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Romance in Winter

20 Dec
ram face-plants

How NOT to impress the girls!

We want to have lambs in the spring. It is a fact of life that in order to have lambs in May and June, the ewes must associate with the bucks in December and January. The bucks have a cushy life, which involves hanging around most of the year–eating, drinking and looking forward to mid-December. They do have the occasional worries about bears and fertility testing, but generally lead a pampered life. (Think of the ewes, who experience a brief liason, spend almost five months pregnant, then raise a lamb for another four or five months. They trail from summer country to winter country and back, some 150 miles, while the bucks are trailered in and out.)

Bucks ready to roll

Bucks ready to roll

Tiarnan and McCoy supervise unloading the bucks

Tiarnan and McCoy supervise unloading the bucks

Looking for love

Looking for love

Eureka!

Eureka!

 
2 Comments

Posted by on December 20, 2013 in Animals, Events, Family, Sheep

 

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2 responses to “Romance in Winter

  1. Zsw

    December 31, 2013 at 7:03 PM

    Is there some kind of coloring on the bucks?

     
    • Ladder Ranch

      January 1, 2014 at 11:49 AM

      Yes. We sprinkle the bucks with red powder so that it is easy for the herder to count them. We call it their “working clothes”.

       

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