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WWYD: a sheep has befriended my horses in a boarding situation >.< with photos!

[QUOTE=Jackie & Starlette;8278560]
This is baa-d but I think ewe need to keep her! Don’t be sheepish and let the BO pull the wool over your eyes, this one’s for ewe! Now I’ll stop ram-bling about this before I get lamb-basted![/QUOTE]

You are a freak of nature.

I raised sheep in high school. Fun animals but they really do live up to the stereotype “sheep are born looking for a place to die”. The main thing to remember is “copper kills” sheep. Horse feed contains copper. I sold my first show lamb to a petting zoo who fed him horse feed. He ended up dying a horrible death, neurological, due to the copper in the feed.

They are also prone to getting wool fungus, basically ring worm. You will see the round patches in their wool, just something to keep an eye out. With this being the only sheep, you may not have an issue with this at all. A vinegar/water spray helps keep it away as well as will treat the fungus.

Despite the above warnings sheep are fun and have wonderful personalities. Enjoy her!

She’s adorable! And I bet she’d stay safely in the stall overnight, the horse will certainly know where she is. I can understand your barn owner’s concern about stall guards. I have a 14 hand pony who can jump a 3’ stall guard from a standstill :slight_smile: Could the sheep have a “sheep door” with a flap? If the sheep has to stay outside we used to use a Dogloo for our pygmy goats who were about the same size as “your” sheep.

If it’s a meat sheep, I wouldn’t be calling around for its owner. But I would ask around for their market price and put that money aside in case the owner turns up.

Congratulations on your new horse companion,

If you paid for a custom door (sheep door, with its own lock, within the horse door) and the installation of it, the BO probably would be amenable. Most people get amenable when everything is paid for and handled by the other party.

Two other considerations: loose dogs :frowning: and does your vet do sheep?

I think if you want to keep the sheep (which I totally get) you should pay to modify the stall door in an agreeable manner to the BO. It really isn’t the BO’s responsibility to pay for that.

Those pictures are great!

So what is the ewe eating right now if no one really owns her?

Hope you and the BO work something out.

Wait ANOTHER loose feral sheep? What are the odds???!!!??

http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/showthread.php?471762-What-to-do-with-a-feral-sheep&highlight=sheep

We got some sheep feed for her, but she wants nothing to do with it. Seems happy eating the weeds and whatever hay she can get from underfoot my horses.

Barn owner was adamant about Eunice not going into the stall, so she hangs out outside my horse’s window all night and then goes out to the pasture with them first thing in the morning. While riding over the weekend, I took my horse out of the arena and walked over to where the sheep was grazing. My horse chuffled at the sheep and sheep wandered over. With me mounted still, so that’s the closest a human has come to Eunice without her freaking out!

http://i.imgur.com/sFBCJcA.jpg

Here she is waiting for us to leave so she can come inside the barn and hang out closer to the horses! Our plan is to eventually make her a little sheep house, if she will go into it, to sleep at night. Barn owner keeps fussing about “raisins” in the aisleway… but they are too amused by her to get rid of her!

It looks like a Dorper to me, which is a hair sheep, no wool. If it is a wool sheep, you can use regular body clippers to clip/shear it if it is clean.

The copper sensitivity in sheep is a Thing, so do be aware of that. Your typical horse grain is dangerous for sheep, and it is a slow, yucky death. Like horses, they will get into the grain and eat themselves to death if they can (with or without copper).

Like horses, they are fine eating only hay and don’t need grain per se.

Enjoy! We like our sheep.

I’m surprised no one has more concern about the sheep getting the kind of care it needs from an owner who is knowledgeable about sheep. A new owner can educate themselves, but it needs to be done.

If the sheep is a stray, it is the property owner’s responsibility to remove it. If the HO wants to assume ownership, I assume that all responsibility for care comes with it … and that the sheep could change the nature of the boarding arrangement since it is set up for horses, not sheep. If the sheep does damage or causes disruption to others, or if other boarders complain, who is responsible?

Who legally owns the sheep now? Does it have any monetary value? (Maybe not since the original owner doesn’t seem to be looking for it.)

There are consequences to every decision … and to those decisions that are never made, as well. :slight_smile: