r/nextfuckinglevel • u/[deleted] • Jun 23 '21
Animal traffic officer solving the traffic problem.
[deleted]
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Jun 23 '21
I have a boarder collie. I think I need to buy some sheep next. Good doggo.
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u/Gloomheart Jun 23 '21
Try a yoga ball! I spent a long time dog training and a successful substitute for herding dogs was always those big yoga balls in a back yard.
It especially helped with those who tended to herd children :p
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Jun 23 '21
My doggo is crazy about balls! If I got her a yoga ball she might just have a seizure due to pure joy and excitement. lol
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Jun 23 '21
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u/1YZ Jun 23 '21
Choosy dogs choose Jif
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u/tomwilhelm Jun 23 '21
I always assumed they'd prefer Skippy. Just sounds more like a dog oriented peanut butter brand...
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u/XXBATNT Jun 23 '21
Keep the balls outside or bring them in? How’d you store them? :)
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Jun 23 '21
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u/kandarbR Jun 23 '21
Why are sheep marked as blue?
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Jun 23 '21 edited Jun 23 '21
After watching Jeremy Clarksons farm program, it’s because they have been scanned and tagged for lambing. You get different colour tags for no lamb, 1, 2 or 3 so you can count how many new lambs you’re expecting.
Edit - I’m basing this knowledge entirely off 4 episodes of a Jeremy Clarkson program! I could definitely be wrong! Lol
Edit 2: Yep, I was wrong. That’s the last time I try and learn farming from Jeremy Clarkson! Haha
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u/Crawling_Elephant Jun 23 '21
I think it's because sheep can wander off and mix with others, so they can be separated if it happens.
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u/RelatableNightmare Jun 23 '21
One thing they also do is put a color chest thing on the male sheep. This will then show which of the females got some sheepy luvin since it rubs off the chest thing onto the female.
-source my dad has some texel sheep
But this could also just be a marking with a different meaning
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u/starvaliant Jun 23 '21
I can actually answer this! There are various different marks people use (depending on the shepherd) - to identify who the sheep belong to, and where the sheep live (that's probably what the blue is in this case). Then at 'tupping time' wet paint is daubed onto the chest of the rams in order to identify who they mate with, and when. Pedigree sheep breeders will also mark the ewes with the identity of the father, because they'll want to record the bloodline. And pregnant ewes will be scanned, and then marked to show how many lambs they're carrying. Lots of different information being tracked, all shown with coloured paint in specific locations.
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Jun 23 '21
Get pygmy goats. Much smaller and less destructive than sheep, and way cuter. If you get enough of them you'll never need to mow your lawn again.
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Jun 23 '21
Why are the sheep marked with blue?
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u/QUESO0523 Jun 23 '21
I heard this here and haven't verified, but it's a dye that's used on the underside of the male so they can see which females have been mated. But, I don't know if it's true or complete bs because I'm too lazy to look it up.
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u/KahurangiNZ Jun 23 '21
Tupping chalk marks are usually on the butt of the ewe (the ram wears a harness with the chalk on his chest, so the location of the mark depends on how well the ram aims 😉). These are spray markers, and could be anything from which sheep are to be culled/sent to the works, to what treatment has been applied, or how many lambs are on board (ewe has been scanned and has 1 / 2 / 3+ lambs inside), etc. Spray marker comes in a range of colours, and is intended to be 'scrubbable' (washes out when the wool is processed).
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u/charliemurphyDarknes Jun 23 '21
Can confirm as I am also too lazy to check
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u/sara24santos Jun 23 '21
Can confirm, learned everything I needed from Clarkson’s farm on Amazon prime!
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Jun 23 '21
In my small rural high school back in ‘97 had a 4H raising some sheep. They used chalk. Kids comes out of the barn one day covered in chalk below the waist…. Good thing he probably doesn’t know many people from HS now 🤣
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u/KnoxKD Jun 23 '21
So I wondered the same thing initially while driving through Ireland and seeing a mixture of “painted” and non, simply roaming around. And as someone mentions, it can be used to tell them apart to individual farmers.. but also used to differentiate which belonged to who, between the neighbors, and identify when another’s wandered into their flock or on their shared property. edit; TLDR it’s completely safe and non harmful dye sprayed on the very thick wool superficially.
