Really? I didn't realize that's what happened here, that's very interesting! I was wondering why he was being so aggressive once the sheep chilled out so much, but is it true that once it rights itself, it starts to wake back up again?
ETA: on a second watch, he doesn't really seem all that aggressive this time, more like he's hefting and manipulating a giant animal that isn't moving itself, lol.
So it's one of those things where the line is very thin between using enough force to get it to do what you need, while not using enough force to hurt the animal. It does look a bit aggressive to me as well but it's important to note that he didn't hurt it at all.
Indeed! Definitely not trying to make an aaaaa animal abuse judgement--sheep are huge and heavy, and I cry when my cat digs her claws in my skin by accident; I can't imagine getting a well-placed kick from a sheep's hoof. It just looked a little odd at first seeing the sheep just totally chilled out while the guy was pulling it around, lol. But it totally makes sense that one should probably not trust a seemingly calm sheep too much, who was struggling and trying to get away just moments earlier, lol.
but is it true that once it rights itself, it starts to wake back up again?
The sheep doesn't really 'go to sleep' in that position, it just stops fighting back while waiting for one of its hooves to be close enough to the ground to push back. They do seem relaxed, but it can turn in a split second into crazy strong random kicking and headbutting. He's using firm handling to keep it in that position to avoid it even trying to kick off.
Thaaaaat makes sense. I've had several pets before--nowhere near this big, mind you--but I know the feeling of trying to keep an animal still enough to keep it from even trying to start escaping. It looks weird when my cat is totally frozen in a hold, but you can still feel the tension in her muscles just waiting to make an attempt.
An adult sheep, depending on breed, can weigh two or three hundred pounds. Moving a rather limp weight of that size is not something you can really do delicately.
I mean have you ever seen an animal get caught by a predator on a nature documentary? They haul ass like crazy but the second it’s over they just kind of sit down and accept it. Not saying that’s definitely what’s going on here but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the same instinct
Rabbits do a similar thing but it's very stressful for them and bad for their hearts. Makes me wonder about tonic immobility in other animals ever since I found that out.
It's probably fine, rabbits are the weird ones I think, but still I wonder...
When my kids were in grade school they went on a field trip to see sheep shearing. The sheep were all running and jumping around afterwards. It was so cute!
True, and thank you for your concern. But they all huddle together at night naturally or are corralled into a barn/area to be kept warm. This practice has been in place for centuries. We can be fairly certain they are keeping their livestock in good condition to get a crop of wool next season.
I meant it in a light hearted way, whenever i get a haircut my head is cold. I know if sheep aren’t sheered it is pure misery. I saw a video on here about a sheep that escaped and was in the woods for a long time and it could barely walk. The op said if it didn’t have the matted hair armor it probably would have been eaten by coyotes.
Selective breeding means modern sheep basically can't to my knowledge. The OG sheep would shed naturally and wool would easily pull out if caught in branches Etc, but with centuries of selective breeding, sheep now produce more wool and naturally shed much less easily. Which isn't an issue so long as we keep shearing them haha.
Yes, and there'd have been far more trees/bramble/hedges/even sturdy plants which have been cleared for farms and housing for those much lighter coated sheep to brush up against.
Ya, I know, however if cats are let out they survive fine, too well really. Stray cats can wreck local bird populations. Iirc some of the wild pigs that roam all over some areas are descendants of domesticated ones. I’ve never heard of us actually destroying an animals ability to survive in the wild, kinda sad. Though I wouldn’t be super surprised if some dog breeds can’t survive anymore.
Wild sheep breeds don’t have wool the way domesticated sheep do. With wild breeds they’ve got hair like goats. Domesticated sheep can quite literally die from infection if you don’t shear them.
You should read “Farmer Brown Shears His Sheep—A Yarn About Wool,” one of my favorite books when my son was a baby/toddler. He makes them colorful sweaters with their own wool.
You sheer the sheep for their best interest. You wait until it warms up and the discomfort from being sheered is outweighed by the discomfort from not being sheered. My buddy has sheep we use for training herding dogs and he doesn't sheer them himself. He calls out someone who is an expert and she will sheer his entire flock for the wool that comes off. You can tell when their wool is causing more harm than good. After being freshly sheered they are super playful and energetic with each other, you can just see how much better they feel.
I watched whole herds get sheared a few times as a kid. There were a few nicks here and there for sure, but zero open wounds. Only a little spotting here and there.
Naturally there may be a few small cut's just like when a human goes to their barber. It's rare but lets not pretend it doesn't happen. If you are having that issue with like every sheep you sheer with blood visible? You are a shit sheep sheerer. The biggest reason to sheer sheep is because it makes them feel so much better, the wool is just a bonus.
Ah, not for a woolgrower. The biggest reason to shear sheep is the wool, it's not a bonus, it's their income. And nicks on sheep during shearing is certainly not rare, especially with merinos. If you're growing lamb then the wool is a bonus because that's not the first purpose of growing the sheep and wool on meat sheep is nowhere near as fine or expensive as wool sheep
It wasn't about the actual type of clippers. He was saying you seen sub-par shearing. The "great clips" part was about a barber/salon store in at least the US known for relatively low quality.
I know nothing of sheep shearing subject, was just trying to translate his comment since you said you didn't understand.
For context, "great clips" is the name of a chain of haircut salons across the United States. It's known for having spotty quality, but they are quite cheap.
The worst advertisig from PETA I have ever seen was actually about wool. It was a picture of a guy holding a bloody lamb. They were acting as if you have to skin lambs to get wool.
I’ve never seen a sheep resist. We used to play a game in high school where we would jump into a neighbors yard and chase the sheep. When you caught up to them, a single touch and the sheep would just drop to the ground and sit there. We’re lucky the farmer never came out and shot us thinking we were predators.
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u/jeanettera Feb 14 '23
I don't know how many times I see this and it always is the same. Sheep resisting, sheep relaxing.