[adamsat]

We got some pet lambs a few months ago for the children - they're great, really friendly and will run up to you for a hug when you go near them.

We'd had them quite a while when I thought, why not put them to work? We've got some strips of grass either side of the drive that are impossible to get the mower on.

Well we put the boys on them (they're wethers called Louie and Eddie) and the're doing a fantastic job. I knew nothing about sheep before coming here but they really are great lawn mowers. They crop the grass down to about inch long and their droppings are great fertiliser. They also love to eat weeds like dandelions and yarrow.

Now I know why you see sheep in even the smallest rural garden here. They're cheap, easy to look after and a lot more fun than a flymo!

(and no, unlike the locals we're not going to be inviting Louie and Eddie to dinner)

[sizzlingbadger]

:laugh :laugh What an excellent idea

Watching a programme the other day on a lifestyle guy, the phrase 'ovine lawnmowers' cropped up more than once. It had us in stitches before my husband piped up and said maybe we ought to get a few sheep for our lawn. Not a hope with two whippets and three kids all sharing it though :D

[adamsat]

Not a hope with two whippets and three kids all sharing it though

You'd be surprised. We've got a dog too, a huntaway lab x, and three kids and all co-exists very happily with the sheep.

Sam, the dog, sometimes tries to round them up, but they just stand there looking him as if to say "yeah and?". Even though they are wethered they will still give him a good butt if he steps out of line.

The kids love them. They go out and feed them a few sheep nuts once a day and the lambs come up and lick their hands and nudge them for a hug. Great!

Here's a pic of the boys in their younger days

[Moorf]

Totally agree!! Our neighbour puts her 5 pet sheep (including 2 lambs!) into our wooded paddock to keep the grass down and it works wonders! We even had two put on our roadside grass verge and they had it mown to perfection within a day!! I'm not too keen to get our own, but there are always people round our way looking for grassy paddocks!!

As for Summer, our dog, she is actually scared of the sheep despite being a heeler x pointer!!! So no worries there - and yes, agree, sheep are so much more interesting than a flymo !!!

Christ, I;m amazed I managed to type that seing as i;m almost totally r/arsed after Tara's 30th!!

Andy - Veronica has just got a lab x huntaway pup - there are 6 more looking for homes near Hororata ;) if you fancy another - 8 weeks old.....

[jubjub]

Hmm, good idea, but I think our border collie x would spend all day trying to get them in line (he tries to herd us about!) so they would not get any "mowing" done.

They are really cute, and I bet the kids just love them to bits.

[Moorf]

Cute until the rams start trying to head-butt you .... seriously, I had to hurdle two fences to get away from a "cute" ram... :laugh and I have the bruises to prove it!! I have since learnt that when they look like they are spring-loading their back legs to RUN LIKE MAD..... seems they are able to easily break your thigh bone if you stay around to see why they were spring-loading their hinds..... there was a really interesting thread about this on a nz lifestyle block forum and it was only then that I realised that cutie pie 'ickle rams grow up to be grumpy dangerous basts... :o

[boonkien]

Wowww....having lambs as pets in your own backyard and also double up as lawn mowers..... Wowww. :p

It is something only city dwellers can dream about. I am sure my kids will be so thrilled and frightened at the same time to be able to get so up close and personal with an animal. They are typical apartment-living kids who always whine for a dog/budgy/hamsters but we, as 'sensible' adults always tell them : we can't have them living in such close quarters with us/imagine the stench/etc :D