Well the sheep finally arrived a few weeks back and after some shocking behaviour (5000 volts electric fence to be precise) they settled in pretty well. It took about 3 zaps per sheep for them to learn that the boundary is not to be crossed. Having said that, their flocking instinct is so strong that one little chancer that pushed through the electric fence in a bid for freedom realised she was all alone and decided to push her way back through the live wires to be with her mates. Honestly it is like women and going to the bathroom together! (Al wrote that bit....)
The lambs are crossbreeds but are majority Berichon du Cher which is a stocky meat animal from a region north of here. They are all ewes and about 8 months old - they are "store" lambs which we discovered means they weren't fattened enough to be sold last Autumn. The donkeys are taking the new arrivals well and are guarding them from the local itinerant dogs (not that we have seen any) and foxes etc. We have sort of selected which two lambs we are likely to put in the freezer once they have been fattened up a little more (we point and whisper in case they understand!) Al has got his eyes on their fleeces as sheepskin rugs would look great in our bedroom!
At the moment they are pretty happy with their pasture (we are strip grazing them over a large field) but we occasionally give them some maize and wheat to supplement their diet - this has to be done when the donkeys are out of the field being "walked". Bee usually gets the enviable job of walking the donkeys around the barn whilst the sheep are being fed - and hanging onto to the donkeys for dear life when they hear the grain bucket being rattled for the sheep......
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