Filed under: October 2012
Sampson… checking out the ladies!
October 10, 2012
It is said that in the cool days of Fall, a young man’s thoughts turn to …. Football 😮 A ram, however, thinks only of procreation … breeding season! Our rams are no different from the buck goats or whitetail deer. All of these males know that the females go into estrus when the days get shorter and the temperatures get colder…. the love sickness drives the males to do crazy things, like break down fences or jump into the path of automobiles.
I had recently moved our ewe flock down near the sugarhouse. The grass was green and thick. The ewes grazed greedily and lazed away on the sunny banks of the back pond. The rams could just barely see the ewes, but they paced the fence and pined for their lady friends.
I will say that the rams even looked pitiful as they climbed the gate and “baa’d” softly to the girls. I told them, “hang on fellas. It won’t be much longer.” I usually put the rams in with the ewes in early December, the 7th, each year. That date makes for May babies. The weather is warm and the grass usually growing then. It is a perfect time for lambing and for growing.
My rams, however, decided to devise a plan to get to the ladies earlier this year. I am sure they conspired to make such a well executed and crafty plan work so very well.
The mischievous boys waited until a late afternoon after I had left for work. They pushed on the makeshift cattle panel, that I was using for a gate, with their front feet. They kept at it until it gave away just enough to get out of their bachelor pad. They made a quick scramble to the fenceline where the ladies bleated and teased them through the fence.
Here is where I say the conspired … They knew I was at work. They knew I would see their escape plan and return them to their own paddock. They were counting on my hired man not being so insightful … It worked!
Justin, my hired man, found the rams pacing at the ewe’s gate and trying hard to smash their way in. Justin was wondering how those two sheep had gotten out. He was sure they wanted back into the fence, so he carefully and dutifully, opened the gate and let the offending sheep in with the rest of them. He didn’t notice that the two trying so hard to get in were the rams or that they just wanted to visit … He didn’t even notice that their “suitcases” were packed! 😮
When I checked up on the sheep the next day. I noticed the rams right away. One had his nose in the air chasing a girl around, the other was on his side next to the fence breathing like he had just finished a marathon … well I guess he did! Anyway, next years lamb crop will come two months early. We will be greeting the fuzzy bundles of joy in March.
March babies don’t work as well in my farm plan as May babies do. Oh well, we will just make the necessary preparations and be ready to welcome the lambs a bit early. I guess it’s like my mother used to say … the first baby comes anytime… all the rest take nine months!
My mom didn’t have crafty rams to worry about … just a teenage son who paced the door and worked out escape plans. She, however, kept the gate closed when necessary. It was like she knew what was on my mind 😮
Leave a Comment so far
Leave a comment
RicelandMeadows 