Rant incoming as I appear to have gained 3 Shetlands..or Heb's..or whatever the horrible little things are.. Jury is still out as even breed societies are saying they're not great examples of either breed.
We got called out to help catch them as they were loose near a rather fast lane already prone to accidents. We have Soay's so what's another skittish highland breed for a few hours safekeeping? Keeps the local drivers safe, and the sheep safe until we could find their owners at least. Or that's what we thought.
Firstly, the ewes were okay to catch. The ram tried to break my wrist by jumping vertically and diving directly at me. Turns out those horns aren't just for show but actually hurt a bit.Starting to see why no-one wants him
Our girls and lambs are away in a separate fenced off area at the moment to allow us to manage our main field before separating the flock, so keeping the newbies separate is a breeze albeit we've had to bodge a myriad of things together to make it sh*thead-sheep proof. Our girls respect our fences so this was new to us that these strays are actively trying to destroy fences in all forms.
We have noticed that the ram(of course, the f***ing ram) has no tags. At all. One of the ewes definitely has scald and is double red tagged. The last ewe looks and seems fine, and breeding tagged.
Got an incident number off the police to say "hey, we haven't stole these sheep, PLEASE send the owners our way if they call". After multiple farmers contacting us, and a lot of locals, we found the owners. Who are denying all knowledge of them. This isn't the first time their sheep have escaped for weeks on end. Oh and of course as soon as anyone tells them the sheep are theirs, that person gets no further contact.
APHA isn't open till Monday, but where do I stand here? The owners aren't interested and blatantly lying to our faces, with a lot of people suspecting that their whole "sanctuary" is dodgy at best and they probably don't even have a CPH (would explain the lack of tags on every young animal). I have no wishes to keep these sheep - I have plans for my Soay's breeding and another highland breed is not involved in that plan. Stray's are slaughter bound if they stay with us. It's a shame as they're clearly not that old, but I'm not keeping sheep for fun so I need some use out of them whether that's being sold or for the freezer.
I understand APHA will advise best, but I'd love to get some advice before then as I'm losing my cool about being left in the lurch to care for someone else's animals that they've decided they just don't want anymore. And I don't want to go make a visit that gets me in trouble.
I know if they end up ours, the ram will need tagging with double reds for slaughter, and the ewe with scald will need treating - trying to get a friendly local farmer to bring in a race or hurdles because they're like catching water. Our Soay's are loyal golden retrievers by comparison so never had a need for a race, especially with our purpose built smaller paddock where they are currently.
What do you think APHA will say in terms of slaughter once standstill is over? I highly doubt, knowing where they've come from, that they have any kind of medication withdrawal period in place. They couldn't be arsed to tag let alone anything else. Is there anything you would recommend they may need before slaughter - for context there's no signs of worms, fly strike or anything else which has set alarm bells off so far (aside from the scald but I've got everything to manage that). I know that slaughterhouses can be finicky and quite rightly so, so just want to make sure I've got all my ducks in a row.
Can anyone confirm how long is standard for strays before we can attach them to our CPH and tag with our flock number? I'm guessing despite them denying ownership, we still have to wait a certain amount of time. I've heard 7 days, but also 14 days, so clarity would be grand.
Honestly, worst decision I've ever made was taking them in, and I realistically need them gone by the end of the month, no ifs or buts. Any alternative suggestions are greatly appreciated. I also don't know where we stand as far as the "owners" and whether they're completely ignoring regs. I don't see why it should be one rule for us lot and another rule for them.
PS if anyone is Leicestershire/Twycross way who can help with the tagging and catching of the horrible things, I'd be eternally grateful! Or if anyone can offer a permanent home, I won't complain.
We got called out to help catch them as they were loose near a rather fast lane already prone to accidents. We have Soay's so what's another skittish highland breed for a few hours safekeeping? Keeps the local drivers safe, and the sheep safe until we could find their owners at least. Or that's what we thought.
Firstly, the ewes were okay to catch. The ram tried to break my wrist by jumping vertically and diving directly at me. Turns out those horns aren't just for show but actually hurt a bit.
Our girls and lambs are away in a separate fenced off area at the moment to allow us to manage our main field before separating the flock, so keeping the newbies separate is a breeze albeit we've had to bodge a myriad of things together to make it sh*thead-sheep proof. Our girls respect our fences so this was new to us that these strays are actively trying to destroy fences in all forms.
We have noticed that the ram
Got an incident number off the police to say "hey, we haven't stole these sheep, PLEASE send the owners our way if they call". After multiple farmers contacting us, and a lot of locals, we found the owners. Who are denying all knowledge of them. This isn't the first time their sheep have escaped for weeks on end. Oh and of course as soon as anyone tells them the sheep are theirs, that person gets no further contact.
APHA isn't open till Monday, but where do I stand here? The owners aren't interested and blatantly lying to our faces, with a lot of people suspecting that their whole "sanctuary" is dodgy at best and they probably don't even have a CPH (would explain the lack of tags on every young animal). I have no wishes to keep these sheep - I have plans for my Soay's breeding and another highland breed is not involved in that plan. Stray's are slaughter bound if they stay with us. It's a shame as they're clearly not that old, but I'm not keeping sheep for fun so I need some use out of them whether that's being sold or for the freezer.
I understand APHA will advise best, but I'd love to get some advice before then as I'm losing my cool about being left in the lurch to care for someone else's animals that they've decided they just don't want anymore. And I don't want to go make a visit that gets me in trouble.
I know if they end up ours, the ram will need tagging with double reds for slaughter, and the ewe with scald will need treating - trying to get a friendly local farmer to bring in a race or hurdles because they're like catching water. Our Soay's are loyal golden retrievers by comparison so never had a need for a race, especially with our purpose built smaller paddock where they are currently.
What do you think APHA will say in terms of slaughter once standstill is over? I highly doubt, knowing where they've come from, that they have any kind of medication withdrawal period in place. They couldn't be arsed to tag let alone anything else. Is there anything you would recommend they may need before slaughter - for context there's no signs of worms, fly strike or anything else which has set alarm bells off so far (aside from the scald but I've got everything to manage that). I know that slaughterhouses can be finicky and quite rightly so, so just want to make sure I've got all my ducks in a row.
Can anyone confirm how long is standard for strays before we can attach them to our CPH and tag with our flock number? I'm guessing despite them denying ownership, we still have to wait a certain amount of time. I've heard 7 days, but also 14 days, so clarity would be grand.
Honestly, worst decision I've ever made was taking them in, and I realistically need them gone by the end of the month, no ifs or buts. Any alternative suggestions are greatly appreciated. I also don't know where we stand as far as the "owners" and whether they're completely ignoring regs. I don't see why it should be one rule for us lot and another rule for them.
PS if anyone is Leicestershire/Twycross way who can help with the tagging and catching of the horrible things, I'd be eternally grateful! Or if anyone can offer a permanent home, I won't complain.
