The Big Late Summer ‘Spring Clean’

Fleecehaven News

‘PROM

OTING HUM

AN BEHAVIOUR TOW

ARDS ANIM

ALS BY

PROVIDING CARE, PROTECTION, TREATM

ENT AND SECURITY’

Volume 6 Issue 2

Summer/Autumn 2012

Our annual cleaning of the sheds

was once again hampered by poor

weather this year. It was 20th

August before the contractors

were able to get onto site to empty

out the sheds. It took most of the

day using a bob-cat, tractor and

trailer to empty and remove a

year’s worth of wood shavings,

straw and dung.

As soon as the contractors had

left, it was ‘action stations’ to start

the back-breaking job of ‘spring

cleaning’. The weather was poor

so there was no time to waste as

we wanted to get the sheep back

into the sheds as quickly as possi-

ble. That night the entire shed

was thoroughly swept out ready

for meticulous cleaning the fol-

lowing day. Early the next morn-

ing, constant pressure washing,

sweeping, shovelling away of

slurry and disinfecting went on

until well after dark.

The following day we took deliv-

ery of the first of two pallets of

wood shavings that form the base

of the bedding within the shed.

Unfortunately the crane on the

lorry had broken so all 72 bales

had to be unloaded by hand. The

driver was particularly grumpy

and was quite happy to stand and

watch Emma do most of the work!

There was also time to carry out

some painting maintenance within

the sheds that can not really be

done when the sheep are in. Work

on replacing the roof at one end of

the shed also got underway. The

corrugated sheeting had started to

rust and small quantities of rain

water were beginning to seep in.

Over the next few days, 105 bales

of wood shavings were unpacked

and evenly spread out over the

shed floor. Seventy-five straw

bales were then spaced out before

being carefully teased apart to

provide a comfortable and lump

free bed for the sheep.

Continued on Page 7

Newsbleat

The Sheep Need You!

Autumn Days 2012

Sad Goodbyes

Fleeces, Calendars, Visitors

& Spring Cleaning contd

Story from the Heart

Thank Ewes

2

3

4,5

6

7

8

8

Inside this Issue:

Th

e b

ob

-cat

tip

s

ano

ther

lo

ad

into

th

e m

uck

spre

ader

Th

e fi

rst

pal

let

of

woo

d s

hav

-

ings

arri

ve

Der

ek a

nd

Ch

ar-

lie

par

t w

ay

thro

ugh

rep

lac-

ing t

he

roof

Leo and Henry helping out!

Page 2

Newsbleat

FLEECEHAVEN NEWS

Continuous rain over the latter part of the

summer and throughout the autumn has

resulted in the fields at Fleecehaven be-

ing extremely muddy as excess water

struggles to drain away. In turn this has

created endless problems with the

sheep’s feet with a far higher number

than normal experiencing strip and ab-

scesses. With strip, the sensitive skin

between the claws becomes damp and

damaged and bacteria and microorgan-

isms from the soil infect the broken skin;

if left untreated it can quickly result in

footrot, something that thankfully we

have not had to contend with. Ab-

scesses are characterised by swelling of

the soft tissues immediately above the

hoof, and are again caused by a bacterial

infection, with foot irritation caused by

the mud resulting in a higher incidence of

the disease. Emma has worked tirelessly

to treat both strip and abscesses with all

but the most stubborn abscesses being

successfully treated without veterinary

intervention. However, Poppy, Gloria,

Tigger, Bissy, Richard and Lucy did re-

quire visits from our vet but thankfully,

all but Richard all are now fully recov-

ered. Richard would appear to have a

further problem with his foot which is

likely to require on-going treatment.

Paddington has also continued to suffer

with his foot over recent months, with an

on-going problem with his toe. Regular

trimming back, dressing and courses of

antibiotics have failed to resolve the

problem and, as a last resort, our vet sug-

gested removing his toe. After careful

consideration, we decided to proceed

and on 20th August we took him to the

veterinary hospital, where he stayed for

five days. Although the procedure was

successful, inevitably Paddington was

quite poorly and was initially reluctant to

eat. Our vet made regular visits to see

him, redressing the foot frequently and

keeping him topped up with antibiotics

and pain relief. Slowly he began to re-

cover and, after lots of coaxing with

tempting foods, his appetite started to

return and he was becoming increasingly

confident to take weight on his foot. On

the 22nd October our vet visited Pad-

dington, stating that he was really

pleased with the progress that he had

made. He confirmed that the right deci-

sion had been made to remove the toe as

he now looked so much happier than

prior to the procedure. Paddington has

now made a full recovery and can, once

again, be found happily pottering around

the yard.

