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Renzuko posted:So, I'm not sure if it's just because this is the first picture of clem's behind, but HOLY poo poo is her tail big, are all sheep tails that big? Yep, her tail is pretty average size. It goes down to about her hocks, which is the norm for primitive breeds and gets just as wooly as the rest of her. Other breeds can have even longer tails but they're almost always docked. Clementine was just too teeny at docking age for me to be comfortable doing it so I have to just keep an eye on her and make sure it doesn't cause any problems. Here's the length I normally dock.   Here's how long they are to begin with.  Here is a traditional show dock length. 
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Nov 13, 2013 04:01
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Good christ, is there any tail left at all on that show dock? Does a dock that short damage them? I've heard of deep tail docking causing serious problems in puppies, but I haven't really thought about sheep docking before.
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Nov 13, 2013 04:43
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Pogonodon posted:Good christ, is there any tail left at all on that show dock? Yeah - there's problems with it in sheep too, it can lead to prolapses and infections and all that lovely stuff. In the UK if you're docking their tails it's required by law that the length of tail needs to cover their sheepy bits (or their butthole for males). I've never seen any quite as severe as that traditional show dock.
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Nov 13, 2013 08:42
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I agree, even sheep and goats need a little privacy! Hide the 'bits' please! IJ - am I to understand that you sometimes do a live video feed of the birthing(s)?
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Nov 13, 2013 12:34
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Instant Jellyfish posted:
 Is there some motivation I don't know about to see sheep starfish? Seriously, there's a docked tail and then there's that.
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Nov 13, 2013 13:10
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Meles meles posted:Yeah - there's problems with it in sheep too, it can lead to prolapses and infections and all that lovely stuff. In the UK if you're docking their tails it's required by law that the length of tail needs to cover their sheepy bits (or Theoretically regulations here require a longer dock too but no one in the big shows ever does and I've heard there's no way you can win with a longer dock. Some dock all the way to the pelvis surgically. It is linked to rectal and uterine prolapse, especially since a lot of show animals just get oodles of grain instead of nice hay and it doesn't digest as well and when they strain to poo it just all flops out. I've heard they are also more prone to melanomas on their labia because they have no way to cover it up. Here's a bit more severe dock:  The reasoning behind such a short dock I've heard is that any amount of tail interferes with silhouette of the sheep's rump and can take away from that smooth, rounded, muscular look. piscesbobbie posted:I agree, even sheep and goats need a little privacy! Hide the 'bits' please! IJ - am I to understand that you sometimes do a live video feed of the birthing(s)? I try! I have pretty crummy internet and it often goes out at the least opportune moment though. This year I might break down and have an IT guy out to install things right so its a bit more reliable.
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Nov 13, 2013 16:29
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From last page, but those snowsheep and snowgoat photos were very lovely. I guess he doesn't really count as livestock, but is there any chance of snowfreckledog pictures at all? Please? fake edit: wait, no, they're all sheep there aren't they. Well, some snowgoats would be very nice too. Think I was too busy being overwhelmed by cuteness to species identify properly. And hooray, more babies! 
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Nov 13, 2013 20:48
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Instant Jellyfish posted:Here's a bit more severe dock: Let's see, completely exposed genitals, totally shaved, legs that look like they're wearing high boots--I think this is from a porno.
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Nov 14, 2013 00:43
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McDragon posted:From last page, but those snowsheep and snowgoat photos were very lovely. I guess he doesn't really count as livestock, but is there any chance of snowfreckledog pictures at all? Please? These are snow goats (they hate it  )      It's supposed to be in the 50s the rest of the week so I'm not sure there will be time for snow frecklemutt pictures for a while 
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Nov 14, 2013 01:15
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Looks more like the New Zealand adult film industry dock, Jesus. That's just ridiculous. I like the longer tails, especially considering the prolapse and other associated health links. At least leave the poor gals and guys enough to cover up! Labial melanoma from exposure really shouldn't be a thing...
