Searching for the Perfect Ram

Posted on August 10, 2015 by Robin

It’s the time of year when I need to sell sheep. I want to get numbers down to 50 or so ewes by early October when breeding season begins. I have just separated the March ram lambs from the ewes and am now evaluating them as prospective breeding rams. It’s hard to find that perfect ram. Unfortunately I don’t have the space to keep these rams around for 6-8 more months to see how they look as they get a little older. That’s too bad, because I’d rather be able to choose by seeing them with a little more maturity. (By the way the red in all these photos is marking crayon, not blood.) This ram (15045) has a fabulous horn spread–no chance of those horns growing into his face. He has lilac (gray-brown) markings and a good spotting pattern. But my notes say his fleece is so-so. I think I’ll have to check again because everything else looks great. This ram’s horns automatically disqualify him for remaining in my flock. They are fusing at the base and I don’t like the “weepiness” that happens at the join between the horns–it is an area that attracts flies and that can lead to flystrike. Besides if they are already fused at this young age there is a good chance that the upper horns may cut off the blood supply to the lower ones which will weaken and be broken off.Here is another one with the same problem. No matter how much I might like his markings and fleece, I don’t like the horns. I had my eye on this ram (15054) because I like his wool but his horns are all white which makes him ineligible for registration…

…and I aso discovered that he is missing something down below. Well, it’s not completely missing, just about half size.So here’s a ram (15061) with nice horns and a decent fleece, but to register a ram he needs between 15% and 85% color.

Looking from this side he doesn’t have that and he doesn’t have much more color on the other side.This ram (15062) has plenty of color, but his horns are much too narrow. They will grow right into his neck or face as they grow larger.

Here is another with good color, but those horns are even more fused than the ones above. See that 5th horn on the right (the ram’s left side)? People like to say that Jacob sheep can have 6 horns, but I have never seen one with 6 good horns. This is more my experience. Here is a ram (15030) with decent horn spacing and nice fleece. There is a bit of a problem with the lower horns because at this time they look as though they are going to grow right into his jaw. Sometimes horns with a tight curl like that get broken off when the ram is still young and then they grow out OK. Whether or not his horns would turn out all right, upon closer inspection (hands-on) I discovered that this ram has freckled fleece. That makes a gorgeous handspinning fleece, but it is not appropriate for a breeding ram, and in fact, the JSBA Breed Standard states that “excessive freckling in the white wool of young animals” makes them ineligible for registration.

How about this ram (15070)? Widespread horns. Not a lot of color but it is over 15% and passable (I think). But I haven’t really considered him because he is so much smaller than the other sheep. Granted, he is younger than many, but I don’t want to choose one of the smaller rams in the lamb crop as my breeding ram. This is where being able to keep them awhile longer might aid in evaluation. 15022-head That 2-horn ram (15022) in the middle is a good sized lilac ram and we all had our eyes on him from the beginning. Unfortunately I think that his horn set is also narrow. This is another one that could benefit from time to find out how the horns actually do grow out.

15025-rt Here is a ram (15025) that might make a nice ram to keep. The two-horn ram in the middle of this photo is Nash, a lilac ram with nice horns and a beautiful fleece. He was Champion Ram at Black Sheep Gathering in June.

The rest of the ram lambs are shown at this link. However I haven’t updated some of the listings with new photos. I will be removing some of the rams from that page now that I have evaluated them further.

Fuzzy Ram Horns

Posted on May 4, 2015 by Robin

It’s hard to believe that these two rams were born just over a year ago. This year’s rams will look like that next year. But for now… fuzzy ram horns …it’s hard to look tough when you have fuzz on your horns.

