The Animals Came in Two by Two (or Four + Three + One + Four)

Fleecehaven News

‘PROM

OTING HUM

AN BEHAVIOUR TOW

ARDS ANIM

ALS BY

PROVIDING CARE, PROTECTION, TREATM

ENT AND SECURITY’

Volume 6 Issue 4

Spring 2013 Fleecehaven really is full to the brim.

We have sheep tucked up in every

possible nook and cranny, yet still we

manage to squeeze the odd one or two

in!! The Spring months have been no

exception with twelve new arrivals!!

The ‘Awesome Foursome’ were the

first to join us. They were brought to

us by their owner, Chiara, on the 31st

March. For many years Chiara had

rented land from a farmer near Tor-

rington, North Devon, on which she

kept horses and a few sheep. Unfortu-

nately the farmer suddenly decided

that he no longer wanted the sheep

kept on the land and gave Chiara just

a few days notice to rehome them,

otherwise he threatened to ‘sort them

out’. A number of months prior to

this happening, Chiara had a chance

meeting with Anne and Emma during

which a conversation about sheep and

Fleecehaven ensued. With this in

mind, Chiara contacted Fleecehaven

and arrangements were made for ‘The

Awesome Foursome’ to make the

short journey from Torrington to East

Buckland. As they were so tame,

there was no need to drive their trailer

down to the red barn and the four

made the final leg of their journey on

foot.

Sampson is the patriarch of the group.

He is a two year old texel who was

saved from near death at birth. Some-

one that Chiara knew was helping

with lambing on a farm and noticed

that a lamb, discarded for dead, was

still breathing. She took the lamb

home, where she hand reared him for

a number of weeks before passing him

on to Chiara. Sampson is joined by

three year old Delilah and her year old

lamb, Dougal, both are Suffolk sheep

and absolutely beautiful. The group is

completed by Raggy Sock who is also

a year old. Chiara had previously

rescued his Mother, but she sadly died

during the winter. As a result of this

Raggy Sock suffered from wool slip,

often the result of stress, and when he

first joined us he was wearing a dog

coat to keep him warm!

The ’Awesome Foursome’ initially

moved into the red barn, where they

were kept separate from the main

flock until they were fully vaccinated.

They also had our lower fields to

themselves and enjoyed pottering

around and exploring their new home.

After five weeks we were able to start

introducing them to the rest of the

flock and within just a few days they

were fully integrated. All four of

them are now well and truly settled

into life at Fleecehaven. They are all

absolutely delightful and a real credit

to Chiara and her family.

(Continued on Page 2)

The Animals Came In 2 x 2

Spring Gallery

Sad Goodbyes

A Sad Tale of Neglect

Thank Ewe

News Bleat

Fundraising Events

Spring Visitors

2,3

4,5

6

6

7

7

8

8

Inside this Issue:

Th

e A

wes

om

e F

ou

rsom

e

wal

kin

g d

ow

n t

o t

he

red

bar

n

Sampson, Delilah, Dougal and Raggy Sock

checking out the grazing in their new home

Page 2

The Animals Came in Two by Two (Continued)

FLEECEHAVEN NEWS

Somewhat unexpected new arrivals turned up on

30th April. When we were coming home from a

shopping trip, we found a ewe and her two lambs

roaming in the middle of the lane, on a sharp bend.

After seeing them nearly run over by a rather large

and fast moving tractor and trailer, we tried to

usher them into the safety of a nearby garden.

Attempts to round them up proved challenging and

although we managed to herd them into a garden

they quickly ran out again and headed into East

Buckland. At this point we enlisted the help of

Emma and, with the lure of a sack of sheep nuts

the ewe and her lambs were guided into the safety

of a neighbouring garden (they refused to walk

through the Fleecehaven gates!) We thought that

they were then safely contained, but the ewe had

other plans. She leapt over the fence, whilst her

lambs wriggled through it, and joined a small

flock of sheep in an adjacent field. She continued

to flit between the garden and the field and, as she

couldn't go beyond either, we left them to settle.

In the meantime we tried to find out who they

belonged to which, with the assistance of a local

farmer, we eventually did .