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Nov 14, 2013 01:18
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I like long tails because they're waggly 
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Nov 14, 2013 02:12
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RazorBunny posted:I like long tails because they're waggly How much is that sheeeeeep-y in the window? The one with the waggly tail.
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Nov 14, 2013 02:20
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Reposting this from earlier, because it is adorbs.
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Nov 14, 2013 02:25
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RazorBunny posted:Reposting this from earlier, because it is adorbs. Yep, one of the cutest things, a waggly little tail!
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Nov 14, 2013 02:36
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RazorBunny posted:Reposting this from earlier, because it is adorbs. That looks like a (super cute ) katahdin lamb. They're hairsheep so it'll keep its long tail and never have to worry about it getting wooly and gross.
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Nov 14, 2013 02:43
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Haha awesome it's so wiggly-waggly! Another addition to the growing list.... Also snowgoats lookin good.
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Nov 14, 2013 07:40
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So far this week 2 of the goats, 2 of the cormos, and 1 jacob have been marked as bred. The week of April 7th is going to be a busy one unless they didn't take and get re-marked in a couple weeks. This also means that it looks like my embarrassing goat contraceptive skirt worked. I'm still getting pregnancy tests done on the goats I didn't want bred to be sure, but if the girls Heath is with now are just getting bred its a good sign that no one was bred earlier. I'm not sure anyone could get laid wearing something so dumb looking. 
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Nov 14, 2013 18:19
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Thank you for the snow goats. Also I love it when goats make this face. It always makes me laugh. fake edit: oh, and your goat contraption worked I see. Well done. It's funny and functional.
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Nov 14, 2013 21:04
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Instant Jellyfish posted:So far this week 2 of the goats, 2 of the cormos, and 1 jacob have been marked as bred. The week of April 7th is going to be a busy one unless they didn't take and get re-marked in a couple weeks. He even looks ashamed. 
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Nov 15, 2013 01:48
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Next year, try Hammer Pants and watch the girls flee.
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Nov 15, 2013 20:20
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If any of you goons are in Switzerland you need to find me some valais blacknose sheep and smuggle them into the country for me, Schmallenberg virus import bans be damned. I don't even care that their wool is coarse.  Because they are the cutest drat things ever.  People probably won't even believe its a real animal so it should be easy to sneak in. 
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Nov 17, 2013 18:47
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Instant Jellyfish posted:People probably won't even believe its a real animal so it should be easy to sneak in.
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Nov 17, 2013 19:15
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Instant Jellyfish posted:If any of you goons are in Switzerland you need to find me some valais blacknose sheep I think I need all of these, right now.
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Nov 17, 2013 19:28
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They are just ADORABLE!!!! I wonder if they could be imported subject to quarantine? I have a friend who took her dog to the UK and was subject to quarantine for a specific period of time (years ago)! How much would it cost? You know, details like that! Like Greenfire Farms imports chickens from Europe....
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Nov 17, 2013 20:17
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piscesbobbie posted:They are just ADORABLE!!!! I wonder if they could be imported subject to quarantine? I have a friend who took her dog to the UK and was subject to quarantine for a specific period of time (years ago)! How much would it cost? You know, details like that! Like Greenfire Farms imports chickens from Europe.... According to US sheep importing guidelines you would have to ship semen or embryos from Switzerland (or any other European country) to Canada, take embryos or semen from the resulting offspring and put them in an entirely different flock, and then those or their semen/embryos could be imported to the US, or you would have to wait 5 years and the original sheep could be imported. I couldn't find information on importing sheep from any other country but I have a feeling that's because its not allowed. It would be wildly expensive and take forever and is probably not worth it. You could probably recreate a very similar looking sheep through selectively breeding black-faced meat breeds like the suffolks to long wools like teeswater/wensleydale/leicester longwools, until you got a black faced sheep with long, curly hair and then breed for little faces and other minor details. I'm not sure which option would take less time or money really.
