Young Writers Society

Okay! I need three major things of information for my newest project! If anybody can help, I will love you forever. Or something like that.

1. Sheep

Do any of you have any personal experiences with sheep? Have you experience in herding them? Do you know about it, for some bizarre reason? I'm particularly interested in how you take care of them, what feed and grass they usually eat, and generally just information to raise sheep.


2. Weaving

Okay, so we have a lot of sheep in this story, no? This brings way to the next thing. I need my characters to be able to use this wool. They have to be self-sufficient, spinning the wool into a product they can actually use, making thread, and then weaving this material into clothes and blankets and fabric. Unfortunately for me, this is set in medieval times, so I have to know the old way to do this.

I am interested in any experiences you've had with any of this, or just general experiences.

3. Serfdom

This is a little more complicated. Since this is set in medieval times, there is feudalism going on. If anybody has any information relating to how lords acted and how serfs were treated, I would love you to death. Any information would be lovely here.

Also, I have a question. The term "feudalism" didn't come about until the French used it, to make fun of medieval societal structure. What should I call it? Patronages? Lordships? Vassalships? Something else? Any brainstorms on that would be quite helpful.

Thanks a lot in advanced!

Okay, I don't know... too much about any of this, but I'll do my best.

My brother worked at a greenhouse/farm for a couple of years, and he got experience with exactly one sheep. Apparently, sheep are stupid. I mean, like dumber than any mammal should be. They stare blankly, they're directionless, they don't learn anything by repetition (as opposed to cows, which will move toward the barn instinctively at the end of the day), they're just really, really stupid. (It gives you a new perspective on why God is always comparing us to sheep!) As for herding them, I'm afraid I can't help you there, except for this: Be careful when herding them near water, because they fall in and drown. Dumb sheep!

As for weaving, I really don't know. I think it's time to Google it and see what you get.

Oh... drat. I like the word feudalism. Of course, if it's a fantasy story you could go ahead and use it, but if not...
Anyway, all that I really know about feudalism is that the country was own in large chunks by the lords. They owned the castles, which were the places everyone went when war threatened. Otherwise, the different castes of people under the lord had smaller and smaller pieces of land and less and less power. The lowliest serfs were basically slaves. And ultimately, everything belonged to the lords. If you shot a deer without his permission, you could be put to death.

So yeah, that's all I know about sheep and feudalism. Hope it helped!

I have some experience with sheep/goats/etc from my days on the Kibbutz in Israel. Ask me specific questions and I may be able to help you answer them (or find someone who can) but then again, I may not. We'll see.

Ok...

I have a few hundred sheep on my farm, so i know bascally everything about them.
I'll try and cut it down a bit.

OK, sheep are herd animals, they like to stay together. You may see sheep following each other in a line. This is all in their instincts.
Sheep are kept on grassy fields. Hill breeds such as Blackface are kept on hilly ground, and lowland breeds like Texels are kept on flat, lower fields.
Hill breeds, Blackface sheep for example, are quite short. This is to aid survival as they need less energy to keep them warm as they are smaller. Lowland breeds are taller and have less wool. This is because they have higher quality food and more of it. The weather conditions are also warmer in lowland conditions.

Herding sheep is usually done my a farmer and a sheepdog, usually a Border Collie. Some farmers also use a quad bike. Sheep are generally easy to herd, but sometimes a few of them can dart out of the flock.

On my farm, sheep usually eat a diet of grass, silage or hay(in the winter) and meal. Meal helps keep them in tip top condition. We also provide lick buckets. These contain minerals so that the sheep are not lacking in anything.

Sheep are dosed for worms regularly. They are also injected against many diseases.

We lamb the sheep in a shed. This is easier as you don't have bad weather conditions to deal with and you don't have to chase around the field after the sheep. When the lambs are strong enough, they are put out to grass with their mothers, and checked everyday.

Sheep are clipped every year. This is so they don't overheat. Sheep used to be able to moult themselves, but farmers didn't want the wool strewn all over their fields so over time, this quality was removed from sheep. Some rare breeds however, still have this quality.

I hope i have provided you with some useful information, and if you need anymore, feel free to contact me.

xX-Oo

Wiki, this post is from three years ago. Remember to check the date on topics and don't bring them up from the dark, murky depths of the forum. It's usually pointless as the member's moved onto other projects.