Although Scotty is the same age as Merricat and Constance, because of his breed, he already looks like a gangly teenager, all long and skinny.
But he’s still just a lamb and he was looking a little bony to me. So I decided to feed him some grain along with Merricat.
The question of course is how to separate him from the other sheep to give him the grain. And although I’ve gotten pretty good at doing this, it’s still always different with each sheep.
So yesterday, while he was eating from the hay feeder with the rest of the sheep, I held a handful of grain under his nose and let him eat it from my hand.
This morning I put another handful of grain under his nose as he ate with the other sheep, but this time, after he got a taste, I slowly moved my hand away from the hay and he followed it. Then he followed me into the barn.
Liam was the only other sheep who caught on and he followed too, but I was able to keep him on the other side of the door. He hung around outside for a while, but I know if he doesn’t get reinforced with grain, he’ll eventually go back to the hay. Which he did.
It was a little tricky getting both Merricat and Scotty out of the barn once they finished their grain. They kept looking around for more. But I gave them each a push on the butt and soon they were back at the hay feeder with the rest of the sheep.
I’m curious to see how long it takes Scotty to follow me into the barn like Merricat does. He already shadows me around, so I don’t think it will take long.
