My Sheep in June 2015

 I have a new ram ! My husband & I made a day of it and drove to Oregon awhile ago to buy a new ram from Ingrid Painter of Puddleduck Farm. I cannot adequately express what a delightful time we had with Ingrid and her family as we shared a lunch provided by them and talked sheep ! Can I just say it is rare for me to be able to unashamedly talk sheep with people for a bit and I get so excited and inspired when I do. ( I suspect my husband does too but he's more quiet about it ! ) This is Puddleduck Jonas and his sire is a Huntsberger ram, all the more thrilling for me. I am looking forward to next spring's lambs. Jonas has settled in here quite easily and is a fairly mellow ram .YAY !!!!

 This is my 2 year old ewe Teekah. Teekah is a trade for a ram we raised. ( Cedar Pond's Barbarian ) and is his daughter. I am going to sell Teekah because I have too many sheep and with the exception of our 10 year old Buttercup I don't keep 2 horned Jacob sheep in preference for the 4 horned. If I desired more 2 horned sheep she would be a keeper !

 This is Teekah's ewe ( girl) lamb, also 2 horned.

 Two of my older ewes are shown in this picture. The ewe looking straight on in the background is 10 year old Sassafras who had a nice ewe lamb this spring. The ewe in the middle looking at me is Naomi ...

.... who is 14 or 15 years old. She has no more teeth, has not lambed for 2 years , and a month ago I thought she was going to lay down and die. She rallied though and is now going strong. Her fleece is terrible and the only reason I keep her is for sentimental ones. My first sheep are now old, a few have passed away and I am still excited about keeping Jacob sheep. God is so good to me, silly sheep that I am, and He is a good Shepherd. If only I could emulate him a fraction in His good care, but I try !

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 !

 Shadow Mountain's Tonkin-Landon.

 He is my new and very productive ram, barely 1 year old.

Tonkin sired a few lambs this year, and most of them are keepers. Thanks Mary!

Shadow Mountain Landon ~ New Ram

My new ram lamb,Shadow Mountain Landon from Mary Tonkin's flock, Shadow Mountain Jacobs.*

~photo courtesy of Mary Tonkin ~

Big Game Hunt! Bag A 4-Horned Ram,But Not Here~

I found the video below on You-Tube. Big game hunt...4 horned rams! These guys hunted and bagged a 4 horn ram! I have a few of these eating alfalfa in back of my house....you will note I have a very BIG 4-horned ram wearing a black leather mask too. ( Goth would appreciate these guys not stalking him here)