Valkyrie, Ewe of Many Horns

This is Cedar Pond's Valkyrie [ B083-08 ]. She has 5 distinct and broad horns. Valkyrie is a ewe who , with the exception of her horns, looks very, very much like her mother and her mother's half sister. They both came from Bide-a-wee Jacobs in Oregon.
Here is Cedar Pond's Goth,[ D021-06 ] the father of Valkyrie. He has 4 very large and strong horns and is himself the son of a ewe who had 5 distinct and large horns. Her name is Cedar Pond's Tiara.[ C048-03 ]
Here is a picture of Valkyrie's mother, Bide-a-wee Buttercup [A088-06 ] pictured with last spring's lamb, sibling to Valkyrie. Both Buttercup and her half sister Chicory are the daughters of a ram ( Huntsberger Royal [FF095-03 ]) Karen Lobb and Doug Montgomery purchased from a flock of sheep that have a very interesting history . There is an article in a JSBA newsletter about this flock being rounded up on an island , Butter Island, off the coast of Maine after living there for a few years. They subsisted and thrived solely on what was growing on the island, proving to me that this primitive breed is well suited to living on land that could not adequately feed most modern and "improved" breeds of sheep today. Anyway, I digress, but hope to get back soon to post about this interesting bit of history regarding my favorite breed of sheep, and particularly MY sheep.

Here is Valkyrie at a few months of age.

As you can see, the last two photos show her distinct 5 horns, and the first photo was taken last month showing the horns are broadening and getting longer.As she is not yet 2 years old I think her horns are very large for a ewe and am curious about how the horns will fill her head and possibly fuse as the years go by.

I love the diversity of horns, spots, wool type and texture my flock of Jacob Sheep provide. After having Jacob sheep for almost 20 years now I am still not tired of having them and look forward to 20 more years with this remarkable breed of sheep.

Swallow Lane Barnaby, My New Ram!

This is Swallow Lane Barnaby, my new ram. He is still a lamb, but a very well-mannered ram lamb. He is very friendly and tends to snuggle up next to me as I wheel in the days' alfalfa. Isn't he handsome?
This is his first day here, where I confined him with Black Bart, my Welsh / Jacob cross wether. Since Barnaby got along well with Bart I knew he would do fine and dandy with the rest of the flock.
And he did! " When selecting a ram it becomes exceedingly important to choose one that has evenly balanced well spaced horns. The spacing of the bases of the horns is crucial to the direction of the adult ram's head. As the ram matures these horn core bases enlarge in cross section and can become so large in diameter they can impair a ram's hearing if they sweep back and around close to the ram's ears. This would also narrow the air space between the horn shaft and the cheek / or jaw bone. The horn will impair proper movement of the jaw or worse, penetrate the cheek and skull. It is for these reasons that only rams , whether two-horned or multiple horned , should be chosen that have wide sweeping horns in two and four-horned and flesh in between upper and lower bases..." Ingrid Painter~ Jacob Sheep In America

Barnaby seems to exemplify the most desired physical traits of a good Jacob Ram!

Red Dog Retrieves!

O.K. She is not red, but red-gold. Beatrix, my beloved and adoring Labrador retriever ( shown here with my hubby ) is fanatic about retrieving. All my Labs are! Below is a video of Beatrix retrieving a tennis ball from the lake at our family 4th of July celebration. This is one of many, many retrieves and often she swam quite far out into the lake, in the boating lanes, to dutifully retrieve the tennis ball. Beatrix's mother, sister, and fellow canines here at Cedar Pond ALL will throw themselves into any body of water or field to retrieve a mere tennis ball for me. I love my dogs, I love retrievers!

Wheelbarrow Baas

Oh, the sound of baas in the morning as the sheep await their feeding. If only this were the only time of the day this noise erupts. No, oh no! Every time they hear a wheelbarrow, and I mean EVERY time, they begin this cacophony of baas. Often, with hay in their mouths too.

Oh, the sheep , in their sheepy brains think, " I hear the wheelbarrow! Hay!!!! Baaaa!!!" And baa they do, as you can hear for yourself. Never mind their stomachs and mouths are full, the wheelbarrow is in motion! Kind of like the response a person gets with the sound of opening a candy package in the midst of a throng of children.

Enjoy our Wheelbarrow Baas!

Swallow Lane Torque, back from the taxidermist and hanging on the wall. Now we can admire his magnificent horns, without being in danger of being killed by them. Doesn't he look majestic?

My husband told the grandchildren the rest of him was in the bathroom behind his head..and they looked for the hindquarters! They are thankful Torque is no longer alive because they had reason to fear Torque, which is the number one reason he no longer lives!

Torque is the father of Cedar Pond's Goth, and Goth is still an average temperament ram. I would never trust him, but he does not trouble himself to try to kill me. As long as he remains a 'typical' ram, he does not need to worry about joining his father on the wall!

Goth's Daughters Venture Out...Wisconsin?

I'm going to Wisconsin? Yup! ( ewe lamb is from Bide-A-Wee Chicory & Cedar Pond's Goth)

You and your half sister ( Cedar Pond's Leah & Cedar Pond's Goth ) are embarking on an adventure with your new family. You get to help start a flock of Jacob sheep in Wisconsin! I am expecting you young ladies to be every bit as wonderful as your moms and may your sons have the awesome horns of your father, Goth! Be good girls, be productive girls...I will miss you.

Cedar Pond'sVandal

Cedar Pond's Vandal
born 4/9/2009 ( B013-09)
Cedar Pond's Goth ( D021-06) X bide a wee Chicory ( A087-06)

I took this picture of Vandal today. I am still amazed at his size since he is only 13 months old! Size wise and horn size too, he seems to be taking after his father, Goth. Vandal had a very beautiful and abundant fleece for a lamb too! I wish I could keep him, but he is so related to most of my flock....however, if he lingers here at Cedar Pond I think he will find a way to sire a few lambs in spite of my precautions, which could get him into a lot of trouble with his father.