The following day their rightful owner came to

collect them. Apparently they had been on the

loose for quite some time and had even been

sighted at the local school watching cricket! As

the farmer was rounding them up, we frantically

pleaded with him to allow them to join the Fleece-

haven flock. Despite initially saying no, he was

eventually persuaded to relent and , once captured,

the ewe and her lambs were delivered to the safety

of Fleecehaven. We were absolutely delighted

and decided to call the ewe Roma, as we found her

roaming. It is lovely to think that after a life-time

of lambing, Roma will now get the chance to keep

her lambs (that we eventually decided to call Rose

and Flora) for the very first time. Although ini-

tially being extremely timid, Roma, Rose and

Flora are now all as tame as tame can be - it just

goes to show what a little bit of kindness (and

food) can do. All three are now fully integrated

into the flock and certainly appear to be enjoying

their new life.

On 12th May,

Woody joined

us. He was

brought to us

by Denise, who

had rescued

him on the 28th

March. He had

been part of a

flock on Man-

mole Common,

South Wales,

w h e r e t h e

RSPCA were

investigating an

elderly farmer for neglecting his animals. Denise

had first noticed Woody with his Mum just a cou-

ple of days earlier when she was checking the

horses and ponies that were also being neglected

on the common. Sadly, when she returned, she

found that something had attacked and killed his

mother and he was pitifully lying next to her. It

really was Woody’s lucky day when Denise found

him, as he would have simply perished without his

Mum. Thankfully with her love and care he sur-

vived and has grown into a beautiful lamb. Whilst

Denise cared for Woody he was very much a

house lamb who enjoyed snuggling up on the sofa

Rom

a an

d h

er l

amb

s b

ein

g d

eliv

ered

to l

ife-

lon

g s

afet

y

Denise with Woody

Rom

a an

d h

er l

amb

s sh

ort

ly a

fter

arr

ivin

g w

ith

us

Page 3 VOLUME 6, ISSUE 4

or in front of the fire. He even enjoyed going for

walks on the lead and was certainly a very pam-

pered and loved boy. However, Denise knew that

as a flock animal Woody needed to be with other

sheep and a search on the internet led her to Flee-

cehaven.

Woody’s move to Fleecehaven must have come as

quite a shock to him, despite our best efforts to

afford him some of the creature comforts that he

had become used to. To start with he lived in our

utility room with access to the garden, not to men-

tion the rest of the house! As the weather im-

proved he moved into the animal ark in the garden

and began to spend more and more time with

Roma’s lambs and, as Denise had wished, he

started to behave more like a normal lamb. That

said, Woody is still incredibly tame and continues

to wander in and out of the house at will. He is a

little unsure about venturing out into the fields by

himself, although if accompanied out by one of us

he will usually explore the fields and sometimes

stay out for a short while by himself. It is remark-

able how well he has now settled into his new life

and even more remarkable when you think about

how close to death he was - he’s certainly one very

lucky lamb.

Finally, on the 19th May, we were joined by Pick-

les, Chutney, Marmalade and Honey. They were

brought to us by Zoe, who had initially contacted

Fleecehaven in December of last year when her

family found them-

selves no longer able

to look after their pet

sheep. At the time

we were unable to

assist, but we kept in

touch with Zoe.

Fortunately, she

managed to find

some temporary

accommodation for

her sheep in Somer-

set, close to where

she worked, and

moved them their

from their mid-

Devon home. How-

ever, in February Zoe

was asked to remove them from the land that she

was renting, as they had broken through a fence

and into a lady’s garden. A farmer helped Zoe out

and allowed her sheep to run with his, but this was

far from ideal for sheep that were really pets.

With the winter almost behind us and a little jug-

gling around of accommodation, we agreed that

we could finally take them on. However, for a

range of reasons, it was May before they made

their journey back to Devon.

On arrival, the four of them moved into the red

barn, whilst their programme of vaccinations was

completed. They settled very quickly and within

just a few hours were behaving as though they had

always been with us. They are wonderful charac-

ters who are now fully integrated with the rest of

the flock and very much enjoying life at Fleece-

haven.

