Now you can feed a flock of sheep with Bitcoin – Decrypt

In brief

On a small plot of land in the Czech Republic, Karel and Kamila Bhm have a small flock of small sheep. And these small sheep love crypto.

Of course, the way to a sheeps affections is through its stomach, so IT network engineer Karel has set up a crypto-powered interactive sheep feeder. Donations of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency are converted into alfalfa pellets; the action is live-streamed on YouTube and Twitch, so donors can watch the antics of the sheep as they scramble for the feed.

Sheepish antics can be viewed from a variety of camera angles. (Image: Karel Bhm)

A donation of 50 Twitch bits ($0.60) paid for in Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Litecoin (LTC), or Ripples XRP triggers the tap in the sheep shed to release the tasty morsels. Or users can contribute $0.50 in crypto directly by scanning a QR code on the livestream, or donating to one of the wallet addresses Bhm has supplied.

Bhm introduced the five popular cryptocurrencies last month, and has also set up payment with Bitcoins scaling solution, the Lightning Network (LN). If they have a Lightning wallet, users need only scan the QR code, speeding things up for both Bitcoin-loving humans and sheep.

The engineer told Decrypt that he started his crypto experiment in 2018 to help his wife care for the eight Ouessant sheep she adopted. But the project began with another cryptocurrency altogetherIota, which has been designed for the Internet of Things. It was originally dubbed the SheepTangle, after the network's distributed ledger, the Tangle.

Donors can activate an alarm to call the sheep in from the field to be fed. (Image: Karel Bhm)

However, when the Iota Foundation switched off the network in February following a hack, (its due to come back on next week) Bhm didnt want to abandon the experiment, so he cast his net wide.

But when asked which cryptocurrency brings in the most donations, he was coy. He said that the project hadnt been running for long enough to establish that, and users were currently only funding around 20 feeds a day. Pressed, he told Decrypt that ETH, LTC and BTC LN, were currently the cryptocurrencies most used.

Scene of the all the action: the sheep shed in the couple's back yard. (Image: Karel Bhm)

As well as feeding the sheep, users can also earn sheep points just by watching the live feed. And there are special bonuses for watch streaks and for participating in a raid on the sheep shed, when its cleaned out.

Not only that, donors can activate an alarm to call the sheep in from the field to be fed, and switch camera views to get the best angle on the ensuing scramble for alfalfa.

Bhm is now working on an apple drop feature, which sheep also love, he said. The sheep continue to eat their staples, hay and grass, so the additional food is a treat.

Bhm also adheres to strict sheep feeding hours, from 8-20 CET time, and said that the system is designed to deliver a maximum of 100 feed drops per day, before feeding is stopped.

There is limitation and [the] whole solution is designed for sheep safety, so theyre not overfed or fed during sleeping hours.

The sheep shed cant really be described as a farm. Ouessant sheep are some of the smallest in the world. The sheepVlnka, Pepinka, Paja, Mufi, Marii, Jannet, Kiki and Julianaprovide no milk, and little wool, so the couple make no money from the enterprise. They also look after five injured birds: three wild buzzards and two hawks.

The latter feed on chicks. Thankfully, Bhm has no plans to instal a live feed in their cage.

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Now you can feed a flock of sheep with Bitcoin - Decrypt