The Poultry Keeper

milkmaid · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 6914 Location: isle of lewis

wonder if any one can help ,i've got to sheep to go to town they are really grubby as it hasn't stopped raining ,not poo Rolling Eyes

the fleece is stained with mud ,now i do refuse to put them in the bath Shocked

,and give them a bath ,with anti frizz shampoo and no i'm definatly not using kerri's staightners to give them the finishing touches Rolling Eyes

,ideas off kerri and work mates Rolling Eyes

,i'm thinking hosepipe but if i do it the day before you can bet they will lay somewhere muddy again ,nonie is doing a course on preparing sheep for show and sale but it was cancelled last week as the sheep at the collage were soggy Rolling Eyes

,ps
one has to go in the next few weeks as freds horn is growing dangerously close to his scull Confused

,and our abotior shuts in jan

debcat · Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2007 7:37 pm Post subject:

the horn you can cut off the end with a small saw, it's a common thing in blackies

milkmaid · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 6914 Location: isle of lewis

and the wash set and blow dry ,should i get a loads of those clips that hair dressers use ,so i can do a bit at a time ,should i use daz to get whiter than white or would that dazzle the drivers driving past Wink

i might just wait till nonie gets back Embarassed

ps work mate said next time get sheep with straight wool Rolling Eyes

that way you don't have to worry about frizz ,
and one said how cool would they look back combed and to make sure the water wasn't to hot or they'd shink
,

hose pipe i think then in the shed Wink

Duckie · Joined: 24 Sep 2007 Posts: 198

I'm quite scared to find I know this, but......

you can wash a sheep with washing up liquid (I suggest a clear one like ecover - fairy liquid might make it dayglo if you don't rinse it properly!), you're meant to rub the soap on and then hose it off working from the head to the tail - the soap loosens the dirt and the pressure of the water washes it off. If you do it carefully you should be able to only get the top layer of fleece wet so it'll be able to stay relatively warm and dry afterwards.

you can also wash it by putting on soap all over, really scrubbing it in and then making it swim around a (clean) pond a couple of times making sure you dunk it under well. It has to rinse properly or it can get dandruff (I'm only repeating what I've been told here!)

The problem with doing that this time of year is that it'll get cold unless you can keep it warm/out of drafts afterwards and you'll be removing the lanolin so it will loose its waterproofing for a while.

I think preparing show sheep classes won't be much help because they cheat by taking off the top of the fleece and leaving the white fluffy bit on show.

I also refuse to take the blame if you end up with a pissed off sheep with a flakey scalp problem!

Personally I wouldn't bother. I'm sure the vets and the abbatoir see dirty sheeps all the time. If you pick the dingleberries off it'll be better than most things they have to touch Wink

CP · Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2007 10:57 am Post subject:

Spana · Joined: 30 Apr 2005 Posts: 2063 Location: North Cornwall

They have just what you need at a garden centre not far from us. It like a car wash for dogs but would be perfect for sheep. They get a blow dry after the shampoo as well Laughing

Every time i go there I hope to see it in action but so far not been that lucky Laughing

Seriously tho, give the abattoir a ring and see what they will accept

manic nonie · Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2007 12:57 pm Post subject:

my course is tomorro the only thing is last year I lost my best ewe lamb on the moor due to waterlodged fleeces, I'll do what I can but hector won't mind I think I'll have a word, and the blokes in ours are good. did you do the heat test ? Have you booked in the lambs?
nonie

milly molly · Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2007 6:10 pm Post subject:

might be easier to shear them day before due to go to abitoir, if u cant keep them indoors long enough to dry off. they are very stringent about wet or dirty sheep, and u dont want turned away after getting them their.

mandy

milkmaid · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 6914 Location: isle of lewis

they have no choice with wet ,here is about the wettest place in britian ,it on average rains 6 out of 7 days ,i think they'll be ok ,it's just i like to turn them out well ,i'll give them a clip over Wink

manic nonie · Posted: Thu Nov 29, 2007 10:59 am Post subject:

they can't be overly picky with the animals most our crofters are out in the hills and you can't possible put them all in before you take the animals I can see were your coming from but its not practical in the western isles, if milkmaid doesn't mind i'll do a fine top clip just to tidy up a bit.

milkmaid · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 6914 Location: isle of lewis

got the horn sorted ,nonie i'll leave the dressing till you get home Twisted Evil

manic nonie · Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2007 3:00 pm Post subject:

cheers will do it saturday I think, I was liking the idea of washing up liquid.

Duckie · Joined: 24 Sep 2007 Posts: 198

I was liking the idea of putting them through a car wash Laughing

manic nonie · Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2007 8:04 pm Post subject:

I'm not sure it would be that easy to explain though

bronskibeat · Joined: 09 Sep 2007 Posts: 1506 Location: Clawddnewydd

You have to wash your sheep before they go for slaughter? Milkmaid, do you have a dip bath? Or, failing that, an old bath tub. Fill bath/dip with clean water and dunk sheep. If you use clean cold water, it wont remove the lanolin and will remove most if not all of the mud. The advantage over soap is that the sheep should dry quicker (OK, it wont look dazzling white....) but should be clean enough for slaughter. Use some towels to remove most of excess wet, just keep wringing the towels out, they will still absorb loads of water and keep going until they squeak (the wool, not the sheep Rolling Eyes

) If you can, then put it in a shed with plenty of ventilation (wouldnt want it catching cold Wink

) I used to do this with my Kerrys when the weather wasnt warm enough for a proper shampoo or if there was only a week between shows (they need the lanolin in the wool or they look like cotton wool balls Rolling Eyes

)

Hope this helps Very Happy