Sheep Grow Up

Posted on July 20, 2014 by Robin

I didn’t get around to registering most of the lambs that I kept last year. JSBA was in transition from me being the Registrar to having an outside organization handle it. So I waited. Why add more workload? Besides, the applications can now be submitted electronically (no more printing lots of photos for each sheep) and photos will show up on the registration certificates. Here are the sheep that I submitted, now yearlings. Meridian Santana = Puddleduck Sullivan x Genesis Farms Belinda Meridian Alex = Kenleigh’s Matrix x Meridian Alexandria Meridian Lana = Meridian Fogerty x Meridian Loretta Meridian Raquel= Meridian Miller x Meridian Rosie Meridian Cascade = Meridian Miller x Meridian Sierra Meridian Mae = Meridian Miller x Meridian MaryMeridian Sophia = Kenleigh’s Matrix x Meridian JazzThis is Marilyn who was registered last year so I didn’t get a new photo of her. This photo is before shearing her as a lamb. Marilyn = Meridian Miller x Meridian Hot Lips.This is some of Marilyn’s wool. I am spinning her fleece now during the Tour de France as part of Meridian Jacob’s unofficial Tour de Fleece group on Ravelry. Join us!

Who will the 2014 keepers be?This is one. Meridian Ginny = Meridian Hendrix x Mud Ranch’s GinsengMaybe this one shown with her mom. Not named yet = Meridian Miller x Meridian Vicki. Meridian Miller x Meridian JaneMeridian Hendrix x Meridian Alison

Lambs Grow Up

Posted on January 6, 2014 by Robin

Lambs will be here at the end of February and I have been thinking about how fast they grow. Here are some of the 2013 favorite lambs as they grew up.

This is Marilyn with her mom, Hot Lips. 2 1/2 weeks old. First in her class at Black Sheep Gathering, 4 months old. Marilyn at 8 months old. Isn’t she pretty? Santana at 10 days old. About a month old. Not quite two months old. 5 1/2 months old with a great horn spread. Santana with his ewes 7 1/2 months old. That’s Alex on the right at about 10 days old. Not much color on that side. Fortunately he has more on the other. 019 About 4 months old. About 8 months old.Alex after shearing, 9 months.This is Cascade at 10 days old.Two months old. 022 Here she is at 7 1/2 months.

Red & Green in October

Posted on October 16, 2013 by Robin

I put the rams in with the ewes on October 1. This is Day 16 so it’s time to change the marker. The ewe’s heat cycle averages 17 days. If one of the previously marked ewes is remarked then I know that she wasn’t bred in the first cycle. If multiple ewes are remarked I may have a ram fertility problem. I changed the markers for all four rams from red to green. Hendrix was not very happy about being tied up.

All he wanted was to get back to the ewe in heat. The young ram, now named Santana, (second from right) wasn’t put in with the ewes until October 7 but several ewes have been marked. As I was working with the sheep I heard geese honking. It’s that time of year.And here is the gorgeous evening sky.

Breeding Season

Posted on October 8, 2013 by Robin

It’s time to think ahead five months to lambs. But that won’t happen if I don’t do something about it now. What with events and classes the last few weeks it was hard to get all the rams and ewes sorted into the right places but they are there now. Faulkner’s ewes were first to sort because at least I knew where I would put them. They are staying in Faulkner’s pen. He has 7 ewes. Hendrix, with 18 ewes, tried to get started right away. He didn’t choose the right ewe. Miller, with 9 ewes, had no problem figuring it out. Each ram wears a marking harness so that I know when each ewe is bred. I will change the markers to another color after two weeks. If the ewes are marked again then there may be a problem with ram fertility. Presley is another adult ram but I don’t plan to use him because he is closely related to the others. (He is for sale.) He was hopeful when I moved him to another pen, but he gave up after finding that there were only ram lambs. I wanted to use one of this year’s ram lambs for the fourth group of ewes. I had a hard time choosing among the rams I have saved. My first choice was a four-horn ram lamb who I think has promise and also placed well at the summer shows. Unfortunately, he was very sick with bluetongue (insect transmitted virus common in the fall) a few weeks ago. He pulled through (I lost two others) but with the 106+ temperature I can not be sure that he is fertile. He may have his chance next year, but this year I needed to find another ram. I chose a two-horn ram whose wool I like. He wasn’t happy about the whole thing. The ewes were a little rough on him the first day. I could just hear the comments under their breaths “little pipsqueak”, “a lot of gall thinking he can handle us”, “take that” (rib-bashing)There were times when I thought that this ram would do OK, but most of the time I found him lying down away from the ewes. I started to wonder if he also had bluetongue because he acted so depressed and showed no interest in food or the ewes. I finally removed him and chose a second ram. Now I think that he just wasn’t ready to breed and the ewes knew that and beat him up. Most Jacob rams are ready to breed at six months, but not always. This guy seems to be interested and ready to go. 13022 He weighs less than all these ewes but that doesn’t seem to bother him (or the ewes). Hendrix has been with his ewes for a week and seven are marked.Miller has five marked.Poor Amaryllis is exiled for the moment. I don’t want the rams fighting through the fence so they are all in areas with no fence-line contact. Besides the four ram groups there are the non-breeding ewes (spring lambs, summer-lambing ewes, cull lambs) and non-breeding rams. That doesn’t leave much space for Amaryllis since she has to be on a grass hay diet without pasture (she broke the grazing muzzle) or alfalfa. So she has her own corral for the moment.

