Aw! I can envision that. You both gardening, and Jeanne staring at you, thinking "What are you doing next?"
It's great to hear the news that she is becoming more accustomed to you and to the sheep. The more handling and human interaction she gets used to, the better, as it won't stress her so much whenever you have to give treatments, or shear them.
I saw a practical but rather sad thing the other day when walking on the 'moors' close by.
A farmer on a Quad bike was chasing a ewe about in a field. They were at some distance, across a large field from me. I kept watch, behind a hedge, on the alert in case it was some form of cruelty happening! This went on, and the ewe was obviously scared out of her wits and kept running this way and that. I saw her start to slow down, and watched to see what the farmer was going to do. She stopped eventually. She must have been at the point of utter exhaustion. Then he stopped the Quad bike, and went to her, and I watched as he gave her something -no doubt a 'drench' of some kind.
I realised that he'd had to run her like that so she had no more energy left to evade him and he could catch her easily to drench her.
But it made me so sad. That poor girl must have been exhausted and terrified.
I could see his point in a practical sense but it was so unkind. Yet probably the only way he could catch her.
If only these people had time to devote to relating to the sheep....Wouldn't that be so much kinder?
PS ...I'm glad we've added "Alpacas" onto "Sheep and Goats"! Now Jeanne and Denis have their rightful place in the forum!
It's great to hear the news that she is becoming more accustomed to you and to the sheep. The more handling and human interaction she gets used to, the better, as it won't stress her so much whenever you have to give treatments, or shear them.
I saw a practical but rather sad thing the other day when walking on the 'moors' close by.
A farmer on a Quad bike was chasing a ewe about in a field. They were at some distance, across a large field from me. I kept watch, behind a hedge, on the alert in case it was some form of cruelty happening! This went on, and the ewe was obviously scared out of her wits and kept running this way and that. I saw her start to slow down, and watched to see what the farmer was going to do. She stopped eventually. She must have been at the point of utter exhaustion. Then he stopped the Quad bike, and went to her, and I watched as he gave her something -no doubt a 'drench' of some kind.
I realised that he'd had to run her like that so she had no more energy left to evade him and he could catch her easily to drench her.
But it made me so sad. That poor girl must have been exhausted and terrified.
I could see his point in a practical sense but it was so unkind. Yet probably the only way he could catch her.
If only these people had time to devote to relating to the sheep....Wouldn't that be so much kinder?
PS ...I'm glad we've added "Alpacas" onto "Sheep and Goats"! Now Jeanne and Denis have their rightful place in the forum!
