SageHill Ranch Journal

[SageHill]

Grazed this morning, Obi had his paws full with the lil' guy....
.
You need to get back with the others lil' fella.....

Keep movin' back with the others you go.............

There you go, now stay with them...........

 

[Baymule]

What a beautiful scene. That’s food for the soul.

 

[SageHill]

Another lamb - it's TWINS now. Twin ram lambs........

His head isn't that big - just a bad camera angle.

THE BIG QUESTION NOW IS.............
Do I replace my current ram with one of these boys?? I like color. All my lambs are out of my current ram. I'll have to sit down and chart it out.

 

[Ridgetop]

Half brothers to all ewe lambs but not to all ewes. He can be bred to his half-sisters and mother for terminal (freezer or auction) lambs. If you like him, keep him. If you like your old ram and what he produces, you can keep this one for a second ram and backup ram instead of the cute ram lamb you were going to wether and keep as a ram pal. Instead of feeding a (useless) wether you can feed a functioning ram to produce color in your flock. Sorry about the "useless" comment. As a meat producer I just don't bother keeping pets instead of functional animals, particularly with the cost of hay.

 

[SageHill]

Half brothers to all ewe lambs but not to all ewes. He can be bred to his half-sisters and mother for terminal (freezer or auction) lambs. If you like him, keep him. If you like your old ram and what he produces, you can keep this one for a second ram and backup ram instead of the cute ram lamb you were going to wether and keep as a ram pal. Instead of feeding a (useless) wether you can feed a functioning ram to produce color in your flock. Sorry about the "useless" comment. As a meat producer I just don't bother keeping pets instead of functional animals, particularly with the cost of hay.

No problem about the useless comment. If I can’t use a sheep it’s off to auction. While some have names I don’t consider them pets- they’re for training and eating. The training / teaching lessons actually pays for all of this. Am I nice to them, sure, talk to them yeah, touch/pet them some of them, give them treats sure. Just giving them a good quality of life for what they give me. I’ve found that getting things done - trimming hooves, worming, vaccinating, shearing etc are all easier when they been worked with and handled.
Still finding my way through all this. Been training herding dogs for 40 years. (Ouch on that number!). Now I’m on the owning and keeping them here vs using someone else’s sheep for lessons or co-owning with sheep living at co-owners for training.

 

[peteyfoozer]

I sure wish I lived near you. I would love to have Fen trained. He wants so bad to be a herding dog and his Mama, his 1/2 sister, and his Uncle Howie are all trial champions. Mary does a lot of herding with her dogs. Heath didn’t get to herd much but he was awesome when I needed him to

 

[Ridgetop]

Having sheep trained the way you want them to be for the dogs is good. Sheep have to be trained to work with the dogs too. I remember being surprised when a dog trainer friend told me that, but it makes sense since otherwise they just scatter and run.

 

[SageHill]

Having sheep trained the way you want them to be for the dogs is good. Sheep have to be trained to work with the dogs too. I remember being surprised when a dog trainer friend told me that, but it makes sense since otherwise they just scatter and run.

YUP -- we call them "dog broke" sheep.

 

[SageHill]

We got over an inch and a half of rain yesterday! For us that's A LOT. Had a little rain this morning, but still managed to get out and graze. I ~was going to leave black mama ewe and the twins behind. WAS. I easily had the three sorted into a stall and mama ewe started maaaa-ing and circling etc. Just not happy. Figured what the heck, we won't go far.
OMG -- poor Obi - those three straggled way behind. Yeah I thought that would happen. That dog has the patience of a saint I tell ya'. The twins are 5 days old. I ~think I had the brown ewe lamb out at that age with no problem - but she's a single and she's been a chunk since day 1.
So we stayed close, grazing outside the pasture, and another close area by the neighbor's water tank. The twins got the hang of it. LOL -- but one decided nap time was better than keep up when it was time to head back before the next rain. So I got to carry the lil' guy .
.
On the way out, Obi bringing up the rear. He is SO SWEET with the lambs.

.
One of the twins
.

.
This is the ewe lamb - a chunk. I really should pop her on the scale and see how much she weights - she's heavy when I pick her up. Lovin' this one.....

 

[Ridgetop]

but one decided nap time was better than keep up when it was time to head back before the next rain. So I got to carry the lil' guy

I got a sudden mental image of a shepherd with the lamb draped around his neck, crook in hand, leading the flock home. Very biblical! Your type of sheep grazing is old style - leading your sheep with the dog keeping everyone up with the flock. Unlike some flocks where shepherds drive the sheep ahead of them with several dogs.