A luxurious new sheep shelter

Our Shetland sheep have had a rest from breeding this year. We missed lambing, but it made for a much less stressful Easter period.

We thought we would lose Rambo, our ram, as he lost a lot of weight over winter. We've changed his wormer and our shearer gave him a vitamin and mineral drench. This seems to have halted the weight loss, though he's not really putting it back on either.

Shetland sheep are remarkably hardy. Rain, wind and snow are nothing to them. In fact they look their most uncomfortable during the summer when the sun beats down. There's not really any shade for them as we can't put them in under the trees - the trees wouldn't last very long at all.

This small paddock near the house provides perfect shade
but only enough grass for about three days.
The sheep appreciate being sheared in late May so they don't overheat.

I've been turning ideas for shelters around in my head. Last year I got hold of some large corrugated roofing sheets. They're second hand but they don't need to be perfect. I don't want to spend a fortune as the sheep pasture is divided into six small paddocks and I'd like some shelter in at least half of them. It will need to stand up to strong winds, sheep scratching and maybe the occasional bout of being rammed by the rams.

I came up with a good design when we constructed the new fenced paddock last year and I did start on adapting this for a more open situation but the ground was rock hard and the job became consigned to the ever expanding to do list.

The corrugated metal sheets became temporary ground cover around the cabin. Until yesterday that is, when a marathon clearing session with the scythe reminded me they were there. On the spur of the moment I decided it was time to sort out a design for the sheep shelters. 

I usually start with an idea in my head and adapt the design as I go along to fit the materials available.

After a couple of hours, using just four wooden posts, four wooden pallets, a couple of lengths of wood and two corrugated sheets, the shelter was complete. When they've munched their current paddock I'll move the sheep in to test the design.

If all goes well I'll start on more shelters. They will be easier with the design now worked out.

A new sheep shelter.
Easy to build, £12 for posts, £6 for corrugated roof, £4 for wood, pallets free + nails and screws.
The key to the design is the wood both below and above the corrugated sheets so the wind can't take them (hopefully!) The one I built last year easily survived 60mph wins.

It was a beautiful day for working outside. There's  not much better than working in the fresh air under our uninterrupted fenland skies.

You'll know how into nature I am. I am happy to just admire, but I've resolved to try to learn a few more identifications. So if I see something which is new to me or which I can't put a name to, I am taking the time to look it up and learn a little more about the fauna an flora around me.

Today's find was a cluster of these delightfully cute beetles on one of the pallets I was using to construct the sheep shelter. A few scuttle off before i could get a picture.
They are in fact 16 spot ladybirds. They are just a few mm long. The feed on pollen, fungi and nectar.