Thursday, December 18, 2014

Cedar Pond Jacob Sheep in December

 Blitzen is a wether ( castrated ram lamb ) . His side horns are growing too near his face and need to be kept trimmed to prevent them from growing into his face. Castrating a ram prevents not only the obvious, but also dramatically slows down his horn growth, making it manageable to keep the horns trimmed. We decided to keep and halter train him because he has a really sweet and friendly personality. He likes being around people, and having a few soda crackers to offer him only encourages him all the more.
 This is Tasha, she is a lilac Jacob Sheep. She has funny horns, kind of like bug antennae !
 Naomi is my very old sheep. I stopped breeding her 2 years ago when she began needing assistance for her lambings, and raising her own lambs took so much out of her I could watch her condition deteriorate even with increased food rations. My ram , Tonkin, is pretty interested in her, you can see him behind her on the other side of the fence.

 Sassafras is a spunky sheep with a primitive wool coat. She grows a mane , a trait of the more primitive Jacob Sheep. She is a very good mama .
Teekah  is the lamb I chose in a trade for a ram I wish I could have kept , Barbarian. Barbarian is thriving at his new home and Teekah is a good trade I think. Love the spot near her right horn and her little spotted mouth making her appear to smile.

As the weather gets colder my sheep are more frisky. On cool sunny days they run around and leap over logs and each other. Soon I will have them sheared and in late February through April I look forward to new lambs!

I am participating in a  Blog Hop via*Homeacre Farm Hop , and hope you click on this link and check out all the wonderful and helpful blogs about all things homesteading & farming.

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Help ! I'm Tangled And I Can't Get Up ! ( Poor Goth )

 Poor Goth...
 ... he is tangled up in his own horns again, and with an audience in the background this must be humbling for a big strong ram !

 See how his right leg is caught up in the curl of his horn ?
 When we go to help him he hobbles up and around as quickly as a 3 legged ram is able to , which is not very fast at all.
Poor Goth ! It is easy to catch him and disentangle his foot and horn but this is an ongoing problem for him. I don't foresee it not being a problem the rest of his life because the horn is curling ever more making it a perfect snare for his foot , which I believe becomes tangled when Goth sleeps at night. All the more reason so many farmers over the years have polled ( hornless ) animals because keeping animals with horns requires extra management and safety precautions. We love Goth and hope he dies of old age here on Cedar Pond though, so we don't mind the extra management But...poor Goth !

Friday, March 14, 2014

New Lambs !

 Bide-a-wee Buttercup and her new ewe lamb , born this afternoon. Three lams were born within the last 24 hours , I have 5 more ewes left to lamb. This little ewe lamb was sired by Cedar Pond's Goth.
 Cedar Pond's Mahlon was the first ewe to have her lamb. A handsome ram lamb sired by Shadow Mountain Tonkin. His 4 horns are already protruding . I think he'll have 4 very nice horns.
 This little ewe lamb was the second lamb born , also sired by Shadow Mountain Tonkin .
 Buttercup and her new ewe lamb.
I love this time of the year !

Sunday, February 16, 2014

New Dog To Help





Whimsy-Two is my German shepherd puppy. She is 7 months old now and my hope is she'll become a good herding dog for me . She is already a good companion for my husband and myself . My plan is to take her to herding classes when the weather gets better, meanwhile , I have her in with me as I work with my sheep . I think she'll do very well.

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Cedar Pond's Brigida

 The ewes are fluffy and hopefully will lamb in late February and early March. I did not put any ewes with my rams until late in September, with the exception of my cross-bred ewe Delilah who is due to lamb anytime now.
 This is cedar Pond's Brigida, daughter of Cedar Pond's Goth & Bide-a-wee Buttercup.
 Brigida looks like a 2 horned ewe but actually has 4 horns.
 2 horns on each side of her head fused making the 4 horns appear to be 2 very nicely curved strong horns. Brigida is a tall lanky Jacob sheep, like her mother.
Cedar Pond's Brigida .