Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Happy Ram Day


a show of athletic prowess

 Today marks our annual observance of HAPPY ram day here on the hill.

We turned "Angus" in with the ewes today. This marks the beginning of his one and only farm job.

                          ...making lambs for lambchops.

 I think it's fairly safe to assume he is "happy"!

getting outfitted with the ram marker

a little snack before the trip
have snack,
will travel
easiest way to transport a ram





















We even had a “happy ram day parade”  as Angus traveled from one end of the farm to the other.

waiting for the "parade"

Gus and Ellie escorting the ram to the ewe paddock


But, there were no mishaps. No high drama.

delivering the ram


greeting the ewes


wary ewes

intent ram
…and the possibility of lambs by Christmas.

ewes checking out the ram

(and that makes Mama happy!) 

7 comments:

  1. Can you send me to a post on the "Ram Marker"? I don't think I understand that. :) I get that it marks the ewes somehow, but by day? and different colors for what purpose? I find it all interesting, but need to understand, lolol

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    1. Thanks for reading...and commenting, Barbara!
      I know I've written before about the ram marker, but can't find the post I am thinking about.
      You can read "Nary a Blue Butt" dated 9/18/12 or "A Ram's Destiny" dated 8/18/11. Those should help you to understand our system.
      I'm SO glad you find this interesting! :) I need to work on some informational posts...maybe during the "off-season"...

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  2. Go to it Angus - you look well up to the job, so good luck for those lamb chops.

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    1. Thanks for the good wishes, Pat!
      SO very glad to see you back in the blog-o-sphere. :)

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  3. Moving sheep around our small place is a challenge, do you have a blog post or can you tell me about that "ram crate"? Are you skidding it across the farm to get it to the ewes? Thanks. Beautiful pictures.

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    1. Thanks for reading and commenting!
      The "ram crate" has been re-purposed several times and I'm not sure if it's ever been written about except in passing.
      It was originally used to haul our daughter's show lambs in the back of the pick-up. It is constructed of livestock panels inside metal frames that have been welded together and has a little access door.
      Last winter he put a wooden bottom and skids on it so it can be dragged around. That was described in the "Sunday walkabout 2-21-2016".
      We have tried a lot of other moving methods, from "sheep rodeo" to trailering...this seems to work the best for us.

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  4. Thank you.Now I have a new project is on the list. Of course it is not just the crate, but the system for getting the ram,ewe or lamb into the crate without the "rodeo".

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