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 !

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!