Camera Shy Rams

Posted on July 2, 2013 by Robin

I was trying to take ram photos today. It’s frustrating because they all stay in one cluster. I think part of that is due to the flies that bother the sheep this time of year. They stand together with their heads down. This isn’t exactly the kind of photo I’m looking for.Or this. Rusty and rams Rusty helps move them around.I had the best luck getting photos of this ram with the white horns, but he is not one I’m keeping for a couple of reasons. His lower right horn was already cut to keep it from growing into his cheek. The lower left is almost growing into his jaw and will need to be cut. He also shows no respect for people and as he gets older I think he could become a danger. Both rams in this photo are a year old, born at last year’s State Fair in July. I am keeping Hendrix, the one with the black horns, at least for now. He just recently broke his top horns which is unusual for an adult ram.This is a photo of the same ram taken in February. Do you see those ridges on all the horns a few inches from his head? There must have been some kind of stress (illness, parasites??) at that point in growth that results in a weak place in the horns. Now, as he fights or……rubs on a tree (even with electric fence there…ACHHH!) those horns have broken off where they were weak. (Also notice how far out they have grown since February.)

While we’re looking closely at ram horns… butcher ram … take a closer look at the ram with the white horns.

So after dozens of photos this morning I didn’t end up with the full body shots I had hoped for. I have a few head portraits. Hendrix (Mud Ranch’s Hudson x Meridian Shelby)Miller (M. Clapton x M. Mable)Presley (Sweetgrass Clint x M. Vicki) Larry Larry (Ruby Peak Linden x M. Spring)

The Bone Yard

Posted on April 11, 2013 by Robin

I was cleaning the barn before Meet the Sheep and gathered up all the skulls and horns that I had collected over the years.

I took advantage of the sunny day to clean everything and I matched up horns to skulls. I sold the two horn skulls already, but the 4-horn skulls are for sale on my website.

What do I do with these horns?Here is something that I think is interesting. Take a look at these horns in these two photos: I measured the horns so that I could describe them on my website. The horns in the first photo are 23″ long and they measure 9″ around at the base. The horns in the second photo are 24″ long and measure 10″ around. I never think of the curled horns as being as long as the upright ones, but it makes sense that they are.

For comparison, the longest horn on the skull at the top of this post is 20″ and the lower horns are 13″. The longest horn on the second skull is 28″. The longest horn on the second 2-horn skull is 31″ and on the last skull is 21″.

Ultrasounds and other veterinary observations

Posted on December 20, 2012 by Robin

The veterinarians from UC Davis VMTH were here on Monday. The VMTH sponsors the State Fair Nursery so they will come here to ultrasound ewes. I will be breeding 3 or 4 ewes at the same time as all the others are lambing. This fall, while I was breeding ewes to 6 different rams I also had a non-breeding group. Unfortunately, one of the rams got in with that group on the last day of my breeding season. I gave the 2 ewes he bred the sheep equivalent of the morning-after pill, so Monday was the day to see if it had worked.

No! Shelby is pregnant with a single and Mary has triplets. I think this is the photo of triplets. (If you must know, I can’t always tell what I’m seeing in these.) By the way, a lamb at 42 days gestation is about the size of a gummy bear. That’s not something that you find in a veterinary text, but vet students have pointed out the relationship to their teachers.

Here is one that I could see. There is a large (relatively) single lamb here in the middle just under that dark line. (It doesn’t show up in this photo as well as it did seeing it on the screen.)

While the vets were here I showed them a wool sample from the fleece of a ram lamb, Presley.

