General Chat

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!

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.