Outsmarting the Smarty Sheeps

This weekend the boys were due for hoof trimming.
And usually I depend on being able to entice them into the shed with some of their favorite branches (apple, rose, salmonberry) and shut the door on them while they are happily munching away.

But some of the guys are getting wise.
Especially Frank and Griff.
They are very reluctant to go into the shed for snacks as long as I remain anywhere near the gate.

So this time, I decided I needed to try a new strategy.

Misdirection.

Here’s the setup:

Gate open and unstopped (usually a rock is holding it open), rope fastened around latch post and back across shed to where I am lying in wait.

Sheep go in to get goodies in the feeder, and I slowly

close the door

behind them.

Tricky, eh?

Yeah, I was pretty darn proud of myself. Outsmarting the smartysheeps 🙂

Note: there are no sheep in the shed in these photos because I reenacted the scheme for the blog- I figured they’d be really suspicious if The Man was there documenting during the real round-up.

Anyhoo, if was good to spend a little quality time with the sheep today. Got me thinking that I should finish combing up the Frank and Felix wool I have from last year’s shearing- so I did some of that this afternoon.

And we also made a little headway on the spinning wheel project.
Maple cut to size for the base.

Next up is figuring out the right shape and placement for the treadle.