Is it Possible to Tame an Adult Sheep?
When I hear the word "sheep," the picture that comes to mind is a large field filled with dirty fuzzballs who are absolutely terrified of humans, meaning they have to be herded into a small pen to be handled.
Although this picture is how most sheep farms are, i knew that if I ever bought a sheep, I would want her to be tame. I don't enjoy having a skittish animal I can barely get my hands on.
This is why when I decided to purchase my first ewe sheep, I was determined to tame her.
Was I successful? How long did it take? What did I do? I have recorded everything that I did with my ewe sheep, Rosemary, as I attempted to tame her.
December 26th, the day after Christmas and yet Christmas is not quite over for me.
This is the day I brought my very first sheep onto the farm. But why would I want to get a sheep? And why would I only get one when it is known that sheep are herd animals?
A couple weeks ago, I had two goats; Ila and her son Otis. Although I loved Otis, who I raised on a bottle, he thought he was a buck (even though we was a wether, (which is a castrated buck) which was a problem. With his horns and crazy hormones, he wasn't the best "field mate" for Ila. In an attempt to let Ila eat, I would have to stand in between the two goats. If I left, Otis would immediately butt Ila away and she wouldn't get any food. He would also butt her non-stop, creating marks on her sides. I knew it was time to do something.
I put Otis up for sale on Facebook and soon he was headed to a good home with lots of young goats he could play with. But then I had a problem, Ila was lonely.
Now, if you've ever owned a goat you know that you NEVER want to keep one alone. Goats are herd animals, and they can become either "depressed" or never stop bleating if they don't have a friend.
I sold Otis for $100, which is low for a purebred American Alpine but a good home was worth it, so I had money to buy a friend for Ila. As I thought about what kind of animal to buy, I remembered how much I've wanted to try breeding sheep.
As I am a part of the New River Valley Sheep and Goat Club, I was able to send an email out stating that I was looking for a sheep to be a companion for my doe. Then I got a phone call and the rest is history.
It was Saturday, the day after Christmas, and I woke up excited for the day. My dad put a tarp in the back of his Volkswagen and we slowly drove down the icy roads to the farm that had my ewe sheep.
The house was beautiful, surrounded by a black fence, and the farmer was as nice and helpful as they come. As soon as I saw the little ewe, I knew she was perfect. The farmer said she was too small to go to the market, so he kept her and when he saw my email he knew she would be just what I needed.
Even though she was extremely skittish, we rounded her up and got her in the back of the car. Then we stuck her out in the field, which was a big mistake, and headed off to breed Ila, leaving the little ewe sheep to get settled in.
Evening came, we got home and unloaded Ila to find that the sheep had not eaten any of her grain. I decided I'd try feeding her in the morning. That didn't go as planned.
Sunday, December 27th the day I became a shepherdess.
My plan was to catch the sheep (who i ended up naming Rosemary) and feed her on a lead while I had Ila eating on the milking stand. I would feed them together, but sheep can't have copper while goats really need it. Goats and sheep can't share feed. I thought my plan would work, until I tried to catch Rosemary.
I was out there for at least an hour chasing this sheep around and around the field. Ila was of no help so she stayed on the milking stand, watching the show. After about an hour, I decided to wait for help.
Once a week we have Bible Study at our house, and luckily it was happening that Sunday. I had a couple of friends come early to help catch her. I put Ila on the stand, again, and with the help of two friends and my sister we finally caught her, after about 45 minutes of trying. We then put her in the stall with feed, water, and hay and left her in peace for the night.
Monday, December 28th taming day #1
I went out early Monday morning to start working with Rosemary. I slipped slowly into the stall, and sat in the corner while she stood in the corner stamping her feet at me. Slowly, and i mean very slowly, I scooted toward her. She would back away from me and I would scoot closer with my hand stretched out to her. I tried to stay on her level the whole time, seeing that she was more comfortable that way.
Soon I was able to scratch her nose before she backed away from me. And then she laid down in a corner. I scooted closer to her, inch by inch, until I was, eventually, seated next to her. She allowed me to pet her head, and soon her side. She rested her head on me while I worked burrs and mud out of her wool.
I put the halter on her for a few minutes, which she was not happy about. I wanted her to get used to the feeling, and expected her to shake her head and run around.
I apologize for the poor picture quality in the photos, the lighting in the stall is very bad.
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| She pretty much stayed in the corner for the first day. |
Tuesday, December 29th taming day #2
I wasn't expecting much progress, as it was only the second day of working with her. But she surprised me. I walked in and repeated what I did the day before, soon earning her little sheep trust back to where I could pet her and calm her down. I then grabbed a handful of food and held it out to her, not expecting her to eat. But she did! She ate many handfuls of grain right from my hand, taking a step towards me every once in a while.
She laid in the corner and I sat next to her and again, she closed her eyes as she rested on me.
Wednesday, December 30th taming day #3
Not a lot of progress was made this day, except for her taking a couple steps toward me if I had food. I was happy with how that day went though!
Thursday, December 31 taming day #4 This is the day that all the progress was made.
I opened the top of the stall door to look in, and to my surprise, she walked right up to me and sniffed my hand! She even tried to put her front feet up on the stall door to get closer to me! I went into the stall and she walked right up to me and ate out of my hand. After that, she came up to me quite a few times, even when I didn't have food. Soon before I left she started getting playful and running around me, I knew at that point that I had officially tamed a sheep.
Friday, January 1 taming day #5
Everyday she got more and more confident. She walked up to me without stamping her feet for the first time, and seemed a bit more curious about me and the outdoors. I kept working with her and the halter. I put the halter on her, which required me to hold onto her neck as I did it, and then used food to encourage her to walk towards me. I pulled slightly as I held out the feed, then immediately released pressure when she walked toward me. I repeated this many times that day.
January 2 taming day #6
Rosemary had come so far in less than a week, and I decided it was time to put her back out in the field.
I put her lead rope on and walked her, slowly, around the yard. She was nervous, so I used feed to get her to follow me. We walked around the barnyard, and I decided she was too nervous to be let out again. So, I put her in her stall and did barn chores. When I came back, she was spending practically all her time in front of the stall door, looking out. So, I decided to put her lead back on her and see if she wanted to go out.
She walked a lot more confidently and followed me a little faster this time. I decided to go ahead and put her out. Ila didn't like the intruder and chased her around for a while, making sure everyone knew who is boss.
Things calmed down after a while, and I got her to eat a little more out of my hand.
January 3 taming day #7
Rosemary was a bit more comfortable this day, but not by much.
I fed Ila and then brought Rosemary's feed to her, while she was still in the field. I just made sure to clean up leftovers so they wouldn't steal each others feed, not that Ila would let Rosemary steal any of her meal.
January 4 taming day #8 My task is complete!
When I walked into the barnyard, Rosemary came running to me, and she let me pet her even though I didn't have food. I was so happy with the progress she had made! I brought her out of the field with the lead, and was pleasantly surprised to see how well she walked, not pulling very much if at all. I fed her and then put her back out, with some difficulty as Ila was still not very happy with the newcomer (even though the newcomer is for her).
Everyday I sit and work with her, and hope that Ila will soon bond with her and accept this little fuzzball as a new friend. She gets more and more confident and sweet every day.
The most exciting thing about the whole thing? She might be pregnant!
Melody Simpson, Green Mountain Farm
Comment below if you have ever tamed a sheep! (:
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