has also developed Cushings Disease. This is a hormonal disorder that affects the pituitary gland. It is currently being managed by medication and i hope this will help stabilize things.

Donald is spending his summer in the field with Georgie. They adore one another. As i have mentioned before, Donald has a longstanding problem with a swollen testicle which sadly has not responded to any treatment and slowly continues to swell. It’s not currently causing him a problem but obviously will do if it continues swelling. My vet advised to leave well alone as Donald is an elderly gent and he doesn’t feel invasive treatment is the right thing for him, which i have to say i agree with. He’s also developed age relaged arthritis so we monitor the situation from day to day and hope things don’t progress too quickly.

Poppett our little brain damaged Welsh ewe loves to get herself stuck in a multitude of situations. I had to practically dismantle a hay feeder one morning when she’d decided to poke her head sideways through a gap and get well and truly wedged! I honestly thought i’d have to cut her out but after quite a bit of gente manoevering i did eventually manage to free her. She looked a bit sorry for herself with swelling around her eye but fortunately nothing was cut and the swelling soon went down. The very next morning she found another place to get stuck!!! Oh Poppett, what are we ever going to do with you?!!!!

Once all the sheep were out full time, the sheds were fully cleaned and muck spread out onto the field.

As soon as the shed floor was dry i was able to set up the race for Spring and Summer work such as dagging and shearing.

April saw all the sheep get their tails dagged. This removes any mucky bits they may have accumulated over the Winter months. It lessens the risk of fly strike before shearing if they are clean. Everyone also had a pedicure.

All the sheep have been provided with Crystalyx Garlix blocks for the Summer months. This will hopefully keep some of the pesky midges and flies at bay. The bluetongue virus that spread from the Continent to the south and east of England last year by midges is a constant worry. Last year we didn’t have the option to vaccinate as the vaccine wasn’t licensed for use in Wales. This year it is but it’s very hard to get hold of. Having had a good long talk with my vet about it all, he thinks we are a low risk as we are about as far west as you can get in the UK. Should the virus become more active towards our area, i will of course try to obtain vaccine to cover the sheep against the disease. It doesn’t stop them getting bluetongue but would hopefully lessen the symptoms. The sheep all seem to approve of the garlic tasting blocks anyway, which is a good thing!

The clear up after Storm Darragh which hit us last December seemed relentless. We had so many big trees down and fencing repairs to do. Bit by bit we eventually got there. A big bonfire on the paddock cleared the last of the huge conifer that came down. Scallywag thought the cold ash from the fire was wonderful and promptly covered herself in it. The biggest tree we left until last as it was in our shelterwood and not affecting the sheep. It’s all cut up but there’s absolutely no room in the wood sheds for all the wood at the moment so it will sit there and season for a while yet. I’ve lost count of the number of fence posts that have been put in to repair damaged fences!

The dry weather and sunshine continued. From constantly slopping about in mud, we were now walking on concrete ground and grass growth was very slow. By mid May our south facing fields were starting to burn. Eventually the rain made an appearance over the Spring Bank Holiday weekend and suddenly the World looked a little greener.

In the middle of April we adopted three feral cats to help with rodent control. Midnight, a little black female and twin sisters Teasle and Tansy. They have all settled in well.

The roof on the big sheep shed was starting to deteriorate on one corner so i put the ladders up on a dry day that wasn’t too hot and got the paint pot out and re painted the part that was starting to rust. Maintenance of the sheds is an annual Spring/Summer job. The stone shed that suffered roof damage during Storm Darragh is still waiting to be repaired, hopefully that will start soon.

As we come to the end of May, the weather is staying unsettled with wind and rain and it’s gone noticeably colder. Shearing will be our next big job on the list but we’ll have to wait for it to dry up again first as obviously the sheep need to be dry to be sheared. Hopefully not too long to wait until we return to some warm Summer weather and let’s hope we all have a long hot, glorious Summer this year after a couple of disappointingly wet years.

Thank you to everyone who supports the Sanctuary through the easyfundraising scheme. Our latest payment from the scheme was just over £45. If you shop online and haven’t already signed up, please consider doing so as it raises valuable pounds for the Sanctuary at no cost to yourself.

Our Sheep Adoption is always a popular gift idea if you are looking for an unusual present. A lovely gift for Birthdays, Special days etc. The adoption is for a full 12 months and full details can be found on the “Hoping for a Friend” page on the website.

The sheep are always grateful to receive gifts from our Amazon wishlist.

Costs are forever increasing as the flock continues to age, needing extra care and vet meds. Any extra help in the form of donations, sponsorships, wishlist gifts or easyfundraising donations are always very gratefully received.

Thank you all for your continued support of my little Sanctuary flock. I could not care for these wonderful animals without your generous help and i value and appreciate all that you do for us.

With much love

Caroline & The Baa’s xxx