"Hey, bahhhhhhh ! Look over here, ladies I am your ram. The ram with the studly head gear decked out with greenery. How can you resist me? " (
Goth wearing rugosa vines tangled in his horns)
"What about you Delilah? Like my head gear? " Delilah seems unimpressed.
"No one is paying attention to me. Oh well, if the ewes don't find you handsome at least they should find you tasty." And they did, the gals ate the rugosa leaves and vines off Goth's head shortly after I took these pictures. Then they resumed ignoring him. Guess breeding season is over for the gals. Poor Goth.
A ewe lamb also got herself decked out in greenery and wore it for 2 days. We had to disentangle her from the rugosa because she wouldn't stand still for her flock mates to eat the leaves off her. You can see how sheep left un-sheared and allowed to roam large ranges , fields, and wooded areas can easily get tangled in thorns, briar patches, etc., that would allow them to be caught and eaten by predators or literally starve to death . Thorns grab the fleece and as the sheep struggles the thorns dig in even more thus causing the vines to tighten...horned sheep get caught in all sorts of bad situations .They can be caught in brush, fences, feeders and sometimes victims of clashes among each other leading to the horns piercing vital organs or causing internal bleeding.
I love my horned sheep, but it is easy to see why over the centuries many shepherds have bred sheep to be hornless, or polled.
"Hey, bahhhhhhh ! Look over here, ladies I am your ram. The ram with the studly head gear decked out with greenery. How can you resist me? " ( Goth wearing rugosa vines tangled in his horns)
"What about you Delilah? Like my head gear? " Delilah seems unimpressed.
"No one is paying attention to me. Oh well, if the ewes don't find you handsome at least they should find you tasty." And they did, the gals ate the rugosa leaves and vines off Goth's head shortly after I took these pictures. Then they resumed ignoring him. Guess breeding season is over for the gals. Poor Goth.
A ewe lamb also got herself decked out in greenery and wore it for 2 days. We had to disentangle her from the rugosa because she wouldn't stand still for her flock mates to eat the leaves off her. You can see how sheep left un-sheared and allowed to roam large ranges , fields, and wooded areas can easily get tangled in thorns, briar patches, etc., that would allow them to be caught and eaten by predators or literally starve to death . Thorns grab the fleece and as the sheep struggles the thorns dig in even more thus causing the vines to tighten...horned sheep get caught in all sorts of bad situations .They can be caught in brush, fences, feeders and sometimes victims of clashes among each other leading to the horns piercing vital organs or causing internal bleeding.
I love my horned sheep, but it is easy to see why over the centuries many shepherds have bred sheep to be hornless, or polled.
17 comments:
Poor Goth can't get the ladies' attention! Many times after working in the woods clearing vines etc., I look a lot like Goth! Seriously, I never thought about the dangers of their horns becoming entangled and causing them injury or death.
I love the addition of Fall pictures on your sidebar Kathy. Hope you have a wonderful day.
I love the horned sheep, too, but Goth's horns look so intimidating. Which, I guess, is the whole point...C
Cute post Kathy! Love the picture that shows him being totally ignored. So funny!
Poor Goth - all dressed up and no partners for the dance! If they didn't have dietary differences (no copper for sheep and needed copper for goats in mineral licks) I'd think goats would be a good addition to a pasture for sheep - definitely would get the briars and brambles - their favorite foods!
I loved your post this morning. Poor
Goth! Good thing spring will come again. I'm curious as to how many males you actually keep.The farmers here tend to keep a bare minimum or rely on artificial insemination. So, we have lots of lassies, but few lads.
Wow..I have never seen a sheep with horns like that! He must be impressive to the ladies with those big horns and food! LOL
Do they try to bunt you? Looks a little scary..thanks for sharing.
Come say hi :D
I think Goth was trying to entice the ladies, but they just used him for his snack, lol! Poor Goth!
The boys are quite spirited this time of year. Never seen one with green adornment before. :) But that is probably becase the green is ate in a flash of an eye!!
These are just "laugh out loud" funny!
That is just too much. Those horns still scare the heck out of me!
I think Goth is very handsome! Those are some horns!!
Well, I've heard of "Chick Magnets" so I guess Goth is a "Ewe Magnet"!
LOL!
Amy
Poor guy! Their horns can certainly get them in a lot of trouble.
Yes, we have found that putting the rams in a very small pen for a day or two helps with re-introducing them. We always keep our adult rams together and they seem to be much happier that way. It is always a little scary putting them together.
Mildred, remember the ram caught in a thicket that served as a sacrifice in place of Abraham's son, Isaac...bet he had some thick fleece and big horns!
Stickhorsecowgirls,Goth's horns are intimidating and dangerous. If I am restraining him, all he has to do is turn his head to inflict some pretty big bruises.
Susie, it is sad when he has such an impressive rack that he can so easily be ignored. Poor Goth.
LindaSue, I love the way you say things! Yes! As far as the mineral differences, yeah. Inconvenient. My 2 little goat wethers get their own mineral bar in their own little goat house. And my sheep are a primitive breed that eat all the weeds, briars, grasses, bark off trees, etc.
Mary, I keep as few as possible. Goth was fine by himself until he was related to too many of my ewes. So I acquired another ram. I HAVE to keep them apart or Goth would surely kill the young ram. You can see in most pictures of Goth there are tarps in the background. These are to keep him from seeing the other ram and spending his day bashing the fences to get to him. 2 is my limit for un-castrated male sheep.And really, 1 would do the job just fine by himself, and happily.
Julie, yes, he sometimes try, but not too hard. Mostly he avoids me and my husband. The last ram, ( Goth's father ) that tried to get us has his head mounted on our wall.Rams, even rams without horns~ are very dangerous, so a ram that deliberately sets out to kill us has numbered his days drastically.
Nancy, Ha ha! Just using him for a snack, I like that!
Mary, yes. Any goat or sheep seeing another sporting greenery should be respectable enough to eat it off a fellow flock mate!
Farmgirl Cyn, thank-you!
Noble Pig, there are a few keepers of big flocks of Jacob sheep in your area. Most of my sheep are related to them.
Shelley, Goth thanks you1
Karen, a "ewe magnet", funny! Guess he's only a ewe magnet when he is wearing greenery now. Just like Nancy M. says, they are using him for a snack.
Amy, thank-you.
Kenleigh Acres,I am considering trying the method I read about in your blog, but I so don't want to risk either Goth or Barnaby, love them both and their contribution to my flock.
Hey, whatever it takes to win the ladies! -smile-
When we shear I ask the guy catching for the shearer to please not grab the horns. Usually, he doesn't but sometimes it's the horns that are the easiest thing to grab.
Sometimes when the horns fall off, the dogs grab them and play with them. It took a while before I got over that image -grin-.
HA! Poor Goth! All that bling and nobody even cares. Very cute post, Kathy.
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