Rodney is our Barbados Black Belly ram. Up till this morning Rodney has been Uncle Rodney and mentor to the ram lambs who have all lived together in male isolation in Barn Field...far away as possible from the ewes, ewe lambs and temptation. Today was handsome Rodneys chance for romance but he took some serious persuasion to leave the safety of his pasture. Rodney is well aware that every other sheep that went out through that gate never came back and Rodney had no intention of becoming another statistic. Realising that Greg pulling and me pushing gave us an unfair advantage,tug of war just isn't playing fair in the sheep rule book ! So Rodney just lay down, in the mud, play dead. Bran was confused, how do you herd a lying down sheep ? Trying to lift a fairly hefty muddy playing dead ram who doesn't want to be lifted is a challenge but giving up isn't in our "how to" manual and Rodney was frog marched unceremoniously to the ewes pen. Miraculously, it didn't take long for testosterone to take over, instinct and happy memories flooded the brain, the gates were opened and the girls emerged cautiously, Rodneys nose curled in the air, the girls flirted outrageously and Rodney was in ram heaven. Rodney happy, the ewes happy, Macho very happy.....the does questionable ( there was a lot of complaining going on in the goat pen but then, the goats are always complaining !) I'm sure Macho will persevere !. In 5 months time hopefully we will have lots of little Machos and Rodneys in the field, time will tell. All was quiet in the barn tonight, the 5 little doelings (removed for their own safety, bucks are no respectors of age) have settled in to their new accomodation,I think they quite like it, they are right there for passers by with peanuts. Apart from Machos' incessant buck grunting ( chatting up the ladies in goat talk) all quiet , and in the sheep pen I swear Rodney has a huge smile on his face. On a final note, tomorrow is Dianes' 50th birthday, Happy Birthday Rat. Goodnight all. Take care. M
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