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Nov 17, 2013 21:39
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Sheep semen/embryos would not be the weirdest veterinary-related stuff I have brought back from Europe. There are ways do do that, and to be honest a pre-cleared charter flight out of Geneva might be cheaper than the other ways. To be honest I think it might be worth it, those guys are so awesome looking! You can bring in animals from these countries but most of the times I've seen it they have to be tied to research. That might be a good avenue to look at if you really want them. I've brought in quite a few animals this way. No sheep, but farm animals for sure. I have also had a very close vet in Europe with a lot of political connections have some dogs declared as service animals and flown back with them but I've never seen a service sheep.... Edit: I'm definitely not suggesting a sheep-smuggling mafia organization be started in this thread. Just trying to think about the logistics because it's really kind of fun to imagine trying to smuggle those wooly monsters onto a trans-Atlantic private charter flight. Just the reaction from the pilot would be worth it. 655321 fucked around with this message at 08:41 on Nov 18, 2013 |
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Nov 17, 2013 23:26
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From the backend they look like those sheepdogs! LOL! Sheep smuggling mafia ahahahaha!
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Nov 19, 2013 02:17
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655321 posted:it's really kind of fun to imagine trying to smuggle those wooly monsters onto a trans-Atlantic private charter flight I'm imagining one of these sheep in a plaid scarf and a traveling hat with a train schedule stuck on its horn.
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Nov 19, 2013 03:59
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four lean hounds posted:I'm imagining one of these sheep in a plaid scarf and a traveling hat with a train schedule stuck on its horn. Can we get an art goon to draw one of these? I would try, but I'm just not very good at cute things. I may have to try anyway.
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Nov 19, 2013 04:53
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four lean hounds posted:I'm imagining one of these sheep in a plaid scarf and a traveling hat with a train schedule stuck on its horn. I had been picturing something completely different but this is much better. Someone please draw this up. Also, those Valais blacknose sheep look like wampas or yetis. I wonder if maybe an odd encounter with something like one of these inspired those characters....
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Nov 19, 2013 08:55
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Got a panicked call from a local goat farmer who had sold me milk when Iph was a wee dumbaby saying that her milk herd had tested positive for CAE. Caprine Arthritis Encephalitis is a virus that can cause chronic joint problems and pneumonia in older goats and sometimes encephalitis in young goat kids. The reason this farmer called us in such a hurry is that the virus is primarily spread between goats through the milk, putting Iph at risk. This woman had done testing every year and her goats had always come up negative until this year when she switched labs. She is blaming the other lab for giving her false negatives, but an ELISA is an ELISA and unless the lab was really loving up there should be less than a 5% false negative rate. It is more likely that her goats had been exposed to CAE and the virus had remained dormant until recently and so they only just started testing positive. Potentially getting milk from CAE positive goats does put Iph at higher risk for having CAE herself, but she has a few things working in her favor. CAE is primarily spread through colostrum, the first milk goats produce that is rich in antibodies and helps to jumpstart the kid's immune system. Not only is the virus present at higher levels in this milk but the kid's digestive tract is permeable those first few days to allow them to take in the antibodies which makes them more likely to take in the virus too. Iph didn't get colostrum from the goats from this other farm. I milked her mother's colostrum and fed it to her the first day or two and then switched her to store bought pasteurized milk for the rest of the week until I found this farm where I could get it cheaper. By the time she was getting potentially infected milk her digestive tract should have been more mature and less likely to take in the virus which would have already been at lower levels since the milk she was getting was from later in the goat's lactation cycle. All of our goats are getting pregnancy tests and CAE testing next month anyway so we will find out then. If Iphy or any of our goats shows up positive for CAE its not going to be the end of the world but it will mean we will have to take some precautions. Positive does will have to be separated during kidding so adults will not come in contact with the blood which can carry the virus and I will have to take the kids away right away so they can't drink the infected colostrum. They will have to be bottlefed with pasteurized colostrum and milk or fostered on to uninfected does. I may choose to just not breed any CAE infected doe or replace them with one of their doe kids and sell them to informed, fiber only homes to live out their lives until they start showing symptoms, which some never do.
