Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Saying Good Bye to Ram Lamb

~This is the first lamb to leave home. He went home with a family just starting out with Jacob sheep. They are pretty excited about Jacobs and I sent them home with some information and resources that should be helpful. This ram lamb is a large lamb and his horns are looking pretty good. He is weaned and eating a LOT of alfalfa .....actually able to claim large portions of alfalfa and keep the other lambs and yearling ewes away while he eats his fill. That is why I decided he did not need his mom any more...and I think she is doing better without him, she might disagree. But after 1 day of separation she did not seem too distressed. Neither did he, for he had all the alfalfa he could eat and the best spot around to sleep in.
~The other reason I decided he needed to be sold was because he was butting heads with the wethers and older ewes and I was afraid he would damage his horns. He already knocked the left center horn a bit more sideways in his enthusiastic ramming.It WAS pointing north,like it's partner, perfectly straight! Hopefully he will grow and thrive and be the big ram he seems destined to be.
~His mother is Bide-A-Wee's Buttercup. She is out of one of the Bide-A-Wee ewes and a Huntsberger Ram, Huntsberger Royal. Buttercup is the ewe on the left, her half sister, Chicory is the ewe in the middle. I have a terrible time telling these girls apart, because even though they are only half sisters. They are almost identical in everything! Their lambs are very much alike too! And since they have managed to dislodge most of their I.D. tags I have been relying on older pictures to help make sure I am being accurate in recording data about them. I have never in 20 years had so much trouble telling any of my sheep apart. I keep wondering if it is the Huntsberger line, or if the Bide-A-Wee ewe moms were also identical enough to cause this extreme similarity....anyone know? And it is not just markings that cause me a bit of confusion...their mannerisms, baas, friendliness, etc. contribute to the similarities.
~Here is the lamb's sire, Cedar Pond's Goth. I have no trouble at all identifying him!~

4 comments:

  1. Your Blog is very nice. I really enjoyed looking at it
    Robin

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  2. Congrats on the selling of the ram lamb, just sold a bred doe today!

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  3. Thank-you Robin! And Amy, congratulations to you too!Gotta get your flock down so it will be easy for whomever you leave behind to card for all the goats!

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  4. LOL!!! I like to fantasize about being a country girl but those horns sure look intimidating to me :-)

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