Bis

sy w

ith

Ro

ger

Pad

din

gto

n s

oo

n a

fter

he

cam

e h

om

e fr

om

his

op

erat

ion

Page 3 VOLUME 5, ISSUE 2

The Sheep Need You! This year has been a difficult one for

Fleecehaven as, like all charities, we

have been hit by the recession. Nation-

ally charitable donations have fallen by

20% as we all feel the pinch of the tough

financial climate. This has certainly been

the case at Fleecehaven as the number of

adoptions that we have had (and the

number of adoptions renewed) has fallen,

which has clearly impacted upon our

revenue. Coupled with this, costs at

Fleecehaven have risen significantly

throughout the year because of rapidly

rising feed and bedding costs as a result

of yet another wet summer and a poor

world-wide grain harvest.

As we move into the winter we face the

prospect of our costs rising yet further.

Each day the sheep are munching their

way through ten bales of hay; consuming

50kg of concentrated food; and requiring

endless bales of straw to replenish their

bedding. In addition to this there are, of

course, the on-going costs of veterinary

treatment, drenches, mineral licks, saw-

dust, emptying of our dung trailer and the

all important biscuit, fruit and veg treats

that the sheep so dearly love.

We are extremely grateful to you all for

the generous support that you give to

Fleecehaven. If you feel you would like

to assist us further, perhaps you could

consider holding a fundraising event for

Fleecehaven. Why not hold a Coffee

Morning or afternoon Tea Party? How

about having a table-top at a jumble sale,

car-boot sale or fayre or running a cake

stall? If you’re feeling more adventurous,

you might want to consider a sponsored

event such as a run, walk, waxing or si-

lence. Further ideas can be found on our

website.

Other easy ways of supporting Fleece-

haven, that will cost you nothing at all,

include using Easyfundraising and

Easysearch and remembering to recycle

printer cartridges and mobile phones

through Recycle4Charity. Alternatively

why not consider making a one-off dona-

tion to Fleecehaven or setting up a small

monthly donation, purchasing a Fleece-

haven Calendar or a set of our ewenique

Christmas Cards or adopting sheep as

gifts for your friends and family?

Whatever you are able to give or do, no

matter how small, will really make a dif-

ference to the lives of the Fleecehaven

sheep and assist us in continuing our

worthwhile work.

Wh

ere

Sh

eep

Saf

ely G

raze

An

oth

er s

traw

del

iv-

ery i

s u

nlo

aded

Em

ma

del

iver

s

ano

ther

bal

e o

f

tast

y h

ay t

o a

wai

t-

ing c

ust

om

ers

in

the

shed

Page 4

Autumn Days 2012

FLEECEHAVEN NEWS

Willaby Oak proudly keep-

ing watch over his ‘girls’

Phillip

waiting

patiently

for treats in

the garden

Percy graz-

ing in the

Autumn sun-

shine

Peggy posing briefly for the

camera

Sammy bleating a cheerful

‘Hello’

Stevie tucking into some

tasty hay

Sandy safely snuggled up in

the newly cleaned sheds

Blackie making the most of

the last Autumn grass

VOLUME 5, ISSUE 2 Page 5

Kylie admiring the beauti-

ful blue sky Rebel taking it easy in the

Autumn sunshine

Mitzy being as

inquisitive as

usual

Our dear

Shaun soak-

ing up the

sun

Leo chilling in the garden

whilst hoping for a biscuit

Bassett chewing the cud

Molly keeping a close eye

on her friends to make

sure that they don’t wan-

der too far away

Tigger taking the weight

off his feet whilst enjoying

the view from the top fields

Page 6

Sad Goodbyes

The Autumn months at Fleecehaven have

sadly seen us say goodbye to four of our

very dear friends, all of whom have

greatly touched our hearts and will cer-

tainly never be forgotten. With an in-

creasing number of the Fleecehaven

flock reaching ages well beyond those

normally expected for sheep, it is inevi-

table that such sadness will occur more

frequently. It is certainly one of the

down sides of the work that we do, but

we take comfort from the fact that every

sheep we lose has, since being with us,

enjoyed a life well lived and been loved,

which is more than can be said for the

vast majority of sheep.

Our dear Annie

passed away

peacefully in

her sleep at the

end of the sum-

mer. She was

such a sweet

girl and had

coped remarka-

bly well with

the passing of

her twin sister, Alice, in July 2011. We

had resuced them both as tiny lambs and,

like Alice, she is greatly missed by us all.

In September one of our greatest charac-

ters, Victoria, suffered from another fit.

She had been experiencing them periodi-

cally for nearly a year and had always

bounced back. Sadly this time she did

not recover. Victoria’s spirit was in-

credible and her passing will leave a

great void at Fleecehaven. I don’t think

that any of us will ever be able to look at

a banana again (Victoria’s favourite

treat) without fondly remembering this

very special

lady.

Quite re-

markably, on

the same day,

Victoria’s

daughter

Mary also

passed away.

She had been

diagnosed

with leukae-

mia earlier in

the summer

but had been

responding

well to treat-

ment and we

did not expect

to lose her

quite so quickly. Since becoming poorly

she had become exceptionally tame and,

just like her Mum, had started making

daily visits into the house. They are both

greatly missed by us and Paddington,

Victoria’s son and Mary’s twin brother.