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Nov 22, 2013 18:19
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Instant Jellyfish posted:Got a panicked call from a local goat farmer who had sold me milk when Iph was a wee dumbaby saying that her milk herd had tested positive for CAE. [INSERT EDUCATIONAL STUFF HERE] Good on the local goat lady for telling you. And wow, that's a lot of info on CAE. I'd always heard it was like Goat AIDS. Certainly would be devastating for a dairy herd though.
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Nov 22, 2013 20:02
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Suspect Bucket posted:Good on the local goat lady for telling you. And wow, that's a lot of info on CAE. I'd always heard it was like Goat AIDS. Certainly would be devastating for a dairy herd though. Hopefully it wasn't too much spergy info Yeah, for a dairy herd its seriously bad news and you basically have to just cull like crazy. Especially since it can cause hard, unproductive udders so even if you pull all kids from infected does and just sell the milk for human consumption (CAE doesn't spread to people) it can make a gorgeous, previously high milking doe completely useless. A lot of big dairies pull all kids and raise them on pasteurized milk even if their herd tests negative yearly just in case one comes up positive later. The farmer is a good lady who adores her goats so she must be crushed right now.
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Nov 22, 2013 20:18
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There's no such thing as too much spergy info, this thread is awesome for ultra adorable pictures AND super useful information.
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Nov 22, 2013 21:36
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Great info. Thank you. Your mention of CAE had me looking up even more information, but then again, I adore goats and can't wait to have my own herd. I may have encountered a goat with CAE in the past. This farmer took on a couple goats even though she knew nothing about them. She had me look at her doe while I was at her farm picking up a couple ducks. The doe couldn't stand on her front legs at all. She just basically walked around on her front knees and her back hooves. She was super friendly and extremely alert. I ended up examining her front legs and hooves really well since she was happy for the attention. I couldn't find any sore spots and nothing felt swollen. Her hooves were normal and really well trimmed. No signs of rot or tenderness at all. At the time I just couldn't find anything wrong with her. Alert, healthy and happy as a goat could be. Except she just wouldn't stand on her front hooves.
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Nov 22, 2013 22:07
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Hey InstantJellyfish, can you compile a bunch of pictures of Iphi? I'm doing dumbgoat-themed things, and she's my favorite. Well, Iphi and Heathgoat.
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Dec 2, 2013 20:41
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Yaaay it's almost Christmas (sort of), guess that means it's time for decorations at work.     Jerry our extremely tolerant Alpaca and Fred, one of our Golden Guernsey goat kids. Taken by a workmate, I'm pretty sure there's going to be plenty more things in outfits to come. Meles meles fucked around with this message at 22:08 on Dec 2, 2013 |
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Dec 2, 2013 22:00
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Christmas critters, yay!  And of course the goat is trying to eat the tinsel. I love that he has to stand on a table to be at the same height as well.
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Dec 2, 2013 22:06
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GabrielAisling posted:Hey InstantJellyfish, can you compile a bunch of pictures of Iphi? I'm doing dumbgoat-themed things, and she's my favorite. Well, Iphi and Heathgoat. Have an Iph collection: http://www.flickr.com/photos/s_karr/sets/72157638293033515/ I forgot how teeny and cute she was  And vicious  Meles meles posted:Jerry our extremely tolerant Alpaca and Fred, one of our Golden Guernsey goat kids. There had better be  Thanks for sharing!
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Dec 2, 2013 22:20
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Instant Jellyfish posted:
I'll see what I can do! I found some baby photos of Fred and his buddies! Ah, Fred back before his scurs grew all gross and stuff...   Can't wait for more baby goats in a few months time
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Dec 2, 2013 22:29
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