160 RT? I stand impressed, I thought I lived in the 'sticks' ;) I do plan on goin' to meetings, just not every week..... Boring Oregon is only about 300+- miles or so ( I'm at the southern end, she's at the northern ) My 'grocery getter' is a 3/4 ton Dodge Cummins 6 pack 4x4, a short bed ...... Not quite $5-10 in fuel to travel 100 or so miles :-\ ......... Like I said, I 'do' plan on goin', I just realistically afford every week..... Thinkin' I might try to talk to a friend about it, maybe we could carpool ( in HER rig, 40 mpg :-D )
Ok, 'hair' sheep........... Mine are Dorpers and Dorper/Katahdin crosses (ewes) my ram is Dorper........... Hair sheep are meat sheep, there is no 'mutton', as there is no lanolin or wool........ They 'blow' their coat, kinda like a lab does ( there is a 'sheep term' for that, but I can't remember it ;) ) They tend to be not as 'high maintenance' as the 'woolies' ( don't have to dock, shear, better resistance to parasites) a BIG 'plus' for me is mine don't jump..... Can't get any height, too short and heavy, I spent too many yrs workin' with LOTS (1200+ ewes) that would give me the 'hairy eyeball', decide I was short enough to jump/run over/bully outta the way............ Can't count the times some 200 lb romney took a 'leap' ( for NO discernible reason) and hit me upper chest/back and her 10-15 woolie sisters would run right over the top :roll: ...... We just finished our ( and their) first lambing, 3 ewes and 2 rams (now wethers and destined for my freezer)
LDG.... Livestock Guardian Dog........ Most think of Great Pyrenees, the dogs that live with the livestock, most often sheep and goats..... Mine happens to still be a youngster ( just turned 7 months and 89 pounds) She is 1/2 Spanish Mastiff 1/4 Anatolian Shepherd and 1/4 Maremma........ All LDG breeds...... Though I do REALLY like GPs, they tend to LOVE the sound of their own voices as a breed, and I do have neighbors....... I got Txiki (say 'Cheeky') because were I am, we have a fairly bad cougar 'issue'... In 18 months there were 7 cougars 'removed' from the about mile circumference around my house, 15 sheep were killed, 20 goats, 3 mares attacked and a 3 day old colt was severely damaged................ I have been very 'lucky' to not have had any losses........ So, she is a 'deterrent' to predation, and will be big enough if the 'warning' doesn't work, she can 'back it up' ( her Momma, 100% SM, is 160#)
She did her 'job' beautifully last night......... Like I said, we have lambs............. About 2:30 am, I wake up to the coyotes barking, pretty dang close ( about 60 or so yards out from my fence) I 'hit the floor' and take off ( as well as I could at that time of night :-D) for the back door..... Before I got there, Txiki goes OFF, that 'spit throwing', I AM GONNA EAT YOU :whip:, kinda 'bark' ............... Just as I open the back door I here the coyotes, now about 3/4 of a mile away ( or so, just a MUCH farther way away) As soon as she heard them so far off, she turned and checked her 'babies' that were wide awake and all standing on the back side of her kennel ( she is still too young to leave totally 'loose' with the sheep ( especially the lambs, she LOVES them, and their ears are the BEST 'chew toys', OH! and those 'wiggily' tails, ;) )