With an unprecedented run of ‘new arrivals’ Flee-

cehaven really is now full, as we just don’t have

the man power, accommodation or finances to take

on any further sheep. This saddens us greatly, but

the welfare of the existing flock must come first

so, for the time being, there is no more room at the

inn.

Pickles and Marmalade lead

the way as Zoe’s sheep arrive

at Fleecehaven W

ood

y p

layin

g w

ith

Rose

and

Flo

ra i

n t

he

gar

den

W

ood

y m

akin

g h

imse

lf a

t

hom

e in

th

e kit

chen

Chu

tney

, M

arm

alad

e,

Pic

kle

s an

d H

on

ey s

hort

ly

afte

r ar

rivin

g a

t

Fle

eceh

aven

Page 4

Spring 2013

FLEECEHAVEN NEWS

Tiptoes smiling

Morgan enjoy-

ing some

spring grass

Bissy and Minty looking handsome

Jessie looking decidedly relaxed

Magic & Wizard in the orchard

Bassett waiting for treats in the garden

Lou Lou helping to tidy up

Henry and Leo heading home

Buster wondering whether or not

wellies are edible

Ruby waiting to go out

Chutney, Pickles,

Honey and

Marmalade exploring

their new home

VOLUME 6, ISSUE 4 Page 5

Woody fast asleep in

his bed

Phillip enjoying (?)

a pedicure

Blackie enjoying a drink from the

stream

Willaby Oak sunning himself

Woolly enjoying some Spring sunshine

Stevie leading the way home

Meals on wheels

Vashti & Jacqueline sunbathing

All rounded up and ready for crovecting

Raggy Sock and Dougal tucking

into breakfast

Little Rose check-

ing out the min-

eral lick

Page 6

Dearly Missed The Spring has very sadly seen us have to say

goodbye to two of our very special boys, Sammy

and Frosty.

Sammy was our gentle giant who always had a

beaming smile on his face. His antics in the yard

never failed to brighten up our days and he is

missed immensely by us all.

Dear Frosty was such a sweet natured boy, who

was always particularly gentle with sheep that

were poorly. He would snuggling up next to them

and show real concern for them. We all miss him

a great deal.

FLEECEHAVEN NEWS

Sm

ilin

g S

amm

y,

Ag

ed 1

9

A Sad Tale of Neglect

On 2nd April, Fleecehaven took in a very ne-

glected ewe. She was seen in a local field being

pecked at by crows who had cruelly started attack-

ing her eye; had she been left at their mercy for

much longer she would almost certainly have

died.

We gathered her up and took her back to the

safety of Fleecehaven in the hopes that we could

save her. In addition to her pecked eye, the poor

ewe was extremely weak due to malnutrition and

an infestation of worms. We put her in a stable

with thick bedding and a heat lamp and offered

her food, water and a high energy mineral lick.

She was attended to by our vet on a regular basis

and following antibiotics, pain relief, regular

cleansing of her

eye and worm-

ing, she initially

seemed to show

slow but en-

couraging signs

of improve-

ment. She was

eating small

amounts of

food, little and

often, and we

were also giv-

ing her life-aid

to try and help build her up during her recovery.

Our vet was even hopeful that she would not lose

the sight in her eye. However, she suddenly dete-

riorated, and after a ten day battle dear little April,

as we had called her, lost her fight and we had to

say goodbye. Dear April had touched all our

hearts in the short time that we knew her and it

was sad for us all. We were hopeful that she was

going to make it, but we take solace in the fact

that during the last few days of her life she knew

love and kindness and was treated with the care

and dignity that sheep deserve.

Dea

r F

rost

y,

Ag

ed 1

3

Ap

ril

enjo

yin

g t

he

com

fort

of

her

sta

ble

sh

ort

ly a

fter

we

resc

ued

her

Em

ma

giv

ing A

pri

l so

me

Lif

e A

id

News Bleat

VOLUME 6, ISSUE 4 Page 7

Thank Ewe Earlier this year, Fleecehaven was invited to attend

the Vegan Cafe and Bake Sale which was being

held in Exeter on 11th May. The event was being

organised by Clare of Fairfoods, a vegan and vege-

tarian catering company based in Mid Devon

(www.fairfoods.org.uk). Kerry, a Fleecehaven

supporter, had very kindly suggested that Fleece-

haven be the nominated charity for the event.