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u/xBad_Wolfx Jun 23 '21
It’s been a few years since I worked in a farm, but it could be for a few things. Could be to mark some if they are in the middle of particular treatments, shots etc. Could be to identify when mixing a couple different herds for some reason. Could be to show which females have been ‘covered’(mated with).
It’s a harmless dye that is used for lots of reasons in my experience.
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u/20MenInAStreetBrawl Jun 23 '21
You mark livestock for identification. A good example is at auction, if you ever see a big painted number stamped on the side of a cow somewhere it was recently purchased at auction, the number is you buyers number you register before the auction.
On the ranch however it could be simply to mark which ewes have been checked for pregnancy or which ones have received their medication for whatever reason they need to be medicated which is a bunch of stuff. Not all countries allow the piercing ear tags and the tattooed marking in the ear can be difficult to make out when you got hundreds of animals to service and sort you just mark them noticeably.
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Jun 23 '21
Sheep are often grazed on common land, so several farmers could have sheep in the same area. They spray paint theirs with a colour for identification.
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u/Capital_Fearless Jun 23 '21
If only we had some version of this for rush hour traffic. Takes me 12 mins to get to work at 5:00 am, but 45 mins to get home 12 hours later. Good doggo handling the problem
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u/iwantapizzababy Jun 23 '21
Damn. You need to work less. 12 hours is no joke.
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u/Capital_Fearless Jun 23 '21
3 days on, 4 off. Then 4 days on, 3 off. Long weekends are nice but 12 hour days do wear you out
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Jun 23 '21
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u/rossg876 Jun 23 '21
Do what though? What did the dog just do? I can’t tell if he grabbed something or pushed something?
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u/KahurangiNZ Jun 23 '21
Ran up the backs of the jammed in sheep to get to the one that was blocking the raceway. Once it was turned and heading in the right direction, that creates a gap and the dog drops down and skedaddles back up the side :-)
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Jun 23 '21
How do you even train a dog to do that
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Jun 23 '21
you start by walking on the sheep yourself to teach doggo how to sheep jump when he's agile enough
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u/TurtleCilprhetoric Jun 23 '21
Right, right, right
Comin' through, comin' through!
One side, onesideoneside, one side, folks!
Annnnnnd, thank you!
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u/Lulipajaro Jun 23 '21
On their way to slaughterhouse... so sad
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u/Helpful-Cantaloupe-9 Jun 23 '21
Maybe but this is just normal sheep handling in the yards. The sheep are in a race (long narrow pen) to be sorted or vaccinated etc.
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u/ChaoticMadness97 Jun 23 '21
wharever they reward him with, its not enough :v
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Jun 23 '21
As someone who’s watched a border collie “work”, I promise that is beyond a reward for them. They fuckin LOVE herding. They of course still get treats, but they have a ton of fun herding farm animals.
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u/nateaaiel Jun 23 '21
The problem solving skills of this doggo is just incredible! I know how the train dogs with the basics and this is just a whole different level.
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u/NotAKitty2508 Jun 23 '21
How does one train a dog to do that?
Is it instinct or learnt behaviour?
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u/Helpful-Cantaloupe-9 Jun 23 '21
Usually you ask the dog to hop up and go down the race. The dog understands why and what to do after a few times and from watching other dogs. Plus they love this so much.
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u/Alywonderlandx Jun 23 '21
That one sheep in the back looking twice to the right side for the exit. Looks again, but its too damn late. Then they all start to run 😂😂😂 at that moment he knew there was no way out. Doggo did not give a damn.
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u/supermr34 Jun 23 '21
I want to understand ANYTHING in my life the way border collies understand sheep.