As Autumn drew to a close, after a short

illness, we unexpectedly lost our dearest

Woolly. He was a wonderful character

who constantly made his presence felt in

the hopes of receiving an extra treat. He

would start

bleating for his

breakfast as

soon as he saw

a light on in the

house and the

yard now feels

and sounds

very empty

without him.

Woolly, Aged 19

Annie, Aged 17

Victoria, Aged 19

Mary Aged 11

FLEECEHAVEN NEWS

VOLUME 5, ISSUE 2 Page 7

Fleeced for our Fleeces

At the beginning of October, we were

finally able to take the last of our fleeces

into the wool board. It would appear that

the value of wool has once again plum-

meted as three large wool bags, contain-

ing approximately thirty fleeces gener-

ated a cheque from the wool board for the

miserly sum of just £10.50!

It always seems so sad to see the by-

product of necessary shearing being

viewed as virtually worthless. We have

been considering getting some of the

Fleecehaven fleeces mechanically spun

and selling wool that could be considered

vegan friendly. If this is something that

you would be interested in purchasing

please let us know; if the demand is there

we will endeavour to give it a go.

The Big Late Summer ‘Spring Clean’ Continued

On the 25th August, after six days of ‘all systems go’, we were finally ready to let

the sheep back into their nice clean quarters. At first they were a little reluctant to

make their way back

in, but it wasn’t long

before they’d all ‘come

home’ and nestled

themselves into the

straw ready for a cosy

night’s sleep.

Bla

ckie

an

d

frie

nd

s b

ack i

n t

he

shed

Flo

ren

ce s

nu

ggle

d

do

wn

fo

r th

e n

igh

t

Fleecehaven Visitors

During the latter part of the summer and

during the Autumn it has been lovely to

see some of our Fleecehaven supporters.

Mike and friends visited early in August

and were followed shortly by Daniel and

Yolande. Roger visited Bissy and Minty

and helped out while he was here. Adopt-

ers of Fleecehaven sheep are always wel-

come to visit. This enables them to meet

their sheep face-to-face and to see first

hand the work that we do and, if so in-

clined, to give a helping hand.

Fleecehaven Calendars and Christmas Cards

Following the success of our previous calen-

dars, we've put together another one for 2013.

The calendar features many of your favourite

sheep . We have also put together a pack of

four Fleecehaven Christmas Cards featuring

Murphy; Rebel; Roo, Larry and Peggy; Wil-

liam; and Twinkle. The calendar (£10) and

card packs (£2.40) are available to buy on-line.

Postage and packing charges apply. Please

visit our website for further details.

Thank Ewes

‘Promoting humane behaviour towards animals by providing care, protection, treatment and

security’

Fleecehaven Howley Park East Buckland North Devon EX32 0TD

01598 760454 admin@fleecehaven.org.uk www.fleecehaven.org.uk

Registered Charity No 1111004

A Buddist ‘Story from the Heart’ As a man walked along a beach at sunset, he saw a boy

in the distance. As he grew nearer, he noticed that the

boy kept leaning down, picking something up and

throwing it out into the water. Time and again he kept

hurling things out into the ocean. As the man got

closer, he noticed that the boy was picking up starfish

that had washed up on the beach, and, one at a time, he

was throwing them back into the water. The man was

puzzled. He approached the boy and asked what he

was doing. "I'm throwing these starfish back into the

ocean. You see, it's low tide right now and they’ve all

been washed up onto the shore. If I don't throw them

back into the sea they'll die from lack of oxygen." "I

see," the man replied, "but there must be thousands of

starfish on this beach. You can't possibly get to all of

them, there are simply too many. And don't you realise

this is probably happening on hundreds of beaches all

up and down this coast. Can't you see that you can't

possibly make a difference?" The boy smiled, bent

down and picked up yet another starfish, and as he

threw it back into the sea replied, "Made a difference

to that one!"

Fleecehaven might not be able to save every sheep in

the world and what we do really is just a ‘drop in the

ocean’ but at least we are able to make a difference to

just a few and spread a little humanity within the

world.

Page 8 FLEECEHAVEN NEWS

Fleecehaven would like to say a HUGE thank you to Ange from Gemini Print who

has very kindly agreed to print, free of charge, the next four editions of the Fleece-

haven Newsletter. We are extremely grateful to Gemini Print for their wonderful

generosity and, should you require any printing to be carried out, would urge you to

contact Gemini Print who, I am sure, will offer you a competitive quotation. Further

details can be found on their website at www.geminiprint.net

We’d also like to say another BIG thank you to Debbs Elliman who has once again

supplied Fleecehaven with some quite exquisite handmade cards, jewellery and trin-

kets to sell at fayres in order to raise funds for Fleecehaven. Debbs’ continued sup-

port is really very much appreciated by us all.