I've seen them in the village hall here clicking and clacking with their knitting needles Jane. They do tend to make sweaters with four leg holes though!!
Does anybody raise sheep? I have a sheep question. Why trim sheep's hoofs? If it is to prevent infection, lameness and promote healthy hoofs in young animals, what did the sheep do before humans came along? I am baaaaaaaaffled Question from a concrete jungle kid. Jerry
Ewe wouldn't believe the garments I've seen produced. They do tend to get infected a lot. We call it foot rot. It's as nasty as it sounds. Fortunately a trimming and dipping in bluestone (copper sulphate) normally does the trick. You got me there.
Before humans and domestication their diet was different as was their territory ! Same with horses ! Their territory was more rocky and the diet of grasses was much lower in protein so hooves didn`t grow fast and were much tougher than today ! Nature told them what they needed to eat but walking the distances to find it naturally wore down the hooves ! Then along came humans and started feeding what we thought they needed and although the sheep were more productive,, we also had to fix what we screwed up,, trim hooves ect ! I have 6 horses that have been running barefoot for about 10 years,, they have the correct alignment and have not even been trimmed in years,, Have not needed it but they are in a large pasture,, not stalled or fed the higher protein feeds !
Thanks Mart, a most informative explanation! It seems that 10,000 years of domestication and breeding has its own problems. Jerry
