Today was the big day. Clancy and I moved Kavan over to a much larger pen. Then I pulled our ram lamb, Tormey, away from his dam and added him to Kavan's pen.
This is the first time I've ever removed a lamb from it's dam. Up till now we've had only ewe lambs and one cross-bred wether. I left them with their mothers until breeding season.
Tormey is the only one that is disturbed by this new arrangement. It doesn't seem as though his dam, Northwind, misses him. She still has her daughter, Raimin, to keep her company and comfortable. I think things are going pretty well. He isn't crying too much-only when he hears a ewe baa every once in a while. The entire ewe flock is out of site and quite a few acres away, so the baas are fairly distant.
Kavan has been good to him too. With all the new grass and weeds to eat, Kavan could care less about an unimportant ram lamb. Tormey didn't even attempt to face off when they first encountered each other, so there wasn't much hierarchy to get settled. I've never seen Tormey challenge any sheep actually. He's a pretty easy-going little dude.
I've even been pondering the idea of putting him to one of my ewes this fall. The more I look at him the more pleased I am with him. His fleece is the silkiest I've ever had in my flock before. I think his horns and his conformation are very good. And the tail I was so disappointed in when he was born seems to be getting more and more proper as he grows. This is my first chance to evaluate a ram lamb from Kavan, so I'm willing to let this guy grow out and show me what he's got to contribute. I'm just hoping he'll get over missing his mommy in a day or two.
This is the first time I've ever removed a lamb from it's dam. Up till now we've had only ewe lambs and one cross-bred wether. I left them with their mothers until breeding season.
Tormey is the only one that is disturbed by this new arrangement. It doesn't seem as though his dam, Northwind, misses him. She still has her daughter, Raimin, to keep her company and comfortable. I think things are going pretty well. He isn't crying too much-only when he hears a ewe baa every once in a while. The entire ewe flock is out of site and quite a few acres away, so the baas are fairly distant.
Kavan has been good to him too. With all the new grass and weeds to eat, Kavan could care less about an unimportant ram lamb. Tormey didn't even attempt to face off when they first encountered each other, so there wasn't much hierarchy to get settled. I've never seen Tormey challenge any sheep actually. He's a pretty easy-going little dude.
I've even been pondering the idea of putting him to one of my ewes this fall. The more I look at him the more pleased I am with him. His fleece is the silkiest I've ever had in my flock before. I think his horns and his conformation are very good. And the tail I was so disappointed in when he was born seems to be getting more and more proper as he grows. This is my first chance to evaluate a ram lamb from Kavan, so I'm willing to let this guy grow out and show me what he's got to contribute. I'm just hoping he'll get over missing his mommy in a day or two.
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