Tuesday, October 23, 2007

"A little less of me"

If Braveheart could talk, that's what he might have said to me yesterday morning when I went out to do chores. After leading him and his harem to their turnout, I noticed while filling their hay feeder that sometime since Friday, he had knocked off his left scur (the one on the right side of the photo). As you can see, the right one that he knocked off earlier hasn't regrown much. Since "smaller is better" when it comes to horn material on Boulderneigh rams, this is good!

In other sheep news, Rick said Bella escaped from her turnout Sunday and then somehow managed to force her way into the breeding group's turnout (she left Brava behind). Thankfully Braveheart was more interested in butting her than breeding her, and after a long chase and several attempts with a lariat, Rick managed to rope Bella and put her back where she was supposed to be. Personally, I would have used a different method to capture her, but I am thankful Rick got her out of there one way or another. That Bella really needs to find another home and have the high-tensile apron strings cut! And that man deserves a big hug and kiss for being an all-around good guy, especially on this, his birthday. We're going to celebrate tomorrow night with dinner and a Blazers game; he has a professional meeting tonight.

That's it for now at . . .

5 comments:

Kathy said...

I have been known to resort to a lariat instead of food myself...and it works great for "those" sheep who just won't fall for that old trick. :) At least she's back where she should be, eh? lol

Sharrie said...

My little guy from Wisconsin knocked off one of his scurs, too. There was a little blood with it. The other one I had cut since it was heading right back into his head. Will it continue to grow? My vets don't seem to know too much about sheep.

Michelle said...

From what I've learned, it really depends on the scurs. My guy has teeny-tiny ones that have come off without blood, and they seem to be the type that will stay very small and/or get knocked off regularly. Some of the longer ones have more of a "core," so they grow longer and bleed more if they are cut or knocked off.

And you are right about the vets. It's not really their fault, though. Since the profit margin on the commercial sheep is so low, vets get very little practice on them because the owners aren't willing to pay a vet to look at them.

~~Sittin.n.Spinnin said...

I have a ram that knocks his scurs off at least 3 times a year. I have gotten used to seeing it :)

shepherdchik said...

Poor Bella. Just put her a bus and send her my way. No one here pays attention to the fences anyway. She'd fit right in.