We took our table top stall to the event and had a

lovely day talking to lots of people who very much

supported the work of Fleecehaven. At the end of

the event we were totally overwhelmed by the

incredible generosity shown to Fleecehaven when

the profits raised by the event were presented to us

- a staggering £558.81! As a tiny, family run

charity the incredible sum raised left us totally

speechless. Such a large sum of money really

made a huge difference to us, every penny of

which was spent directly on the sheep. We would

like to once again thank Clare and everyone who

made the day such a resounding success - we will

be forever grateful.

The Spring

has, as always,

been a busy

time at Fleece-

haven. In

April, William

developed an

abscess on the

left side of his

face which

required vet-

erinary treat-

ment. The abscess was lanced and drained and he

was given antibiotics. For a period of time it was

necessary to flush out the wound on a daily basis

but thankfully it was not too long before he was

fully recovered.

During the 2nd and 3rd May the sheep all enjoyed

a pedicure. Considering how wet the winter had

been their feet were all in pretty good condition.

Most of the sheep were put into our turn-over crate

to enable us to fully inspect their feet, trim back

their claws and give their feet a good squirt of

antibiotic spray to eliminate any bacterial infec-

tion.

On the 2nd May, half of our fields were fertilised

and set aside to allow the fertiliser to be absorbed

in to t h e

ground. The

r e m a i n i n g

half was fer-

tilised on the

20th May,

when they

were then

closed off

and the origi-

nal half re-

opened. The

sheep absolutely adored the new, fresh, green grass

and hopefully it will continue to sustain them

throughout the summer months.

The Annual East Buckland Rogation Service, or-

ganisied by West Buckland School, took place on

5th May and, as has become traditional, the pro-

cession visited Fleecehaven. Part of the prayers

said included the following words:

‘We give thanks for the care and love shown for

your creation here at Howley Park, for Emma’s

care and dedication, and for all who are good

stewards of creation’. It is lovely to think that the school community

appreciates the work that is carried out at Fleece-

haven and that Emma’s constant care and dedica-

tion to the sheep is recognised.

William’s wound being flushed out

On

e of

ou

r sh

eep

bei

ng a

t-

ten

ded

to i

n t

he

turn

-over

cra

te

Tip

toes

, T

ink

erb

ell

and

Jes

sie

join

in

th

e

Rogat

ion

Ser

vic

e

Fertilising the fields

Visitors

‘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

Fundraising Events This year, our fundraising has got off to an early start with two

Spring Events. The first was the Uffculme Show on 6th May which

was a new event for us. It is the only planned event this year where

we were able to take our entire fundraising stall with us. After an

early start our stand was up and running and ready for business.

The weather was wonderful, but perhaps too good as the show was

fairly quiet. After a long day we returned home having just about

managed to cover our costs.

Our second event was the Bristol VegFest. Again we were blessed

with beautiful weather, but this time it didn’t appear to put off the

crowds. It was an extremely busy day, but it was lovely to talk to

so many like-minded people about the work of Fleecehaven and to

meet several of our sheep adopters. We certainly feel that this is a

good event for Fleecehaven and we look forward to returning next

year.

Future events include the Yealmpton

Show on 31st July, the Taunton Vegan

Food Fayre on 3rd August, the North

Devon Show on 7th August and the

Exeter Christmas Without Cruelty

Fayre on 30th November. We look

forward to hopefully seeing you there.

Page 8 FLEECEHAVEN NEWS

Once again it has been lovely to see so many friends of Fleecehaven

visiting during the Spring months. Brian and Sean, Katherine and Mark,

Yolanda and Daniel and Andrea are now all regular visitors and it is

always lovely to be able to share our work and passion for sheep with

them. Donna and Darren also visited and we were delighted to welcome

them to Fleecehaven for the first time.

Kat

her

ine

and M

ark

Dan

iel

and Y

ola

nda

Sean and Brian

Our stand at the Uffculume Show and Henry helping with Ring-a-Bottle

Our stall at the VegFest