Sheep

Sheep can make very nice pets, especially if they are hand-reared, but need plenty of space and quite a lot of care. We have in the past taken in several hundred orphan lambs which would otherwise have been put down at birth. As sheep prices have dropped over the last few years, it is not economical for commercial farms to employ staff to hand-rear lambs who for some reason cannot be reared by their mother, so they are normally put down. When we became aware of the scale of this situation we geared up and made facilities for up to 50 lambs at a time.

This was a very time-consuming operation, and expensive, as the cost of special powdered milk was high and heat-lamps were in use day and night until the lambs were several weeks old. Older lambs were fed 3-4 times a day whilst the youngest and weakest were fed every two to three hours and at least once during the night.

On weaning, we never had any problems finding homes for wooly pets, many of which are still keeping the grass down in large gardens are orchards.

We have one lamb now, called Eric. He was thought ot be still-born and discarded onto the 'dead pile' at the farm. Later that day the shepherd saw a movement and found he was alive! Not knowing which ewe he belonged to, he took him home and emergency treatment led to a full recovery; in a few days Eric was ready to move out of the kitchen. We were asked if we were able to take him in and he has become a great pet: very friendly and laid-back and living mainly with our Golden Retrievers.