It isn’t all that obvious in this photo, but can you see that distinct change in color and texture at the bottom of the locks? It is not weak at that point, but the fleece definitely changes color. That is the cut end, so the change occurred a couple of months before shearing. I thought that maybe this related to selenium deficiency or some other mineral issue. We looked at the ram.

This is Presley, taken in mid-September. One observation of mine is that he won’t register as a lilac ram, but his fleece is the brown/gray of a lilac and definitely not black and white. (In this photo the dark wool just shows sun-bleaching, but when you look at the fleece sample you can see that is is not black.) However his facial markings look black. I think this is what some people are calling a chocolate lilac. This is Presley now. Take a look at his horns.

I hadn’t noticed before, but all 4 horns have a ridge in the same place and the vets wondered if this related to the same conditions that caused the change in the fleece sample. When you look back at the first photo of Presley from September 17 you see that his horns are smooth. I posted a video of Presley taken September 24 that shows what I think is one of the many possible symptoms of bluetongue. The last two photos were taken 3 months after that. Did the illness result in the change in horn growth and the fleece observations? It is not any matter of earth-shaking importance, but I find it an interesting idea. My simple question about the fleece has led to a lot of other inquiries.

We looked at the rest of the rams while the vets were here.

This is Larry, who was breeding a friend’s flock and just came home. The friend told me that she thought Larry had blue tongue also. Note the ridges on his horns.

The reason that I asked the vets about Presley’s fleece is that I had remembered seeing another fleece with the same discoloration. I had taken a photo of it at the time.

Ginseng is also a lilac lamb and her fleece shows the color change at the same place as does Presley’s.

I have no answers yet (except that Mary and Shelby won’t be going to the fair), but I’m going to examine the rest of the fleeces as I sort through them and I think I’ll pay more attention to horn growth after this. I’ll report back if the vets give me any answers.

A Riot of Rams

Posted on December 16, 2012 by Robin

You’ve heard of a Flock of Sheep, a Herd of Horses, a Gaggle of Geese. How about a Riot of Rams as a subset of the Flock?

Larry came home yesterday. He is a ram born last February (still called a lamb up to his first birthday) and was with a nearby flock of ewes. Whenever rams that have reached sexual maturity (and that could be 5 to 6 months) are to be reunited there are apt to be fights until they have figured out the pecking order. The shepherd’s job is to prevent injury, death, and property damage. Most of the time that means putting all the rams together in a pen that is small enough that they can’t back up and put their whole body force into the inevitable ramming that occurs.

This is Larry. He is a nice looking ram lamb. Since I was going to be moving all the rams I took the opportunity to trim all their feet.

This is one of the ram lambs born at the State Fair in July.

He has nice wool, doesn’t he?

Here is Sullivan, a yearling ram. He was shorn along with the rest of the flock last month. Larry missed shearing so I’ll have to shear him by hand, and I didn’t shear those lambs that are going to be sold. Do you notice a swelling just under and behind the two spots on his shoulders?

Here is what it is like close-up. I noticed it a few days ago and I think it is a hematoma, probably a result of rams tussling.

How do I put the rams in close quarters? I don’t want them near the ewes because that would be asking for trouble. I particularly don’t want any of these rams trying to get over or through the fence to get in with the ewes. So I use one of the stalls, but a 12′ x 12′ stall is way too big. I use panels to make a pen in the corner of a stall.

There is a feeder just out of this photo at the bottom of this photo. The two shorn rams at the feeder are the February lambs. The two rams with wool at the feeder and the one in the top corner are the July lambs. Sullivan is the 2-horn ram in the center and Larry is the 4-horn ram next to Sullivan. Small enough pen?

Evidently not. I tried to take video so I could share the real impact (pun intended) of this, but it was too dark in here. In this photo Larry goes for Sullivan.

Now it’s Sullivan’s turn. You can’t tell in these photos but there is real power behind these hits.

Larry’s turn again.

Another view. They are still fighting.

I collapsed the pen a bit more and they gave it up. Or maybe it took the fun out of the fight when they couldn’t back up to bash each other.

This morning all the rams were behaving so I gave them more space. Tomorrow they will go out to the ram pen and live happily ever after…

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