Hey there, we have so many fence lines that require either weed whacking or will fall to neglect. There are plenty of places where we could have maybe three or four baby dolls cruising around the property munching things down since Sheep tend to do a better job mowing and goats or browsers… And car climber-one R’s Does anybody else have any of those adorable tiny baby dolls in their farm being cute and having a job?
No Baby Dolls, just sheep. Meat lambs with wool that got sheared monthly for weight gain in summer heat. Shearing helped them “feel the electric fence” better!! None ever got loose.They do a nice job, but fences still needed weed whacking to keep fences hot, grasses needed mowing to stay even and productive. We had “summer lambs” that DD used in 4H, which we moved around in the paddocks and fields. We brought them into stalls at night when predators (loose neighborhood dogs) could be out roaming.
While cute, any sheep with wool insulation, can often ignore electric wire fence. They just don’t feel the current! The net-fence has very small holes, no places to get heads thru and thinking the only way to go is forward! Katahdin (sp?) Sheep have hair, not wool, so they can FEEL the electric when they test a fence. No shearing needed any time of the year!! They are smaller sheep than the meat and some wool breeds. Not as cute, looking somewhat like goats. But not nearly as creative as goats, in creating trouble!
I STRONGLY suggest protecting sheep or lambs with sheep netting fence that can be moved as needed. Michigan State University did a study using goats to clear brush in a heavily wooded area, using two rows of battery powered, netted electric fencing that had no access to electric power. They lost no goats. Goats were turned out into a larger, net-fenced area to eat the browse, then kept inside an interior corral at night for protection. They moved the fencing into new areas as browse was consumed. Before and after pictures were amazing on how well things were cleaned out!!
We had some round sleigh bells on our lambs to track them. The occasional jingle was kind of like wind chimes, carried well in the air. Any jangly noises needed the be checked out right now, in case something bad was happening!! Bells helped the old horse know where they were ALL THE TIME. Lambs were not surprising him as they suddenly appeared out of some tall grass to bounce around!! Lambs can be a great despooking tool, but he didn’t need that kind of stress/surprise, jumping 6ft sideways under saddle or in harness!!
We never let horses and lambs out grazing together. Not worth killing a lamb if horse took offense at their stupid choices of running under them.
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gave up on the goats to keep fence lines clear so now use 30% vinegar cut 1 to 8 to spray the fence lines,
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Goats are notoriously hard on fences. Hence, my inquiry about specifically baby doll/miniature sheep.
. I like the idea of using the netting to separate the horses from the sheep, at least at first. And let the sheep graze stuff that the horses don’t eat. That way we can experiment with rotating. There are coyotes in the area so he will have to make sure we have a very tame and biddable sheep who can be lead around like the horses. The baby dolls are tiny, which is what I like about I do love the Katahdin’s but I’m a little concerned about their size and respectable perspective maintenance issues. Another I’m looking at is a cross between a baby doll and a Swiss valias they are super friendly and a bit bigger
I have goats and they do a decent job especially on stuff my horse doesn’t eat.
Mine aren’t hard of fences thankfully but are the little ND.
The baby doll sheep are precious, I want some but can’t justify them.
