General Chat

As the General Chat Board is so slow and I had nothing better to do, I thought I would post this, well at least there are a couple of decent photos of the wooly creatures - I think I need to get out more :-D

Why every year does the Scottish government warn pregnant women to avoid lambing season and nine other things you may not know about the livestock.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-25638723

1. Scotland has more sheep than people. In June 2013 the sheep population was 6.57 million on about 14,800 farms, according to the Scottish government.

2. Pregnant women should avoid lambing season. The health warning is issued around this time each year by the Scottish government.

3. Women have flocked to sheep shearing. Female farm workers are key to the yearly, physically-demanding task of shearing sheep.

4. Top of the tups. Scotland is home to what the Border Union Agricultural Society calls the the biggest one-day ram sale in Europe and probably the world.

5. Buying a ram can cost thousands. In 2009, a tup lamb was sold for £231,000.

6. Sheep are kept as pets. Lambs that have been orphaned or rejected by their mothers are raised by another ewe, or by farmers and their families.

7. They can live for years. Scotland had a potential claim to having the world's oldest sheep.

8. Racing sheep is popular. Moffat in Dumfriesshire hosts a town-centre racing competition.

9. They have been blamed for the Clearances. A year ago, an artist delivered a 45-minute lecture on the Highland Clearances of the 18th and 19th centuries to a flock of sheep to stimulate fresh debate on the historic events.

10. Sheep live where no people do. Soay sheep roam wild on the islands of St Kilda, a remote archipelago off the west coast of Scotland.

We kept sheep and I have to say they are the dimmest of all farm animals!

The only other beasts that came close were our two black Angus which when they saw the cattle truck thought that by sticking their heads in a hedge they magically became invisible...lolol Our other cows never tried that trick!

Lambing ewes can pass on infections to pregnant women which could cause them to abort.

Then the reason could be that some one would imerse them in Sheep Dip to be on the safe side. :-D

as there are so many sheep in the UK and I assume it costs next to nothing to feed them[?] - the eat grass, why is lamb so expensive to buy at the butchers? :-S

'tis all true

I think some sheep stink :-P :-P

They certainly do

There were sheep on the farm I grew up on. They were cute as lambs, but the adult ones were stinky, noisily bleated on about nothing all day long,and constantly got into places they shouldn't.

One fell in a ditch and the others piled in one on top of the other............it took ages to get them out.................stupid things!

On the plus side, I do love a good roast lamb dinner :-)

think we're all agreed then - sheep are stupid :-D and untrustworthy

...and taste nice :-D

They do Maggie, but older ones are a bit tough. Mutton isn't as sweet as lamb.

In my opinion anyway.xx

yeah nothing worse
than mutton that thinks its lamb :-P

Sheep are not only stupid and untrustworthy, they smell awful, and I can't stand the taste!
Yuk :-P :-P

Not one redeeming feature ;-)

Thankyou for posting what we were all thinking GiN ;-) :-D

Lamb can be greasy, 2 of our daughters won't touch it either.

:-D

greasy is the word - slimey in fact!! I think little lambs are sweet and cuddly, but sheep - yuk!!! you ever know what they will do next, in fact I don't think they know what they'll do next :-D

Sheep will always look after themselves with no thought to other creatures. They can be selfish and somewhat conniving but incredibly stupid.

BC<3 likes lamb..........but only if it's minted ;-)

BC cooks the best lamb ever
it melts in your mouth :-D :-D :-D