Waterford Estate: Sheep shelters and other things

Sadly, one of Dorothy's twin lambs didn't make it. We had a snap of cold weather and rather than take them into the shelter of the sheep tent (version 1.0) Dorothy sat outside in the wind and rain with the lambs. By the time we checked on them the smaller one was too far gone. To make sure the sheep have plenty of shelter next time, Chris' priority has been to build a sheep house (version 2.0). He modelled it off some animal shelters being sold by a local engineering firm.

Cutting plywood for the end

Thanks for the jigsaw Bernie

Putting on the last sheet

Final touches

The finished product

Awesome job!

The sheep house is built on skids and comes complete with a tow rope so that it can be towed around to different paddocks.

Dragging the house to the paddock

Muffin keeping a close eye on proceedings

Chris raided my hay stash to put down a nice soft bed for the sheep. I think it gets the Muffin seal of approval - what do you think?

Making the bed

Muffin checking out her new house

Chris and Muffin checking out the house

Yes, I think it will do nicely

Muffin surveys her domain from inside her house

The flock has spent quite a bit of time in the two shelters during bad weather. They tend to alternate between the tent and the house; there is room for all, and no one is left out in the cold. They are all looking great.

Dorothy's Lamb

Dorothy and Lamb

Rambo

Rambo again

The sheep came into the yards for a general health check and some routine maintenance. They had their feet trimmed, and the lamb had his 5-in-1 vaccination. He also had his tail docked. They seemed fairly happy in the yards, and the layout worked really well.