From ram famine to feast!

When Spot died, I reached out to his breeder to see if she had any rams available (she doesn't). At the same time, a different breeder reached out to me, asking if polled breeders are ever interested in ram lambs with small scurs as she has several nice prospects this year. I told her that yes, in fact, we polled breeders do use scurred rams, and that I myself might be interested because my flock sire died. That started a flurry of communications back and forth about the ram lambs she has available, as well as some side consultations with another, more experienced breeder. The end result is an agreement to trade lambs around Black Sheep Gathering this year; she is getting flashy little Bailiff in exchange for this handsome fellow:

If he has scurs, I can't see them!

fleece at shoulder

fleece at last rib

fleece at mid-haunch

Sanson (standing) as a wee one with dam and twin

V V F Sanson will bring new genetics to my little flock, but he is also a distant relation to most of my sheep! His maternal great-great-grandsire was my first polled ram, Valiant Braveheart, who is Bridget's grandsire and the great-grandsire of Bree and Bernadette.

Bijou

Bench

My two unsold ram lambs, Bijou and Bench, are just too nice to castrate, so I'm going to overwinter them. Sanson will make three – a merry little band of young gentle(I hope)men. It's been a long time since I've had more than one ram on the place, reluctant as I was to risk putting a ram lamb with a mature ram or a young ram with an aging ram. And it's rather exciting, because I did a bloodline comparison of my ram lambs with my mature ewes, and realized I could breed Bijou to Bridget and Bench to Blaise (if she has a good enough body score to breed again this fall). Not only do the genetics work out, these two pairings are good combinations in regards to structure and fleece. Sanson could be bred to all the rest, but, mindful of space, flock size, and his unproven status, he'll get just one girl as well. Since Sanson is an Ag (fading/greying) gulmoget, he will pass on one of those two patterns to all his lambs, so I'm thinking solid moorit Boop is the best candidate. (It remains to be seen through test-breeding whether Sanson carries one black and one brown gene, or is homozygous for black.) That will mean juggling three breeding pairs this fall – and then waiting five months in eager anticipation to see what I get. Next year, Bijou and Bench will have their fleeces tested and hopefully have lambs on the ground, making them more marketable than they are as unproven lambs. In fact, Spot's breeder and I are already talking about the possibility of swapping young rams next year.

In other reproductive news, the barn swallows are back. At least one pair is nesting in the main barn, and another pair is in the Sheep Sheraton. After a few years of unsuccessful attempts, I'm hoping this year will see a bumper crop of these beautiful bug-eaters.

I think this doe has a fawn or two hidden somewhere on our property. I saw her down in the wooded SE corner Sunday morning while doing chores and Sunday afternoon while riding, then again yesterday afternoon in the upper pasture. I hope the dogs don't bother her – and I hope she doesn't have reason to attack the dogs! Years ago a doe with fawn went after Jackson, teaching him to give deer a wide berth for the rest of his life. Our current, smaller dogs might not survive such an encounter.

Puff, the half-Crévecoeur  I got from the neighbors, has gone broody. Too bad, girl; no chicks without a rooster!

And currently on my (newest) spindle, I'm plying dyed Wensleydale and white suri alpaca:

That's it for now from . . .