Main > Animal care > Work animals > Dogs
Positive training: use positive reinforcement only, by rewarding the dog with a small food treat when it responds in the desired way, not by punishing undesirable behaviour.
kellyjones00 (593)
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Main > Animal care > Work animals > Dogs
Dog psychology: they are not democratic. They respond very much to status. Training works on this principle. A misbehaving dog is ignored or has fewer privileges (low status), and a well-behaved dog is praised and rewarded (higher status).
kellyjones00 (593)
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Main > Animal care > Work animals > Dogs
Training by association: dogs learn by associating objects, people, smells, sounds, and sights. Use simple steps to develop associations. For instance, start with "yes" + a food treat. Then teach the dog to sit by moving your hand back over their head; when they sit, say "yes" + food treat. Then instead of "yes", do the same hand movement, but say "sit" + food treat. Repeat until they associate "sit" with reward. Then get them to sit several times before a food treat.
kellyjones00 (593)
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Main > Animal care > Work animals > Dogs
Teaching to dog to do useful things: Dogs can pick up and move things. For instance, shutting doors, turning off lights, finding keys, fetching the mail or newspaper, picking up dropped objects, and herding farm animals. They can also count.
kellyjones00 (593)
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Main > Animal care > Meat animals > Lamb
Wool-shedding sheep like Wiltshires are bred to put less energy growing wool and more growing their flesh. They are also easier to look after, with no shearing, and less risk of fly-strike (maggot-eaten around the anus) as there is no wool around the crutch, or belly or head.
kellyjones00 (593)
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Main > Animal care > Meat animals > Lamb
Worms: Sheep are prone to intestinal worms. The worms also become resistant to drenches (antithelmic fluid given orally). Conduct a faecal worm egg count to test levels of worm infestation before and after drenches, to help decide on drench type. Warm, wet weather generally means more worms in the ground.
kellyjones00 (593)
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Main > Animal care > Meat animals > Lamb
Ruminant bacteria: Sheep digestive bacteria alter slowly to cope with different foods, so dietary changes need to be slow. For example, start with 50-100g of pellets per sheep per day, increasing slowly.
kellyjones00 (593)
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Main > Animal care > Meat animals > Lamb
Neophobia: Sheep refuse to eat or drink things they're unfamiliar with. Make changes gradually.
kellyjones00 (593)
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Main > Animal care > Meat animals > Lamb
Breeding: Allow female lambs to grow to a full two years' maturity before breeding. Otherwise, their growth will be stunted, as their energy is put into the suckling lamb.
kellyjones00 (593)
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Main > Animal care > Meat animals > Lamb
Vaccinations: Pregnant sheep should be vaccinated three weeks before parturition, so the lamb can benefit from the mother's antibodies. A vaccine booster for lambs follows several months later, then by annual boosters. Multipurpose vaccines deal with a range of sheep diseases, like pulpy kidney from overeating.
kellyjones00 (593)
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Main > Animal care > Meat animals > Lamb
Winter feed: Watch a grazing sheep to see what it prefers to eat. For example: chicory, plantain, clover, then grasses. Knowing its preferences, provide good quality dried grasses (hay) during winter. Supplementing with minerals (not copper) and sheep pellets can also help.
kellyjones00 (593)
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Main > Animal care > Meat animals > Lamb
Castrating: Most male lambs are castrated a few weeks after birth by placing a rubber ring at the top of the scrotum sack ensuring both testicles are included. They become wethers. This is to control the gene pool. Wethers can be killed for meat when weaned off the ewe, or can live in the ram's paddock to reduce the ram's aggression.
kellyjones00 (593)
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Main > Animal care > Fibre animals
Shearing: A tame sheep can be trained to enjoy shearing, and lie or stand quietly while being shorn, without being restrained.
General tips:
- Make the first shearing later, in early summer, on a hot day, so the sheep is uncomfortably hot and panting. It will remember the relief next time.
- A small fenced area, partly-shaded, on some sweet grass, would do for the shearing spot. It should be hardly wider than the sheep.
- Keep any dogs and loud noises away, making the area quiet and comfortable for the sheep.
- Give the lamb a small handful of its favourite food in the place of shearing. Let it explore and get comfortable.
- Take the head in the crook of one arm and the thigh of the rear leg farthest from you in the other hand, and pick the sheep up. Then lie it directly on its side, and place your foot or knee on the bottom leg, and another knee on the shoulder.
- Do not lean on the chest area, as this restricts the sheep's breathing.
- Talk to the sheep quietly, and be gentle and methodical.
- If the sheep tries to get up, immediately say "No!" and make it lie quietly. It will eventually calm down and stay still comfortably, with only a gentle pressure of a knee on a hip or the like.
- If unsure where the sheep's skin lies, press the shears flat against the body until the solid body is felt, then back off a centimetre.
- Do a couple of passes, instead of clipping down immediately to the finished wool length.
- Leave the neck until last, when the sheep has gotten comfortable.
- Let the sheep stand up and stretch its legs before doing the final pass. Make movements as if to get its favourite food. The sheep will recognise the colour and sound of a favourite food sack, so rustle this.
- You should be able to do the final pass with the sheep standing still.
- Let the sheep make its own way out of the pen, and give the sheep a bit of food in its normal paddock.
- Wool can be placed in the sheep's shelter for bedding, as it will be a bit cold for the first week or so.
kellyjones00 (593)
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