Yes it’s horrible when sheep are not cared for properly Most sheep need to be shorn once a year, a few breeds need it twice a year, some sheep are hair sheep wit no wool so don’t need shearing and some breeds shed their wool naturally.
Great I just sprayed coffee over my computer but luckily missed the keyboard.
We shore our flock last month and I think Rory and my ewe yearling Friday are soul mates. She ran everywhere to get out of going onto the shearing floor and is still sulking. Normally she comes up for scratches but not since shearing day. It was her first shearing.
It’s a lot worse when you have the entire flock giving you the starving sheep eye while hay is dropping out of their mouths…. They wanted to move to the alfalfa early today. (and yes, that is a sheep in my profile pix, one of our lambs from years ago)
I’ve been raising sheep for over 20 years. It’s highly breed dependent on how smart they are. Our breed does not flock together and is not dumb at all. They can open gates with latches that are supposed to require opposable thumbs, know and recognize about 150 individual faces, will come when called as individuals and don’t really care whether they are in a flock or not. Other breeds do move as a group. Check out the research at Oxford University. Sheep learn things faster than monkeys, apes and even human children.
Yes it’s horrible when sheep are not cared for properly Most sheep need to be shorn once a year, a few breeds need it twice a year, some sheep are hair sheep wit no wool so don’t need shearing and some breeds shed their wool naturally.